Pixologic has announced the latest version of ZBrush, introducing an annual version numbering system and some significant new features.
ZBrush 2018 now includes an advanced version of the dynamic tessellation system found in Sculptris. This enables artists to sculpt without needing to worry about poly density by automatically tesselating geometry wherever detail is required and decimating where it isn’t. It does this in real-time as you sculpt using a technology the Pixologic have dubbed Tessimation.
The gizmo manipulator system and deformers introduced in version 4R8 have been extended with new tools to enable easy mass shape alterations that aren’t possible using brush strokes. For example, the new Project Primitive deformer adds the ability to use multiple primitives to reshape a mesh, cut into a surface, build up from another mesh and more.
The full list of deformers now totals 27 tools and includes Bend Arc, Deformer, Flatten, Project Primitive, Remesh by Decimation, Slice, Subdivide, Bend Curve, Deformer Hard, Inflate, Remesh by Dynamesh, Rotate, Smooth, Taper, Bevel, Deformer Soft, Multi Slice, Remesh by Union, Scale, Smooth All, Twist, Crease, Extender, Offset, Remesh by ZRemesher, Skew, and Stretch.
Also in this release is a new way to create polygon groupings. PolygroupIt is a semi-automated system capable of evaluating the surface of a model in real-time to generate groupings. The user can edit polygroups by deleting, adding, copy & pasting, growing or shrinking selections symmetrically and use PolyPaint to draw how Polygroups should look.
ZBrush costs $795 for a perpetual license but existing license owners will get the latest update free. Find out more on ZBrush 2018’s dedicated landing page.
Sadly the UI is still left untouched and outdated…
It’s not mentioned, but after two-three weeks, there’ll be a $100 price increase in all licenses (commercial and academic).
So if you want to buy it, the time is now.
Yeah I mean zbrush main issue I would argue , has been crashing instability the ,painting work flow is really crappy and the UI is eh wonky . Some basic things like grouping object together in folders would go a long way .
Agreed: the UI is crap. Though after some months I like some of their approaches to speed up the working process (shortcuts, transpose etc.). Instability really is an issue, but I like the polypaint/spotlight workflow.
For me zBrush is a gem in the mud. If you get used to the “dirt” you have a piece of software that makes a lot things much, much easier. And it makes things possible that other software can not do. I tried the software some years ago, and gave up (because of the UI and some core functions missing). This time – I´m sure – it will accompany for a while.
Is it outdated or just a bit odd? I got used to it now so i can’t be objective about it.
I’ve always disliked the UI. Enough to buy mudbox back in the day when I already had ZBrush, and I don’t use it enough to get used to it.
I love the company and what they do, but after all this time (and with the acquisition of Sculptris) I would have hoped that they’d make some moves towards a less freaky UI by now.
Can’t see them changing.
I am glad to know thats its just not me that has to looks up things every time i get back to it. But since they added the proper 3d gizmo, I feel much better.
I’ve always hated the interface. So different from all the other 3d apps that I use that I feel like I have to relearn it every time I need to use it. Unfortunately I don’t use it enough in my workflow to remember the controls.
But…I bought ZBrush many years ago for around $250 and have received free upgrades since. So I got my moneys worth. 🙂
but they give us more cones to play with, who will complain? xD
Blender and ZBrush…. the last two UI-Analphapets of the CG World.
With Blender i see less problems, they are about to change it, but ZBrush…. man, each time i start ZBrush i open parallel on the second screen YouTube Tutorials, since one need to learn everything in ZBrush by heart.
When you want I can give you a 1 to 1 streaming to explain you the philosophy behind blender’s UI, once you learn it it’s pretty effective in fact.
Cheers!
Hey Juang! Luckily there was a guy who made LightWave UI&Shortcuts translate to Blender. I have installed it a year ago and i feel since then (with my own modifications) almost as at home 🙂
Thanks for your offer, once it gets difficult i will call you for help!
Igor, I second that…Take the new ZB Project Primitive Interface feature just introduced in 2018, I mean could they make it less intuitive? I love Pixo but I’m throwing in the towel on ZB until there’s some sort of UI cohesion.. I’m sure if you work in it every day it’s not that bad but if you leave it for a week+… gl!
There’s always this…
http://www.bforartists.de/
Great effective video to learn Blender for Maya or Max artists : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVDSsKzX8hk
I guess it is a matter of appreciation, I love the interface 🙂
Yes 🙂 Same with me. I love it too. At the beginning its a little od but then its awesome.
Awesome release!
I think it’s a matter of understanding the philosophy behind that UI, there are some quirks, but in the end, if you learn to use it no one can deny that is the most sculpt/modeling software out there.
I moved over to 3D-Coat because of the bad UI. Now I am glad I took the plunge. Pixology is great but they really need to fix the basics.
Amazing update as usual ! The Sculptris sculpting looks fantastic.
I’m less sold on the hard surface process, it looks very complicated (all these small icons), we’ll see.
Sometimes it feels they throw everything they can and see if it sticks. Why not.
They should concentrate on the painting side, with real layers like Mudbox or 3D Coat or Photoshop.
They have poor pipeline support for python and basic scripting capabilities.
That is true, how would you use it?
Cheers.
I am suffering the lack of this in 3d Coat too. 3D sculpting apps can improve their tools but covering all needs of particular areas from particular projects is imposible. That’s when scripting is handy.
example: The canvas scale thing in zbrush. You could have a script that import/export scale layers depending on a given factor or make the bounding box fit on 100 brush size. Then make the app remember the factor and use it to convert back for export.
If you import a scan, make automatic operations like deleting small pieces, centering, dynamesh if you are brave,etc.. then another tool to import scan_lowpoly make a zprojection using brush size as baking distance, export scan_disp, scan_nrml, scan_cavity to the mesh import path
Understood, thanks for the examples.
You are totally right.
Cheers