As you may know, ZBrush2 has made a significant impact on the way digital art is created, particularly when it comes to high-resolution modeling. Film production houses, video game developer and artists - such as yourself - have found ZBrush to be a valuable tool which boosts the artist’s productivity and streamlines the art-creation workflow.
Today we are thrilled to introduce a sneak-preview of exciting new features which are being developed for the next ZBrush update.
This sneak-preview is about two major features: Modeling & Rigging. These new features are build on ZSpheres technology and extend ZSpheres use to all stages of the 3D-modeling process.
Rigging & Modeling
The modeling-rig will enable you to attach (bind) any 3D polygonal mesh to a ZSphere structure. The ZSphere structure may then be manipulated to deform, pose and morph the attached mesh.
There are two distinct types of ZBrush modeling-rigs. One is a volume-rig, in which the ZSphere structure resides within the 3D mesh , the other is a surface-rig in which a ZSpheres net is drawn on the surface of the attached mesh. Since both types employ the same underlying ZSphere technology, you may use one as the other or use both in the same modeling-rig.
The other main feature is new modeling capabilities. The new modeling features will enable you to create a new mesh or modify an existing one. The mesh-forming process is accelerated by the availability of the base ZSphere-structure which is used as a guide as well as enabling symmetry and radial symmetry to be utilized.
Since both, modeling and rigging structures, are created from ZSpheres, they can be manipulated the same as any other ZSphere and they may also be utilized for more than one purpose.
About Modeling-Rig: Although ZBrush’s modeling-rig have similarities to animation-rigs, their purpose is quite different. If you are exporting a mesh from ZBrush to a 3D animation program, you will most likely choose to create a modeling-rig in ZBrush and an animation-rig in the animation program. ZBrush’s modeling-rig purpose is to enhance your mesh-creation workflow from concept to finish. Modeling-rigs will enable you to transform, morph and repose a mesh to better fit your modeling, detailing and texturing needs. Since modeling-rigs are extremly fast to create, you may also choose to modify the structure of the modeling-rig – or create a new one – at different stages of the model-creation process.
In addition to these features, the next update will also include code enhancements to previously released features - such as normal map and displacement map creation - and other code optimizations which will further enhance your ZBrush experience.
At Pixologic, we are extremely proud of the achievements attained by ZBrush users and we are deeply thankful for the support and enthusiasm exhibited by the ZBrush community. As our way of saying thanks, the next ZBrush update will be made available as a free-update to all registered ZBrush users (including users who will register between now and the release of the next update)!
Download Movie Here
More information about the next update will be posted periodically
here at ZBrushCentral and ZBrush.com.
Stay tuned!