is there no demo available for zbrush (os x)?? i can’t find it anywhere, i desperately wanna try it but there’s no way im buying it without trying it first.
I believe I read somewhere that the demo would follow the 3.1 update, which makes sense, as it’s a bug fixing release (though they may be adding some functionality as well…). But there wasn’t a specific date given, as it normal.
ok. i can’t wait, im itching to try zbursh. fair enough i guess, especially if bug-fixing is involved. thanks for letting me know.
That info’s slightly misleading.
ZBrush 3 hasn’t been ported to OSX yet. The Mac’s still on ZBrush 2. And while that’s still a very solid and powerful release, the forums and wiki and such will all try to teach you the new version.
Some of the best resources for learning ZBrush 2 (the “artists in action” videos, the demo version itself, etc) could only be found on Pixologic’s own website, and have since been removed to prevent confusion.
So, when people say “the demo is coming”, it’s important to note that they’re speaking of the ZBrush 3 demo. Which means Windows, at least for now. Pixologic can’t announce when that will change. 'cause, if it were a simple or predictable matter to port their proprietary and highly optimized technology from one platform to the next, they would have finished already (and tossed out a Linux port while they were at it).
If you’re on an Intel Mac, you’ll have the option of testing the demo through Bootcamp or Parallels. Which is appropriate enough, if that’s how you’ll be running the actual software when you purchase it. But if you’re on a PowerPC or refuse to run Windows, this demo won’t help you. You’d need the ZBrush 2 demo, 'cause that’s the version you’d be running when you purchase it.
Which, like I said, is a very solid release, and it might tide you over. The ZScripts and Practical Guide will go a long way to teaching it, and the older Gnomon DVDs are a god-send. 3D Buzz has two very good ZB2 videos up on YouTube which probably cover everything you’ll need. So, you do have some resources to help. And of course, it’s a free upgrade to 3.0 when the OSX port is released.
If you’re willing to go that route, you should e-mail [email protected] and ask how you can download the ZBrush 2 Demo for OSX. It does exist. It just might not be online right now.
thanks for the info - i did in fact email them to ask about the zbrush2 demo a while ago, and the somewhat stern reply was that they have no demo’s of any kind available right now, end of story.
i’m not even sure if you can still buy zbrush2 for os x, let alone find a demo version. perhaps there was something fundamentally wrong with zbrush2 on the mac, or perhaps they don’t have the staff to be able to provide support for 2 different versions, which i guess would be understandable. who knows. either way, i won’t spend money on software i can’t try first (unless they offer a refund in case i don’t like it, which is highly unlikely).
it’s a shame - i’m an illustrator, i think in 2d, and the whole 3d software thing leaves me feeling a bit cold, whereas zbrush makes total sense to my 2d brain, and i could be using it in my work right now.
if anyone happens to have a PPC OS X demo of zbrush2 kicking around meanwhile, please let me know.
thanks again
That’s odd. They’re usually very good about facilitating special needs.
I guess the license activation process did change between versions – it might have been overly optimistic to think that the old providers will cooperate with new users, or something along those lines. I don’t think Pixologic is specifically dropping support for Z2, but discouraging new support cases (when they know it’s going to be an administrative nightmare) is certainly reasonable.
Nasty bit of timing, though. I have a G5 myself. Wish I could afford to upgrade that, but it ended up being much more affordable to just buy a new Dell for ZBrush only.
Clearly, that solution won’t help you – buying a computer for software you haven’t tried is a big step beyond buying software you haven’t tried.
Ah well. I agree with your stance, and hope the issue resolves itself soon.
dear pixologic,
i am amazed at the power of zbrush. you’ve really got me excited and i want to try out zbrush asap but i noticed that there are currently no demos to download.
without holding you to a date, when are you planning on releasing a demo for mac os x (intel optimized)?
i think that this is exactly the software that i have been searching for but would appreciate being able to test it first to see if i need to learn how to use a tablet too (for example)
any answer regarding a date would be great but please don’t answer ‘when its ready’ or with dead links to topics that don’t exist any more, i’ve just spent half an hour clicking on them… thanks for making a sculptors dreams come true! toby
ok, after searching high and low… i found the faq at wiki…
for all of you looking…
http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/User_FAQ#When_is_ZBrush3_for_the_Mac_going_to_be_released.3F
regards,
toby