I have gone back and reviewed your last 400 posts, and find nothing to indicate otherwise, perhaps I missed something.
Well, frankly I did, and I didn’t see anything in your last 400 posts to indicate otherwise, I DID however find evidence otherwise in post #269, so I have, as you will see, made a public apology and withdrawn my statements.
For my retraction…
i guess i should post this here. i dont post much, i more of a lurker around here. you guys are so insanely skilled. in anycase. i am a mac user and i had my own concerns about Zbrush 3 for mac. so i asked support just 2 days ago and they responded with this.
Hi Sam,
ZBrush 3 will be a standalone application that will run natively on both Intel based and PowerPC Macs, so you won’t need to install any previous versions and it should work on you Mac regardless of whether you get a new one or retain your current one.
Sincerely,
Pixologic ZBrush Support
so, just be patient, good things come to those who wait. 
I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to understand that this style of communication is hurting your bottom-line. Your customers may have budgets and timelines for purchasing software. I do. Should I wait until “someday in the future” to purchase zbrush 3.1 for our mac’s or focus on another approach now?
It seems perfectly reasonable to expect Pixologic to announce a 2nd quarter 08 release (or whatever).
What is the point of being so secretive? It doesn’t seem to be winning you support and/or customers.
Hey, that’s wonder news. No limitations. Very encouraging.
Thanks for posting.
And just to pre-empt the inevitable “when” question, I’ll reiterate my earlier post; It will ship when it is ready.
(who wants buggy software anyway?)
it would be fantastic! 
Hi,
I was trying to find a post where a guy mentioned, that Pixologic needs to understand that users have budgets and timelines which effect their sale or bottomline.
I just wanted to agree with them. I have been holding my Mac money for some time but I have had to use it for something else now. Hopefully I will will get another budget soon but I think they should know any delay does count…often against their wallet.
Support’s message clearly indicates that PPC is supported. This is great!
Apple does provide some excellent development resources. Even before this, there were several methods of developing code in a cross-platform friendly way. A lot of the cross platform software that wasn’t java VM based used some fairly ugly cross platform development libraries from Microsoft to support software companies in providing versions for both platforms. As could be expected, Microsoft’s cross platform development libraries worked, but the cost was performance, stability, and limitations. For a simple architectural or vector drawing package that uses only interface modalities available on both platforms at the time (stuck around OS 7 and Win 95), these libraries were useful compromises. For Microsoft, it was a way to ensure people would more and more know less and less about doing real coding for any platform, and ensnare people into only knowing how to code via managed APIS.
The functional result for the user-public is well-evident. Revolutionary improvements in interface and functionality simply cannot occur using these kinds of “compatability” layers. They didn’t. Zbrush initially reminded me
of some Amiga programs, and there is a good reason for that: it is not limited and defined by the common structures between two old operating systems. Where a control is not available in a common way, they invented it. Where a system for manipulation did not make sense, they reinvented it. This is not cookie-cutter, Visual Studio software. This stuff is made by people who still know how to code. That is what makes what it does possible on the hardware it runs on. It is not sitting on top of layers of stuff designed by Committees, and Marketerers. It is built from the ground up as a whole.
The younger users can easily be forgiven for not recognizing this as the inherent nature of this package, but those of us who have been in this game for a while should be able to spot it from a mile away.
I believe Zbrush is not made using Xcode in a way that would make the Universal binary checkbox a useful compile directive. It just can’t be flipped this way because it is not using API layers that are dependent on any particular platform. It is also not using compromising cross development libraries. It’s can’t. It would not be anywhere near as capable as it is if it did. I can sculpt a high poly, realistic, lighted scene on a 1ghz machine with less than a gig of RAM in realtime. It then renders a magazine quality version in a few seconds on the same hardware. Where has anyone seen that before? It certainly isn’t available anywhere else. This power comes from the dedicated and devoted efforts of people who know that to get it right, then have to actually get down to the bare metal. This is still true.
Zbrush is possible because it doesn’t compromise like every other software package still available does.
This means silly comparisons to far less interesting packages, or packages that require far more machine resources to do the same job, are irrelevant.
These codebases are maintained the old fashioned way, and it works here in a way that only real programmers pull off.
Todays developers would likely laugh at this sort of effort, claiming that compilers are so good now, and hardware is so fast, there is plenty of horsepower to spare. There is no need to use anything but pre-built, general purpose, high-level, Fisher-Price APIs. Simultaneous development for multiple platforms should be a snap.
This is very decisively disproven by Zbrush. It is alone in it’s abilities against any package on any hardware in many ways, and is certainly alone in the capabilities it provides on older hardware. This is not possible in ways that other developers use, and other developers have demonstrated that by not being able to provide this experience themselves.
In short, it is certainly disappointing that some people get Zbrush 3, and the rest of us have to wait. That is not, however, because they are dragging thier feet, because they haven’t considered the options, because they don’t know about some API, because they didn’t go to Macworld, or anything of that kind. It’s because this kind of innovation is not easy. Zbrush is hard to make because it’s done right. When Aurick says it’s going to done when it’s done, it’s because they won’t let it out without making sure the tool is worth using. That takes time.
I bought Zbrush before 1.5 came out, and we waited with bated breath for the update, which was free. It took longer for the Mac version. When it came out, it was badass. We were told that when 2 came out, we’d have to pay, but updates until then would be free.
Well, 2 came out. We waited with baited breath. The Mac version took longer. Version 2 was…free for all current owners. There were updates, we always waited with baited breath, and when they came, they always were worth it.
Now, I’m waiting for version 3. Same computer is going to run it. I’m going to wait here with baited breath, with the lot of you, and when it comes it’s going to be done right. It’s going to make use of my hardware in ways that nothing else does. And it’s, despite all previous threats to the contrary, going to STILL be a free upgrade.
They put in a lot of costly effort to support us longtime owners, only to give that work away. They make the best package of it’s type on the market.
Nowadays, anybody who is anybody in Digital Graphics, Film, etc… uses and evangelizes Zbrush, which by the way, it still cheaper to buy than any of it’s serious competition, even with the price increase.
I wish it was already here, but it’s not, and it’s not because they’re lazy, or they don’t know what’s good for them. It’s because they bother to do it right and make it worth the time it takes, and they’re not taking cheap shortcuts.
I especially like the part about doing it right. I work at a small newspaper for a dayjob and we are seriously regretting upgrading to Quark 7 last year, wishing we could go back to the old but stable Quark 4 that we had before. We upgraded a few of the machines and since Intel Macs don’t do Classic, 4 is a thing of the past. I don’t want this to be about that program, so let’s just say my personal opinion is that Quark 7 was rushed out the door for the sake of making a buck, and leave it at that.
I would much rather wait, as much as I really want to get busy sculpting with Zbrush 3, for the guys at Pixologic to get it right, than grumble and gripe and suffer through the quirks of another program that was rushed out the door (and in this case not even for a few more bucks because, as the previous post reminded us, it’s still a free upgrade).
There are some areas of life I’m not even remotely patient about, but this is one in which hard experience has taught me patience is sometimes better in the long run.
Besides, the way I see it, they have had time to learn from the PC version and so we on the Mac side will also have the benefit of that extra experience that they didn’t have when they were initially making the PC version.
So, thanks Aurick, Pixelator and the rest of the team at Pixologic for taking your time to make sure it works as well as it can for us Mac users.
Yup.
I don’t want to use the word God, because it is likely to offend someone, one way or the other.
However, Pixolator is a something I don’t want to say because it is likely to offend someone, one way or the other.
Real programming, interesting, I think I will simply pose your comments to a number of software development groups and see how it plays!
There’s no doubt the delivered app will be solid…but when ZB4 Win comes out mid 2009, will mac users be looking at the summer of 2010 for their version? If Zb code is so unique that it requires a much higher “true” programming effort, then is room for GUI improvements?
By the way, you may want to update your site listing. I could not bring it up…wanted to know more on who was making such an insight.
No matter how well a software release is tested there’s no guarantee it will be bug free. I’m in favor of a functional solid release that will afford Mac user access to expedient workflow features that negate any annoy bug hassle.
What could be worst than restarting ZB2 for 10 minutes? Deriving subtools is such a fast workflow that would take hours of point pulling. They are going to have to clean it up anyway.
Waiting a year or years for a real is usually the kind of thing preempts more bugs. I say, get a function version of ZB3 on our Macs and we can clean it up as we go.
1POV.
I think we can all agree that we want a solid, hopefully bug-free release. The key issue, I think, is Pixologic’s lack of communication. Give us an update – should we still expect a Spring release? Summer?
No offense to Aurick, but why must info be given to us “unofficially” through a liason? Pixologic should simply state their timeframe for release. If it changes, tell us. What’s the big deal?
Shhh
Well said!
I wait patiently supporting Pixologic’s efforts.
ZBrush IS worth the wait! I played with the 3.1 trial version on a PC at work. Magnificent application!
Keep going, take your time. 
Yes, well said Shhh. I agree that technically Pix is as close to peerless as it gets. The sophistication evident in ZB is many many peaks beyond the comprehension of all of the commentators here…
The self-aggrandizing corporate advice on the one hand and the light consumerist battery on the other simply comes across as ignorant over here.
At what point have I been taken hostage exactly???
And aren’t jokes supposed to be funny???
Just read the thread title, ‘Mac News’ not ‘Mac rant & speculation’…
I’m just getting a bit fed up of the negative stuff & wild speculation, nobody knows when, why, or how at this point. All the facts are in this thread but nobody seems to read them…
It’s a pity that this thread has disintegrated into the constant bickering that prevails right now.
Buckie … I understand your frustration with what has been claimed and stated here but to say that nobody reads them merely places all who read this thread into one group, which is simply not correct, I for one am contented to read Aurick’s news and wait patiently for the official announcement of a pending release.
I really think it’s time to close this thread and for Pixologic to open a new official thread where they are prepared to announce the likely date of a release.
People are getting angry now, not so much about the delay but at each others comments in here, and lets face it we are generally a good friendly group with lots of peer support.
Billy
As some other users i dont’s see the hour to put my hands on ZB3, but consider that is free for registered users, so Pixologic can take the necessary time. I’m not angry. I was angry when i was waiting for a stable and usable version of Maxwell Render one year ago or more because i’ve paid 1000 dollars for an unstable software. The actual version of Zbrush for mac is perfect and work very well, but yes it would be nice to use the new version as soon as possible:p
-TOXE