ZBrushCentral

Mac News (Unofficial) (update on page 15)

ZBrush Usage Questions
#561

i dont understand why people are running zbrush on parallels and vm ware.
why not run it via bootcamp? im sure someone you know has a copy of windows xp.

sure you dont get the advantages of a mac workflow. but you really dont need it. the performance is also 10x better.
on paraellels zbrush couldnt handle a model at 6 divisions with some subtools. on bootcamp it certainly can. the performance is simply so much better, and you are missing out on the power of zbrush by using emulation.

as for weather people should complain about the lack of news on a mac version.
HELL YES.
thats how things move along in todays world, if you dont complain and make a noise nothing would change.

#562

If roles were reversed, you’d be seeing the PC users up in arms as well. It’s just human nature to be frustrated when we don’t get our way. Just some are more vocal about it. Let’s calm down and take a deep breath. We are just about there.

#563

@Kraken, I took that deep breath a long time ago when ZB3 came out while we were still waiting for Z-Mapper :confused:
But I do my best to take that breath again, can’t wait for that update!

#564

I’m sorry, but I think mac users can’t take the entire blame for things getting out of hand in this forum. Having a PC guy coming in and telling a frustrated and tense group of people that their concerns don’t matter a bit, and to just ‘shaaad up’ might have had a little to do with it, don’t you think?
I also disagree with you that a lack of communication is a good way to keep everyone happy. When the lines of communication break down, that’s when problems usually start. Wars are won by one enemy cutting off the lines of communiction between the command base and the soldiers on the other side. Also, to say we are getting this update totally free is incorrect. At some point, money exchanged hands. I think we need to be civil, but to say we have absolutely no reason to be upset is just not true.

#565

Look at this in a different perspective, how many mac
users do you think would have purchased a zB2 license
in the last year without the free upgrade offer?

Nothing in business is pro-bono, everything comes down
to a dollar-centric decision. I’m with everyone else on the
general premise that ‘yes I think zb is a great product
and pixo is still committed to the mac market’, but I do
think a little com, an olive branch, some images, some
interaction, polls, pro-active consumer relations, etc could
eliminate tensions and negative mind share - and actually
benefit the corp. image + increase value. A little PR goes
a long way. It seems to me that this thread was doing
just that for a time, but at some point there was a policy
change/managerial interjection resulting in sub-par effect.

It’s also important to consider that these policies have
to be made top-down, in other words, someone working
in customer relations may not have much of a choice
to make without managerial buy-in.

Sorry for the verbosity, I will now shaaad up and wait
for the email blast.

#566

Well as I am waiting for Z3 for mac I came across this interesting thread about 3D-coat. It looks like there’s yet another sculpting application choice now. Another thing is according to their forum (under feature requests) they just hired a guy to port it to the mac and the mac version is supposed to be out in 2-3 months!

http://3dbrush.kriska.hvosting.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=948&st=20&start=20

“Today we have hired a man to port 3DC to Mac platform. If all will be ok, 3DC will be ported in 2-3 months. We have set 3 months for him as a maximal time to port.” - Andrew Shpagin

I sure hope ZB3 is relaeased for mac soon! All of these great sculpting applications (ZB, Mudbox and 3D-Coat) and no mac support! Aaargh! Pixologic please give me some indication of how close you are to finishing this? :cry:

#567

While it is incumbent on everyone to maintain a professional/civil tone, Kosher came into this thread intending to bait people, and he accomplished that. There was no way that anyone could present himself in the way he did and expect to convince anyone that didn’t agree with him to change their mind. Some people are jerks, some people just play them on the internet, and from this vantage point, it’s hard to tell them apart :slight_smile:

To the matter at hand: full kudos to Pixologic for continuing to set the curve for sculpting apps, for creating the market niche in the first place. I was able to do things with ZB1.55 that would have been impossible with anything else, and they’ve continued to raise the bar with each release.

That said, the culture of secrecy is beyond maddening. Go take a look at Luxology to see how a company can adapt and use the 'net to communicate with customers and potential customers. Luxology puts out a podcast just about every Friday, the developers are present on their boards, they give general release timeframes (ie, 1st Quarter, simultaneous release for both Windows and Mac), and when something comes up to bump release day back, they tell us why and how long the delay will be. Open, professional communication, and it makes you want to buy their product and support the company.

Pixologic continues to get by solely on the strength of the product, which is their right. ZB is a great product. However, I wish they would open up just a little bit. Companies can benefit from having a human face, and I think something like Ryan’s posts on the run-up to the ZB3Win release would help give Pixologic that human face. At this point, we just have aurick, who does as good a job as management seems willing to allow, and that’s a shame.

On the topic of the “free” update, there are a couple issues. First, I’m a switcher, and Pixologic’s policies toward platform switching or cross-platform licensing leave a lot to be desired. For example, you can switch platform with Adobe products for the cost of the current upgrade, and Luxology grants a full cross-platform license for as many machines as you want to install on (I have modo on my Mac Pro at home, my MacBook that I carry around with me, and my office PC). While I applaud Pixologic granting the temporary Windows license to Intel Mac owners, they could have made a much better PR move by going to a true cross-platform license.

Second, if you asked Mac users, I bet you would have gotten a large number who would have GLADLY paid a reasonable upgrade fee if it meant that Pixologic could add staff and get ZB3 for Mac out sooner. Saying that “the upgrade is free, so be patient” will only go so far when time=money. Anybody remember how impatient Windows users were before the ZB3 release? Yes, there are options for some, but saying that any amount of delay is justified because the upgrade is “free” just isn’t realistic.

So, here’s hoping for good news in the near future and (fingers crossed) a more open, customer-friendly Pixologic going forward.

#568

As a Modo user I have to agree about their communications. For those not familar with Modo, go take a look and you will find a nice article by Rick baker who uses Modo as a front end to ZB.

#569

So you are saying that Pixologic are in war with us Mac users :lol: :lol:

#570

I’d like to think we’re on the same side. Although, it does appear that Pixologic is having a major battle with porting Z3 to Mac OSX right now.

#571

“Long-time Microsoft Windows supporter IBM has recently initiated an internal pilot program to study the possibility of moving a significant number of its employees to Apple’s Mac platform, leaked company documents show.”

Obtained by Roughly Drafted, underscore the growing interest in Macs among enterprise customers and reveal IBM to among the high-tech firms actively working to reduce their dependence upon the Windows operating system.

#572

Go Big Blue!!! :smiley:

#573

Wow man—you’re making a LOT of statements that are pretty unfounded here. I’m surprised that more people here haven’t been pissed about what you’ve posted. Now, I’m not flaming you or whatever, but you’re not taking some things into consideration as to why some of the mac users here are pissed.

I don’t want to go into a (brief) history leson here but first off, the update to Zbrush “2.5” was supposed to be granted to the entire user base that purchased ZB 2.0, regardless of their operating system. Then, after the 2.5 was ditched for an awesome 3.0 upgrade it was announced that PC users would get their upgrade and mac users had to sit tight and wait…totally understandable as it’s a lot of work to do both, and seems to be the general M.O. for Pixologic.

However, mac guys here have been waiting for a long time to use the new software that they feel entitled to. It’s not a “feeling” of entitlement. It’s actually something we’re all entitled to as someone who purchased ZBrush 2. It’s as simple as that. Suggesting that we as mac users don’t owe Pixologic “dick,” and that “we owe them” smacks of someone who hasn’t really felt this frustration. Which leads me to my next point…

[QUOTE=feureau]“if you own a Mac, any mac, you can run Z3.1 in it.”[QUOTE=feureau]
Really? I think there are a lot of people here that can dispute that. “Older” macs, before the Intel chip came along, just can’t run Zbrush 3. You’ve obviously never worked on anything but an Intel chipped machine. If you had, you would know that there is no virtual PC software that can run it. Trust me, I’ve tried it.

[QUOTE=feureau]“You “Mac” users stop embarrasing the rest of us MAC users!”[QUOTE=feureau]
What do you mean buy “us” anyways? Do you mean the people that don’t have the ability to run virtual software aren’t in the same boat? I have an Intel mac and I could post a screenshot of me running ZB3 too. I’m running ZB3 with Bootcamp which is less intensive on my processor, but when I get a freeze, Windows just locks up. DEAD. Time to turn off my mac, then turn it back on again.

I don’t want to run ZB under some goofy memory hog partition with Windows. I don’t want it AT ALL. I’ve had to re-install my Windows partition about 4 times just from some ridiculous spyware/virus/trojan BS that I got because I didn’t also purchase a blocker or anti-virus thing.

I’m rambling here, but my point is that whether you’re on an Intel mac or a pre-Intel mac, we just want to have our mac port. Someone likened it to tires or whatever, which was good. Speaking for myself I want ZB3 screaming on my mac, full speed. I think everyone would agree that’s what we all want here.

PS: feureau, grab a full-powered pre-Intel mac and try to find a way to run ZB3. You’ll see what I’m talking about.

#574

I don’t understand all this “free” update crap.

I came to the pixologic site to buy zBrush 3.1 for my mac… when I go to the store it tells me that it’s not quite ready yet, but in the meantime I can get a temporary license for the PC version until the Mac version is ready.

I bought zBrush 3.1 buddy, not 2.0 or 2.5, I paid for a Mac license that has a temporary condition. “Temporary” usually implies a short amount of time. That was in AUGUST.

I am COMPLETELY sympathetic to development cycles and understand a slight delay. The problem here is the keeping us in the dark part.

But this “free” bit you came up with is complete BS on your part. I paid 500 bucks for zBrush 3.1 on the Mac OS. Period.

#575

Hoping and anticipating a release of ZBrush3 for mac fairly soon, and not knowing what kind of support my old G5 could continue to garnish, not just from Pixologic, but from other developers, after much deliberating, I decided now was the time to bite the bullet and get a new Mac Pro, while I had just enough money to do so.
I spent every extra dime I had, and then some to upgrade both my hardware and my software. In fact, ever since I bought my first computer, I’ve spent countless hours trying to figure out how I can keep up with this perpetually changing and developing industry, and still manage to feed myself, and pay my rent. I think many of us who love this industry, struggle with those decisions on a daily basis.
I have to agree with industripop:The idea of having to add another operating system (Windows) with the additional cost and the maddening technical problems that come with it, is just an additional headache I’d really prefer to avoid. That’s why I own a mac: Because I don’t want to run windows. I only run windows at work, because some of my customers force me to do so. I know having ZBrush for windows available to Mac users as well, may be a viable option for some, but it’s not for everyone, particularly those that are still on the older macs. So, I’m willing to make some sacrifices and wait it out while Pixologic works out the bugs. I just like to feel that, as a customer, I’m being considered in the process. And, I think that sense comes with being kept in the loop.

#576

Webhead: I have been hoping and anticipating a zbrush v3 within a fairly short amount of time for a year now!!

I don’t know about you, but I am about to give up hopeing for anything frm pixologic… I am just so dissapointed, frustrated and all that… I will stop commenting on this thread now, it just dont lead us to anything, we have been crying for more info for ages, but Pixologic cant even give us a tiny update once in a while…

/cry

#577

I know that as Mac people we are low priority with Pixologic but there are quite a few artists out there using Macs. A selling point of ZBrush was 2.5D as well as 3D so it should be attractive to them. One way of selling a product over and above the usual advertising is word of mouth, which has always been strong with the Mac community. I did a search yesterday and found some Mac oriented sites that were not happy about the feed back from Pixologic about the Mac version since the release of version 3. Some even mentioned alternates that were in the works, even stated dates for one. For someone trying to decide which way to go that fact that one product has a date and Pixologic has said __________ officially in the last year may persuade them to go the other way.

John

#578

Excuse me, it’s pixologic who has gotten something “FREE” in this situation - they’ve had my money for well over a year now, without delivering the goods they promised. I’m still waiting on the product for which I’ve already paid. If/when I finally get it, (18 months? 2 years later?) I should say to myself - “cool, free upgrade!” Really?

grrr…

#579

Nevermind the fact about being consistent across both platforms.
It really is poor business to take someone’s money and not deliver a product.
If PC sells are really that good, then it should have supplemented the Mac development. If not, then they should seek financial help else where.
If they knew they were having problems then they are responsible for informing their customers. I hope they somehow make ammends to those customers waiting a year for a product.

#580

I paid $500 to Pixologic 5 months ago for 3.1. And the reason I decided to pay upfront, was because they made it sound that the software was going to be available very soon. To me this meant a couple weeks, or no more than a month.

I’ve tried running 3.1 under VM, but believe it or not, I have never use a PC in my life. So for me using a PC was very frustrating, so I stop using it. I rather wait for the mac version. Hopefully anytime now.

I just wish that Pixologic would have the courtesy to treat us with a little respect by communicating with us better. Just let us know how thing are going, like Luxology does with their costumers. Now, that’s company that every software company should imitate.

Just needed to vent a little. Now I’ll keep my fingers crossed, and hope to get 3.1 very soon now.