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ZBrush Announcements
#221

Great stuff, I must admit. Really cool.

But yet another slap in the face of all Mac users waiting for 3.5 since September 2009.

I don’t care about new features anymore. I feel totally stupid reloading zbrushcentral twice a day to hopefully see an icon saying “Zbrush 3.5 or 4 or 5 or whatever for Mac released!”

I feel totally stupid being disappointed by a software developer.
Go play, have fun with your animation stuff, I don’t care anymore.

Why don’t you just stop showing new features when it still takes ages to get them to the people?? What about smaller iterations? 3.6, 3.8, 3.9? One feature at a time? You could also give a glimpse at Zbrush 10 in 2030, because hey! - why release 3.5 or 4 when we just invented something new that’s worth a new version number - and a new delay?

I don’t get it. One of the best products on earth and such a poor support.

#222

JEEEEEEEEZZZZZ I WANT ZBRUSH4 :evil:

#223

Oh my GODZ!!! :+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:
Zbrush kick Ass again!

#224

Hehe, this is really cool :slight_smile:

#225

:lol: Poor guy busted his toe! :eek:

#226

hahah wait, now zbrush has a new “pop n lock” breakdance feature?:cool:

#227

:confused:

I’m confused about the decision to add animation in ZBrush. Making ZBrush more standardized like other 3D apps or improving the sculpting would seem to be a lot more important IMO. IMO, ZBrush is becoming bloated with features that are not really needed in a sculpting app. IMO ZBrush shouldn’t try to be a Maya or Max, just like Maya or Max are better off leaving the Sculpting to 3DCaot, ZBrush or Mudbox.

For example adding the Painting option wasn’t needed IMO, I have Photoshop and Painter for that, now they’ve added animation. What’s next a particle system?

I may be in the minority, but I was hoping ZBrush would have stayed strictly a sculpting application, with more improvements to help us speed up the sculpting process like better retopology tools and other more important things than animation.

IMO there are a whole host of other features that need to be implemented instead of animation. Such as:

• Improving the Topoloy Tools
• Allowing users to import meshes without having to append every object as a .ztl
• Improved layer functionality
• PTex implementation
• Allowing us to import .obj meshes into layers and save them as a single .zbr file without having to save as .ztl.
• being able to paint on textures in different layers to the same tool (freckles on one layer and skin on another for e.g.)
• Separate the 2D and 3D elements of ZBrush. Allow us to go into Preferences and select whether we want to work in 2D or 3D mode.
• Standardize the rotation/zoom and move key commands.
• Being able to save alpha masks to layers for reuse.
• Ability to import .obj objects into separate layers without having to go through the (append as Subtool routine).
• An X,Y, Z Gizmo so you know what axis you’re in.
• Position, Rotation Panel so you can manually type in an X. Y, or Z position or rotation value.
• Multiple viewports with the option to show side, front, back, top, bottom, perspective & ortho views.

pg
:confused:

#228

Im not sure what to think of it I dont think its neccessary at all. Although when you think about it more and more maybe it could serve as something. I dont think it will ever replace Maya or Max animation. Rendering in zbrush does not compare to the quality that maya and max have. The frames in zbrush look slow or was that a prievew? Basicaly animation in zbrush should be dead last, what they should be focusing on is better texturing and projection tools. Im not impressed with texturing process in zbrush 3.5, I think they need to spend more time on making it better for zbrush 4.

#229

It would be unfair to say that this new features are not going to be useful especially for previewing blend shapes but i think what we need even more than this is solid texturing tools with layers, like mudbox or 3d coat have.

#230

I really am not trying to start a heated debate, but I just want to add this one point.

If you have no interest in animation for ZBrush, the beauty is you don’t have to use it! I personally know exactly how I can use this in my particular business, so I am very interested in this feature. ZBrush started as an Illustration program that only had 2.5D abilities, so should they have just stuck with that? No!

Their mission is to break down the technical barriers that get in the way of pure creativity, and make them easier for the artist to create! I, for one, am glad they keep thinking outside of the box. Anyway, this is my opinion, and you all have yours, so I’m going to leave it at that. :cool:

#231

Happy 10th anniv. there!! Very nice vid :wink:

I wish those people having Mac would calm it down one bit. I know thy have been waiting for long but firstly they dont know if this version is for Mac as well. Secondly they may not have some tools like hardsurface etc but have GoZ enabled already something PC users dont have yet. So would it be fair too for PC users to shout where is our GoZ? Just chill out, Pixo will sort it out…

cheers :slight_smile:

#232

I would have to agree with wayniac here. This feels a lot to me like the path Maya has gone down in that they have beefed up some of their fancy features like water effects but they have neglected the basic tools that still need loving. For Zbrush, having some animation is nice, but production studios use other programs that have had years to perfect their animation systems. We have pipelines for that and we don’t plan to switch them out.

I do appreciate being updated on developments, so thank you for that. It would be nice to see a video showing off any developments to the core of what Zbrush is, such as those wayniac listed here. Mari is on the horizon as a nice texture painting program for cheap; I would much prefer knowing that Zb4 is going to satisfy all of our needs for painting instead of having to learn a new program. :frowning:

#233

Amen to you both.
Its funny how the older I get, the more perspective I get. There would have been a time when I would go off on my opinions in a thread like this; defending ZBrush and Pixologic and tell people this and that and using at least a 2 dozen posts to do so…lol. Now, I abide in silence and just let it all ride. I will say this though. Those who know get it, those who don’t absently sink their stand.
Thing that does pop into my head is an old saying. If you don’t have anything good to say, then do not say anything at all. If it isn’t positive, don’t say a thing. Nobody truly cares about soapbox bitching. I’m glad ‘letting them have it’ or ‘giving them 2cents’ makes you feel a little better though. :+1: :smiley:
See? Positive…

#234

To add in a few words -

Modo did the same thing, Modo is an amazing subdivision modeling tool and their lighting and texturing is great too. Then they chose to add animation and fur and it just doesn’t cut it! The Animation is extremely tedious and the fur looks like straw. Fact is, Modo would do better to stick to its guns and make subdivision modeling and texturing better.

Animation is not an addon it requires a lot of effort and lot of work to do right! You have to start from the ground up and make a whole new software, not just add it on as a feature.

Same with Zbrush, To me Zbrush is an amazing modeler and sculptor and texturing and painting tool. I would much rather prefer they stick to that and devote their resources to making that stuff better.

That said, if anyone can integrate Animation into Zbrush its you guys at Pixologic, You have blown my mind repeatedly and proven me wrong before. I Like change, I just don’t want you to take energy away from your modeling developers and give it to animation developers.

Said my part, thanks.

#235

Exactly mari is beating zbrush in texturing at this point. How will zbrush combat Mari? Mari has texuring tools far superior then zbrush. I want to know what they will do about it. Zbrush was supposed to be king of scuplting and texturing. I say forget animation focus on texturing, so I dont have to switch between multi appilcations to do texturing anymore.

#236

wolf57: If you can export that animation, think about how useful the character designing process could be?

Plus if you could export… we might see an imported for animated geometry. Mari has the same thing, texture for a given frame. But i expect Mari to cakewalk that experience.

But at the moment, MAri is beating no one since it isnt out. But i think it will gather the bodypaint crowd and a few z users… for texturing that is :).

I hope z4 will have Ptex though.

#237

My only hope is that zbrush learns of Mari fast and takes those exact features and throws it into zbrush. The idea of animation is nice, but they did not show what was truely needed, and Mari is what we need when it comes to texturing. Do we really need to switch between more applications for scuplting and texuring when it comes highest quality?

#238

I don’t see the relationship here. The animation system in Zbrush would have a LOT of catching up to do in order to come anywhere close to being useful for more than slight movements on a turntable. As a modeler, I certainly take into account the needed movements of a character when creating it in Zbrush but I have never once wished for the ability to animate that character. The extent of my wishes for it would be an easier ability to pose characters so I can get into places like armpits or whatever, but in the grand scheme of things I vote a proper texture layer system as far and above a more desired addition to animation keyframing. Might just be me.

#239

Ok so I’m not the only one here! You hit the nail on the head wayniac. I’ll reserve judgment till the release, but Pixo has a long history of just adding more gee-whiz than fixing/improving tools that professionals use. :confused:

#240

Demi: I mean in the sense of adding life to the character for directors/producers. A quick idea of what to expect latter in the production.

Zbrush beats clay in the speed department. (in most cases). But even clay sculptors cant bring motion to their concepts.

And if you could export it, then you could light it with a more advanced renderer.
It makes things quicker. But for full scale production, i don’t see this being an option, and i think it was probably designed that way.

Btw im talking about character designers that dont even work on the production or even postproduction.

I also agree with the texturing etc but should we expect this release to only be this feature? My guess is there are lots of features but chances are if they haven’t implemented them then we will have to wait till 4.1 or 4.5 because my guess is they are now testing and bug fixing . Maybe… of course.