Would love to here your thoughts about Keyshot for ZBrush!
Any comparison to other renderer would be nice!
I have just started with the demo version and I haven´t dug deep yet.
Is there this possibility to go deep into shaders.
There is no SSS, is there any more things that´s great or missing?
D
It has SSS.
It’s very fast to set up and experiment with. It renders reasonably quickly for a CPU based renderer. No CPU based renderer will be as fast as a GPU enabled renderer in terms of speed, but it doesn’t matter if you have the fastest render in the world if it takes a long time to set up and get good results with. You can get great results in Keyshot very quickly and easily. It handles single digit to low double digit millions of polygons well. The interactivity and WYSIWYG factor with Zbrush is the best feature from a Zbrush perspective–it approximates the look of a model in Zbrush very well, and can bypass the need for complicated setup with UVs and texture maps. For simple beauty shots or rapid visualization, it is a great solution.
However, it lacks some fine-tuning ability. Its ability to layer many different image maps to create complex surfaces is somewhat limited. Perhaps most disappointingly, the Keyshot for ZBrush special (limited) edition does not have the ability to set up advanced render pass effects, like a depth channel. You can set up your own passes manually for diffuse, specular and shadow, but there isn’t really a way to set up a depth pass without the Pro version. It’s a highly frustrating omission.
It depends on your needs and whether or not you prefer to rely on Photoshop for composite work. I like quite a bit about the Keyshot for Zbrush bundle. I think it’s a great value and a great tool for people with a zbrush-centric workflow. The lack of a depth channel in the Special Edition is somewhat heartbreaking, though.
Thanks Scott.
Now I know what to go for!
D
Spyndel’s review of Keyshot is good, and I agree with it. 
I’ll add some quick thoughts, although I don’t “know” Keyshot exceptionally well yet. I’ve played with the demo and just got the ZB version yesterday.
The pbr capabilities of Keyshot interest me. I wasn’t enthused about Keyshot until someone pointed out the pbr aspect.
Many artists use Zbrush for game character creation. I’ve read that pbr textures/materials are the latest “thing” in the game creation industry. Keyshot, IMHO, would be great for a quick read, if someone wanted to see how his/her model would look, with pbr textures applied.
I made a jim dandy sci-fi gun, using a tut at dig-tutors as a guide, but once pbr textures were applied, I was appalled at how bland the model appeared. It needed more detail, for sure. (I hadn’t added as many gadgets as the tut instructor.)
I didn’t see the lack of detail, though, until I took the model into a pbr render program and slapped on some materials.
Even if a more elaborate texturing system is to be used in the end product, I still think Keyshot is a valuable asset to Zbrushers. Users can determine, very quickly, what a model will look like in a “real world” environment. 
One thing I hope to discover in KS, that I haven’t, however, is damage or wear effects. New and shiny is great, but real world means “worn to some degree,” usually. I do love to put the wear and tear effects on models.
Edit: I just found some “worn” materials in Keyshot’s library.
Overall its integrated really well with zbrush and the work-between is very smooth. I do pause keyshot (shift+p) when I switch over to zbrush because keyshot will keep chugging away in the background using all the resources you give it. Some zbrush tools wont import to keyshot. For example a character with a shirt made of micromesh doesnt seem to import well. In keyshot’s defense i did leave the shirt in bpr mode (I didnt convert to geo before bringing it to keyshot) I havent messed around with the limits of keyshot’s importing yet, but have found that once imported it stays very stable and responsive. Ive been able to bring in sculpts up to 50 million polys without anything more than about a 5 minute wait to import.
The renders are gorgeous, so im willing to overlook the lack of separate render passes, although it would be nice have. and available for $2k.
Keyshot is by far and away the easiest piece of software to learn that Ive ever used in the 3d realm. It seems to me that they put a priority on making the interface easy to understand and fast to learn. Textures such as painted surfaces, metals, rubber, plastic, glass, liquids, etc, have unmatched realism. Of course you could get renders like this out of other full 3d apps with hours and hours of tweaking and changing, but doing it so quick and easy is really great. I only tested the translucent skin materials for about 5 minutes and didnt get very good results, but then again i didnt even do a full render, just dumped the skin texture on the sculpt, in fact i dont even think i had uvs on it so… take that with a grain of salt.
Many artists use Zbrush for game character creation. I’ve read that pbr textures/materials are the latest “thing” in the game creation industry. Keyshot, IMHO, would be great for a quick read, if someone wanted to see how his/her model would look, with pbr textures applied.
Keyshot is good for quick concept and prototype renderings. If you’re doing game assets I would look into Marmoset Toolbag. However one big plus for Keyshot is the bridge integration. I’m hoping Pixologic starts offering that kind of integration into other render tools, like Marmoset. Keyshot is also very simplified, for complex lighting and setups this can be a bad thing as you don’t have as much control. However less control can be a good thing as this makes it a plus for concepts and prototypes to quickly show the client or boss with less effort and time.
Keyshot is good for quick concept and prototype renderings. If you’re doing game assets I would look into Marmoset Toolbag.
I like TB2, also, very much. 
I’m hoping Pixologic starts offering that kind of integration into other render tools, like Marmoset.
Agree with that, too.
However one big plus for Keyshot is the bridge integration.
That’s the key – the beauty of the situation – right there in a nutshell.