ZBrushCentral

Turning a Zbrush model into a production mold?

I wondered if anyone on here has any experience or insight on the process of getting a Zbrush model turned into a production cast mold. My current understanding is that it needs to be printed first, then scanned into a CAD-like program to be converted into something akin to NURBS, and from there they can make a production mold whether it be a resin cast, spin cast, or injection mold. The process doesn’t really sound any different from using a traditional model, except for the additional expense of having it printed first. It seems like a lot of factories just want a CAD or Solidworks file, and I know no way to get a Zbrush file converted to that nor do I know a way to do non-mechanical stuff in a program like that.

Any insight I can get would be much appreciated. As it stands right now, it just seems like some sort of sorcery is involved, and I don’t know if I want my poor ZBrush model subjected to the black magics:D

Thanks in advance.

As far as I know, the 3D model has to created in CAD, and I don’t think it’s possible to convert a ZBrush or similar 3D file into CAD. Contact Scott Spencer or Gentle Giant in CA for more technical info