ZBrushCentral

win8 or apple/Mac?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Where is Zbrush working better? More stable and responsive?

I actually have never had a pleasing work experience in Zbrush win version. It have alvays been a kind of fighting with the program. Micro and not so micro freezing, crashes, weird projection results, weird normal maps etc with what I thought reasonable poly count.

Would be i5-i7 modern Mac somehow more comfortable to work specifically in Zbrush? I have never used Mac and would be interested to hear an opinion from those who had it on both mac and pc.

#2

Using ZB4R6 P2 on an i5 running Win 7 with 8GB of RAM, seems to work nice. Project files will open when clicked on in Explorer whereas in Finder on a Mac that doesn’t work according to what I read on here.

#3

Project files open just fine on Mac OSX through the finder. Tool files, ZTL, don’t but I don’t think they do in Windows either.

I don’t think it’s a big deal on choosing Mac OSX or Windows as far as Zbrush is concerned. I don’t think there’s really a difference. I would base it more on what other software you use or plan on using. Some 3D and other software only have a Windows version. If you need to use it in a current pipeline, like at work, then that could affect your decision as well.

Mac hardware is more limiting and overpriced, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. For the record I run both Windows and Mac systems interchangeably. I don’t think you could go wrong either way but it really depends on what all you need and/or want to do and what your budget allows.

#4

why my Wacom Intuios5 dose not react on pressure wits Zbrush and do it well wish Photoshop. Is it Mac OC problem?

#5

Clicking on a .ztl file will launch ZBrush and load the tool into the pallette. You still have to draw it on the canvas. I’ve been into the Registry though and that may make a difference.

#6

Zbrush have always been most crashy soft I experienced. I am not sure, perhaps it’s something in pc hardware, memory maybe or something. I bought new i7 3770 this year with win8 and it became even worse than it was on my old q6600 win7. Although all other soft always worked just fine.
Parhaps Zbrush is somehow less tolerable to some hardware configurations, i am not sure.

For example I always get frozen grey screen instead of cancelling an operation if I push esc button. And then need to restart the whole Windows 8 to get Zbrush working normally again.

So I have some hope on Mac as it has a reputation of more reliable hardware/ OS combination. But never tried it actually.

#7

Are you running the latest version of Zbrush? 4R6 P2?

I’ve had crashing issues with the 4R versions but 6 has been good for the most part. I still get crashes now and then.

To me it sounds like it could be inexperience with Zbrush and pushing it a little more than necessary. It could also potentially be a hardware issue, not necessarily the operating system. I’ve had bad RAM hardware that would crash windows and/or other programs at random times, usually when putting a heavy load on it. Switching out my RAM chips fixed it.

What hardware are you currently running?

What software are you currently running or need to run, is it just Zbrush?

What else do you use your computer for?

#8

I am trying to use r6p2 right now

I really thought that I push Zbrush too much . It works just fine before subtools become 1,5-2 mil. But people say that 5mil should be ok on my pc :i7 3770, 8 gb ram.
Anything beyond 1,5 mil becomes crashy with every calculation expensive operation.

R5 works better on my end so I mostly continue to use it.

My hardware i7 3770, 8gb ram, 128 gb system ssd + 1tb hdd, GF GTX670 2 gb

Besides Zbrush I mostly use photoshop and 3dmax 2008. But I actually prefer Blender to 3d max and do most of my 3d work there before export and save it in 3d max format for work purposes. So I think I could work on Mac too. Maybe with Windows as a second os

I tried to check RAM with windows ram check tool and it didn’t find any problem.