theyre not doing another contest are they? the action hero contest was a nice diversion from the fact they havent even made an announcement yet. i heard fourth quarter of 2008 could mean till February. its now officially march. and the wait still continues…
Screw the mac. Get the pc version right and then give it to the whiny appleheads. 
Na I think they are doing the right thing this time. Im not a Mac user, but if I was I wouldnt be a happy bunny right now, being as the PC users have at least in most part a working version regarding displacment map export.
I just hope that when they do get both versions in sync that future development dont get held back because of having to write coding for both platforms at the same time. Il guess we will know more at Siggraph 2009.
Well if Zbrush supported Linux, you could use that extra 4 gigs as a RamDisk, and Zbrush could spool to it instead of disk.
Unfortunately it does not.
I wonder if some of the delay is due to the fact that Windows 7 is coming out soon and Pixologic wants to make it compatible with that OS.
All in all I just want more RAM space. I need around 6 GB to work comfortably.
i don’t really want to get involved with the whole 3.5 debate, but this caught my eye. I’m actually a former software developer, and it’s just a case of dollars and cents. If you’re starting with a brand new piece of software and develop/release it simultaneously for windows and mac- the windows version will almost always outsell the mac version by a huge margin. For a development process like the one pixologic has adopted (develop to a high level on PC, and then eventually start supporting mac), you already have a huge windows install base, and a relatively marginal mac install base… it makes it very difficult to bring up to the same level because it’s only worth a fraction of the PC version (in terms of development dollars vs profitable sales).
It’s always been like this because there are more PC’s out there than macs, and most developer upstarts can’t afford to simultaneously develop a PC and mac version from the beginning. This ultimately leads us to where pixologic is at right now. It’s a tough situation, but if anybody is equiped to handle it I’d imagine it’s the fine folks at pixologic.
Thanks for this positive input, we’ve been spoiled by Pixologic and just like all spoiled brats, we can’t wait…
Yes it does make sence. I would asume in this case the platform itself is causing problems as there where no problems with displacment on the PC version, and its taking all this time to fix the Mac version. Id like to know if they are working on v3.5 while sorting the Mac issues out, or if v3.5 in on total hold?
Thanks for the imput.
I would suspect all their effort for both Mac and PC development is going into 3.5. If we get a 3.13? patch to fix issues with the current mac version I would say that is a sign 3.5 is still a ways off. I was hoping the new online support forum sign up was a sign that 3.5 was close, since it is certainly meant to help automate future updates to zbrush, and not have these huge labor intensive email send outs as they have had in the past. But really who knows.
The problem is it was in last months issue 114 of 3Dworld that they are talking about fixing the Mac for current features like displacment map export, this isnt even a v3.5 issue, its a issue from v3. If they are still sorting old issues out, then how can they move onto v3.5?
This is a quote from the chat between 3Dworld, and general manager at Pixologic Jaime Labelle. This was regarding current Mac issues.
(When questioned further on when it would be fixed, Labelle didnt rule out the posibility of a patch before version 3.5. "It depends how [the tool] will be re-writen, " he said.) end of quote.
Before we know, the Pc version could be well ready or close, but if we are waiting for a patch for the Mac, this says to me time is needed to bring v3.5 to us. Im using Zbrush for the features that do work well, sculpting.
Well when I read “Labelle didnt rule out the posibility of a patch before version 3.5” … to me thats says… about a 1% chance, he agrees anything is possible. Again, if it means mac users have a broken displacement pipleline for about 8 more months cuz 3.5 has had a set back. Since Pixologic looks for programmers that know assembly code, and they do total overhauls of the app with each version it is probably counter productive for them to fix 3.12. The mac “patch” will be 3.5 most likely. If 3.5 was not a free upgrade then it would be a different issue.
I would assume they have looked into the issue, and at this point it is not worth the amount of work/time needed to fix it in 3.12. They willl make sure it works in 3.5
Yes indeed it could be a going either way, but does look like Mac is the main cause of the delay. It wouldnt make sence to patch 3.12 if 3.5 was just around the corner, but then nobody said there was to be one. What it does sound like is they havent progressed far enought for the fact that a patch is even being mentioned at all.
Not to forget all the current issues with the PC version to sort, we could be speculating the same thing in 2011. Siggraph will be the time to tell whats going on. Either somthing will be mentioned, its going to out after it, or nothing gets mentioned at all about 3.5 that we dont already know now.
Im not all that bothered to be honnest, its cool to talk about it, but my eye is on Luxology at the moment, and enhancing my own modeling skills.
Well, there’s also a potential danger when things take too long, people stop caring about it and start looking for alternatives. I’m curious what the next new feature of Modo is, perhaps they made a big improvement on their sculpting feature. Maybe not as perfect as ZBrush, but if it will make the job happen, without a problem… you know, people want to move forward, that’s how it works. When you make a living with these applications, you cannot afford counting the days till your old and grey.
Looks like they have made some huge additions to the re-topology in the next reveal of Modo. Im going to be doing my re-topo in Modo 401, then project the details in ZB. Modo needs alot of work in thesculpting department to be on par with ZB sculpting, im shure they will improove its speed in 401 for shure. Zb will always be in my tool box.
Not to mention the release of Mudbox for the Mac…
Yeah, those coverting while they wait, may get stuck in the Mud, I’ll rather stick to my Modo and ZBrush combo… seems to be getting the grip of these two and I am sure Pixologic won’t let us down… ???
So where is that 3.5 update? On hold again I suppose.
They’re other things afoot as well. They’re most likely redoing the authorization system since any PC with RAID is likely to have problems (even external SATA RAIDS.) Ripping out the old system and replacing it with a new system is probably cutting into development time. I’m also guessing that 3.5 has some new features in it.
My prediction: they said they would say something about 3.5 in the first quarter. I expect before the month is out, they will announce that 3.5 is somewhere in the middle of the Beta process. I’d guess that they will give some vague comment about shipment like “Summer”. That will allow them to release 3.5 anytime between May and Siggraph.
(I have no good reason to think this way, except the PC RAID problem is probably getting them some flak from their few coorporate customers.)
-K
I think the delay has to do with the fact that they cannot choose the new color of the interface. There seems to be a rumor that it will be flamingo pink, but the cannot make up their minds. Most likely they will release a patch very soon to make the color change happen. Some new features seems to be; a calendar (finally), a slower start-up time and a background music tune made by the band ‘napalm death’ that cannot be turned off. The release of ZBrush 3.5 will be expected on July the 25th, because that’s my birthday.