@DigiDemon:
I think it was something they were considering, but I dont recall it ever being stated that they would do that. I hope not anyway, that would suck for a lot of people.
Yeah, hopefully that decision wasn’t set in stone. 
It would be awesome to get ZBrush 5 for free!
no clothsimulation, thats simply a metaphor for R 8 being revealed.
Maybe 5 is taking so long, because they try to implement vr,ar capabilities.
A zbrush you could also use like oculus medium would be awesome.
needs some hardware connections naturally.
no clothsimulation, thats simply a metaphor for R 8 being revealed.
R8 was already revealed, so what’s the point?
I don’t want to be rude or act as if I know it all, Regnas, but this will be your first upgrade. And Pixologic have always added some surprise(s) to each and every new version they released.
But I agree that if they only deliver what is being shown in that presentation of 4.8, it will already be mindblowing.
For as far as ZBrush5 is concerned, my personal guess is they are taking the code to full 64 bit and probably are trying to engage things like GPU usage. This is an incredibly deep and difficult work, and that is why it takes so long. Remember Pixo cannot afford to let the studios down. An update is not a kind of public beta where the users must find the bugs and errors.
another hint of new features may be the subsurface scattering of the cloth in the picture!
most likely we get real (physical correct) SSS not that trickery what is in right now.
or at least a transmittance support.
I just hope ZBrush doesn’t become dependent of crazy graphics card to do it’s job…
Actually that’s the beauty of ZBrush imo, there’s no need of crazy gaming cards to work with it, unlike every other 3D app… 
the downside being it will always be incapable of the things every other 3D app can do… IE) advanced viewport rendering. Most 3D apps are capable of a “BPR” quality render in realtime… never mind the speed of physically accurate GPU-based renderers like octane, corona or redshift.
But zbrush can handle and edit ultraheavy meshes with shadows, lights, reflections in real time already, on a machine that cost a few times less than, say 3000 usd.
I don’t know other app can do that.
Let Zbrush be Zbrush.
It’s still isn’t super pricey to have ZBrush, MD, Marmoset, Substances in a deck.
- Alembic import / export
- Proper physical camera import / export support / viewport
- Animated deformation support / corrective blendshapes
- Linux support
- Improved texturing workflow ( layers & masks )
Yeh I know, all boring things, but much needed for a modern VFX pipeline.
AR / VR is fun, but lets not bloat the program.
Theres no point in spending precious development resources on something thats already present in other software. Simple and quick cloth simulations - ok, thats cool, but developing a Marvellous alternative inside zbrush? What a waste of time! Same for texturing: substance is mainstream (and theres Mari too), imagine how many resouces are needed to make something comparable. Do you really think Pixologic could bring in those features and still continue to develop core functionality?
Look at what happened to Modo - it went from a very promising modelling package to a very average and expensive piece of software with zero unique features <- this happens when you spread your resources in too many directions with no clear focus.
Let Zbrush be Zbrush - the best sculpting and modelling software.
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voxels (srsly, you acquired Sculptris about 7 years ago and there are no new releases, nor voxels in zbrush), the one we can not call has it and develop new cool stuff pretty fast.
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user api and python scripting for zbrush(zscript is really limiting and admit it, pure artists wont use it, ones who try to use it, suffers, you limit the ways people can play with zbrush)
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proper editable curves (look at them there where we have voxels)
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better retopology(much better)
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subtool menu rework
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fix “unable to read virtual memory file” “Locked main mem in list-out” bug, this sht makes me dancing with tambourine every time i work on something complex. It really teached me to make as many copies as i can(and it can occur on simple Cylinder, one damn cylinder make whole tool unusable, how can it be? support tells me my tool is corrupt, how, why, is my memory broken or what?). Sorry, ass is still burning from today’s dancings.
etc
guys, there are so much old stuff that should be improved… I don’t know why you don’t focus on it, but trying to make something big and not always useful.
somebody who is super concerned about hardware cost, but seems to be totally okay with spending thousands of dollars on software is probably not using legit software. just sayin :lol:
for some of us, this is not a hobby, and we spend money on hardware and software that can do the job in a timely and efficient way. Going back and forth between other pieces of software is neither timely nor efficient. And for those of you saying “let zbrush be zbrush” take a look at my “join date”, I was around when ZBrush was a gimmicky 2D software. Had people said “leave zbrush alone, maya already does 3d sculpting!” we wouldn’t be here today.
@Indik, that’s like saying why should any product of anything try to improve over their competitors. Maybe you like having a dozen different programs at your disposal, personally I really can’t afford that but either way I’d rather stay in one program as much as possible. And no one is suggesting they try to crush MD or outdo Mari and Substance, at this point it’d just be nice if they could be on level with Mudbox’s texturing capabilities, and have some very basic cloth simulation.
Synn,
Marvellous and Substance are not Zbrush competitors. Pixologic could bring in some small part of their features someday (maybe even tomorrow), and they would be useful to a degree, but you`d still be forced to buy and use additional software. If you want to be competitive with other people, ofc.
What`s great about Pixologic is that they are focused on their core functionality - sculpting and modelling. They bring in innovations every new release. Which is a rarity in 3d industry nowadays.
DigiDemon wrote:
Actually, it’s been stated that when ZBrush 5 is eventually released, there will be an upgrade fee required,
That’s misleading. Pixologic have never confirmed or denied that and we won’t know for sure until they do.
What`s great about Pixologic is that they are focused on their core functionality - sculpting and modelling. They bring in innovations every new release. Which is a rarity in 3d industry nowadays.
I’m not going to deny that pixologic is innovative, but dial your hyperbole back down into the 1-10 range… the last truly innovative thing they added to zbrush was dynamesh, and that was 6 years ago.
‘truly’ is a very misleading word because it is a demagogue’s argument that only expresses someone’s opinion. Using ‘dial your hyperbole back down’ confirms this.
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but don’t try to impose that as ‘the truth an nothing but the truth’. We are talking tools, and everyone has their own use and preference.
I personally find ZModeler far more interesting than Dynamesh - no, I do not do hardsurface - and second only to ZSpheres. Dynamesh is a great tool for sketching, and I wouldn’t want to miss it, but it ends with decimation, remeshing and then back to subdivs.
Of course you are free to have and express a different opinion and. if needed, I will defend your right to disagree with me.
I’m not going to deny that pixologic is innovative, but dial your hyperbole back down into the 1-10 range… the last truly innovative thing they added to zbrush was dynamesh, and that was 6 years ago.
- dynamesh
- zremesher
- zmodeler (to a degree, because it only adds to a zbrush workflow, but nothing new to a modelling in general)
- panel loops
- insert mesh brushes
- fibermesh
- nano and array mesh + NanoTile textures by Joseph Drust that uses those features to make tilable texture creation just as easy as it can be
- 64 bit version with unlimited undo
If these are not innovative and super useful features, I know nothing then… maybe a new bevel tool in maya is innovative
Erik: I think you should look up the definition of demagogue, as your comment barely makes sense. “Innovation” isn’t subjective, it has a very clear definition. I’d recommend you look that up as well while you’re discovering what ‘demagogue’ means, but to to save you some time I’ve copy/pasted the definition here for you:
in·no·va·tive: (of a product, idea, etc.) featuring new methods; advanced and original.
That’s not subjective. You’re either creating something advanced and original or you’re not. Again, I’m not denying the innovations that pixologic has made, I’m just saying that maybe some of you guys need to put the koolaid down and take a breath. It’s a software company, not the lord savior. Companies need real feedback to innovate and improve, not a gaggle of cheerleaders who think zbrush is perfect the way it is.
Indik: All of those features are great (and very useful)- but the majority are not actually innovative. My point with all of this is to say- if we just ‘let zbrush be zbrush’ then the list of features you pointed out wouldn’t exist because most of them came from other software. the guys at pixologic are not simply sitting in a lab cooking up brand new things the world has never seen before- they’re doing competitive analysis and figuring out ways to incorporate other software’s ideas into their own, which (in addition to coming up with brand new stuff) isexactly what they should be doing.