Hey, I finally made it to your thread! I don’t think there is anything I can add that hasn’t already been posted by others. The lighting system has been overhauled in ZBrush 4.0 R2 and includes what looks like LightCap (similar to MatCap?), procedural materials of some sort, HDR support for use as IBL and backgrounds, and better control over lights (direction, specularity, shadows, etc). There are some new brushes as well, such as a curves brush that allows you to generate new topology from scratch or a polymesh by simply drawing a line, and several boolean brushes that appear to conform with typical primitives (cube, sphere, cylinder, etc). It looks like they’ve updated the clipping brushes so that one can truly slice too, and not just flatten a side. Overall the update is looking pretty good.
As I said in another thread, Pixologic tends to focus on art creation, as well as anything that simplifies the technical side of the process. Therefore I wouldn’t expect to see the interface overhauled or changes to navigation any time soon, perhaps not even 64-bit sadly. I’m definitely a proponent of things like vector displacement and ptex though. RGB vector maps are simply an improvement on basic greyscale displacement and normal maps. It has the potential to greatly shorten the amount of time required for modeling details (facial features for example). Just search Youtube to have a look.
As for ptex, it too is basically an evolution, specifically that of tiling which is something Zbrush has done for years now. The thing about ptex, for those who prefer painting directly on their 3d model, is that it’s not dependent on high polycounts the way polypainting is. It improves on the tiling Zbrush already does in a way, by allowing each polygon to have its own resolution, potentially making maps more efficient and, most importantly, eliminating the need for UV’s. Like a lot of folks here, I hate working with UV’s. They do not contribute to my creativity. They are simply boring tedious work that I have to waste hours fiddling with for each asset.
Additionally, Zbrush has this fantastic feature called Spotlight. While Spotlight is quite powerful and well designed, its usefulness is hampered by the fact that you can’t use it effectively for painting traditional UV based texture maps, little alone ptex maps. This is a wasted talent that makes no sense to me. I like the suggestion regarding 2d flattening for texture painting too. Like all else, it shouldn’t be a convoluted process for users to deal with. Same with layers, which I agree really need some loving improvements.
Now, I can hear you saying there isn’t a lot of support for ptex yet, and only a tiny handful of apps can handle it. These are Mudbox, 3D Coat, and Mari. Oh, and nearly all of the renderers, including (correct me if I’m wrong) Mental Ray, Vray, and RenderMan. Lets see, then there is Cinema 4D R13 (including Bodypaint) and Lightwave I believe. Come to think of it, of all the most popular apps currently in use, 3ds Max, Maya, and XSI are the only programs that can’t load ptex files yet. I guarantee it will be a selling point on all of Autodesks 2013 versions though, which will leave ZBrush as the only app that doesn’t support an imminently useful feature that is basically free. Well, ZB and Photoshop, but I don’t think anyone takes PS seriously as a 3d app just yet.
A similar annoyance that feels more like work than creativity is retopology. If other apps can simplify this process, even automating it to some extent, then why not update the retopo capabilities Zbrush already has in order to do the same? Seems perfectly logical to me, provided catering to the artist rather than the technician is indeed the ultimate intent behind Zbrush. I don’t want to spend hours “fixing” my models when I could be doing something more constructive (not to mention fun). For those working professionally with budget considerations, imagine the time and money that could be saved if you were to eliminate as much of the UV and retopo process as is feasible from your pipeline. When you consider the number of models being worked on in a big project, and the number of projects there are per year, the savings could potentially add up to a LOT.
I don’t think I need to say it, but I will anyways; Zbrush needs to be 64-bit and most users will agree I think. The latest operating systems kind of necessitate more powerful machines and more RAM, so why not take advantage of that? Memory is relatively inexpensive and Zbrush needs it more than anything else, so why not let people use the 8GB or more they’ve paid for? This equates to higher poly counts and (hopefully) less crashing. This should be seen as a priority as it is nothing but win for everyone.
Regarding some of the suggestions by other users, there already is a way to set up units after a fashion. It is under “Preferences > Transpose Units”. I don’t understand the “Real” 3d viewport with “real” 3d camera and a “real” perspective either. Zbrush is perspective capable already. I suppose some options to alter the perspective and make the “camera” more like a real one could be useful, but only for those who render in ZB. If you often take you model to other apps for rendering, which is completely understandable, then there isn’t much point that I can see. As for the camera, it is the viewport. When you left click in empty space to rotate your model, it’s not really rotating. It is actually the “camera” that is rotating around the model. To truly rotate the model would require the transpose tools as well as some of the deformation options in the tool palette. You can see this by observing Tools>Preview. Lastly, while the option to see how much time has been spent working on a particular mesh would be novel, I don’t see the point. I’d rather see Pixologic work on useful features and fix bugs than waste time adding gimmicky doodads. Perhaps it would be better to ask someone to create a plugin instead, provided that is a viable option. If it is truly of life or death importance for some folks, then might I recommend a simple stop watch? I’m not trying to be rude, it just seems an odd request to me.
Ok, that’s enough from me for now so I’ll get off my soap box. I’ve been lovingly watching the development of Zbrush since nearly the beginning. I have much respect and admiration for Pixologic. The math and programming involved with creating a masterpiece like Zbrush never ceases to blow my mind. Sorry if all I’ve done is echo much of what has already been said. I just can’t help it if I care a great deal about Zbrush. It’s a bit like having a baby. You can’t help but watch in wonder as they grow and learn new things. All one can do is pray they’ll listen to you when you tell them father always knows best, lol. 