I’m writing this while I’m in a tropical island, sitting at a bar, enjoying live music and what I’m thinking about at this moment?
ZBrush! Great right?
So, decided to grab my mobile and write what I truly would love to see in ZBrush 5, well just to further have a ZVacation.
I’m actually new to ZBrush but been working with Maya, Mudbox and Modo for many years and witnessed the progress of those software, especially in making the UI and projects workflow more user friendly with every single release.
When I first tried ZB, I said to myself no way I will continue using this software simply because of its unusual complex UI and difficulty in finding and using the right tool for a certain task, despite knowing how powerful it is. Therefore, I deleted the trial from my PC in less than a week, and frankly it was a relief to know that I was not alone in finding ZB UI intimidating to new users upon searching various forums in the hope to find plugins or any workaround to make the UI user friendly. And no, the ability to customize and configure the UI was not helpful at all.
However, as I got involved with 3D printing, I revisited ZB with a challenge to get over its complexity and to master it. It is still work in progress, but the more I use ZB, the more I realize how powerful it is.
No doubt that ZB is loaded with functionalities and tools that if mastered, one can create the impossible with, and with ZModeler, no other 3D software will be needed to finalize a project from A to Z using nothing but ZBrush.
Furthermore, the more I use ZB, the more I realize how it could be made much easier and user friendly when I think of how Maya for example, that has tons of functionalities and tools as well, was made user friendly with comprehensive UI through the tabs, pie and workspace features.
ZB UI needs to seriously be redesigned from ground up in order to be a user friendly software that would enable users to focus more on the creative aspect of their projects rather than the technical aspect as how and where they can find and use a function/tool to perform certain task/s.
It is unbelievable that a user has to jump from the right shelf to the left shelf, open a palette, open a sub-palette, close a sub-palette, scroll down/up and open another sub-palette under which there are numerous options, and keep jumping back and forth left, right, top and bottom of the screen to accomplish few related tasks. Totally confusing and uncomprehensive workflow. Where things are and how to get to and use them are currently out of focus and organization. I believe that many powerful tools are placed in the wrong shelf or palette. ZModeler for example is added as a brush that opens load of powerful tools once selected instead of having its own workspace. Sorry, don’t get it, even if I master ZB and memorize exactly where and how to accomplish what my project requires.
The solution is really simple, and this is what confuses me the most as why Pixologic still insists on not to follow as Adobe, Autodesk, Luxology and many others developers did in implementing the workspace/layout system in their loaded software.
Why not for example have a workspace/layout dedicated to each of ZB’s major functions, organized in sequence considering logical workflow, such as Draw, Model, Sculpt, Topology, UV Edit, Paint, Render and so on, where each workspace/layout will show relevant tools accessed easily through icons, tabs, pie system?
Redesigning the UI is doable without a doubt and could be added as an option to activate or not (Classic Layout/New Layout) if some veteran users understandably got used to the current UI, after hard work for sure.
Well, this is my only wish in ZB 5 and certainly of many other users that I truly hope Pixologic will consider and make it happen. Actually, I might have a heart attack from the excitement if I ever saw this idea implemented in ZB 5.
