ZBrushCentral

zBrush alone?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hey everyone,
Ive just recently put together a very fast PC and want zbrush. I have noticed that everyone uses other software with zBrush such as maya,lightwave, etc. Can zBrush be used alone, sculpt, render, paint? Im new and don`t think I could afford those programs. Can someone list some threads with projects using z-brush alone?

Thanks,

Rick

#2

I would’nt reccomend to use and learn zbrush alone, though it`s a great modeling app, there are some things that are ridiculously difficult to model.

Also there are lot of things that you should learn first in a box.modeling app…
You can try blender, it’s free!

http://www.blender.org/

Almost all the projects of the “Action hero” contest were done 95 - 100% in zbrush… take a tour in those forums to watch what you can do with zbrush alone :wink:

#3

Thanks for the advice, I`ll look into blender, free is always nice!:smiley:

#4

True that some hard surface shapes are more difficult to model, but you can do a lot of great work in ZBrush alone. Regarding sculpting, painting and rendering, the answer is definitely yes you can use ZBrush alone, or at least with a compositor. I used to just use it with photoshop and it was a ton of fun. While I didn’t need photorealism, I never felt creatively limited.

Once I started using modo, it just became a bit more fun for many reasons. Along with the renderer and ease of making base meshes, I could then incorporate hard surface elements into my work easier.

BUT, keep in mind that you can really sculpt a lot of complex hard surfaces. In fact, some times it’s the better approach! With the lazy mouse and many other features, you can accomplish quite a lot hard surface vs. organic contrast. Here are some examples:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=075105
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=070974

So you can sculpt them, but also use the projection master. Here’s a tut (7th one down):

http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/

Many advantages come with learning a dedicated modeling and rendering package along with ZBrush, but I just wanted to point these out so you don’t feel limited with what you can do in ZBrush. Good luck!

#5

Gimp is a free 2D software for editing.

App’s like Blender,C4D,LW,Autodesk all work a like
there big app’s take a while to learn n if you get a 3D crew you can make movies.like LOTR n Matrix.

truespace free mostly for realtime movies.Hobbist use this app.

Wings is free ,simple app ,just for modeling.

#6

Thanks everyone! I notice that alot of people do the base mesh in Maya. Maya is pretty steep price wise. What would you recomend for working the base mesh? Modo is pricey but in my range. Thanks,

-Rick

#7

if all you want to do is import a mesh in to zbrush modo is a bit of a over kill.

all u need to model with is ZBrush.
but if you want to what some call box modeling.
Blender would do it’s free.
but i would learn ZBrush first you don’t need Blender.
If at some point you want to learn anamtion dynamic hair n cloth n all that
it’s fun but takes a long time to learn it all.

If you out grow Blender or just like Modo’s work flow better then get Modo.
The famous poser mesh vicky 4 was made with Modo.

if you need a forest Bryce,Vue.

if you saty in 3D your collect a lot of app’s

#8

Yes, for base mesh creation only, look into Blender and Wings 3d (free) and I also hear good things about Silo which is affordable. modo’s actually a good deal for the toolset, but it was also quite a purchase for me at the time. Look through the Luxology gallery and you’ll quickly realize that the benefits of modo are well beyond just creating base meshes though! That’s true with a lot of 3d modeling and rendering packages. Shop around and find what works for you. :+1: