Ryan, thanks for the news and the videos!
Even a hobbyist duffer like me can appreciate how these new features would clear the path for anyone’s “flow” by making a lot of actions more direct.
It amazes me that a program that was already magical when I came in at version 1.23 could become even more incredible with each new release. 
Thanks and best wishes to the Pixologic Team!
Holy flying saucer in cow format!
I wanna it mommy!
I want to thank everyone for sharing their opinions, their thoughts and their feedback. 
One thing you should know about Boston is that it is HOT right now! OMG! That and the humidity is pretty crazy.
I would like to clarify is that ZApp Link will work with Poly Painting and that Poly Painting is an extension of the vertex coloring that is in ZBrush 2 right now. Also, as someone mentioned it can easily be converted to a texture map for use outside of ZBrush.
Today, Alex Huguet demoed his zbrush skill and was also at the gurrilla studios showing off zbrush and looking at 3D printers.
Taron was demoing a new plugin that connects ZBrush with After FX. A really cool plugin that connects the abilities of the ZBrush canvas
with After Fx’s animation tools! Its an amazing tool for previsualizing effects, digital matte painting and just playing with AFter FX and ZBrush! Thanks Taron. 
I am having internet problems at the hotel I am in so I can not get a new movie to you but it should be fixed by tomorrow. We will see. Now, I have to get off to dinner and find those parties!
Best,
Ryan
sounds like siggraph is a real drag hehe.
Awesome features, the first two alone are worth a license and because of the way zbrush is setup it will play well with other displacement painters outthere.
The poly painting has me a little confused, is it just the same as usual but because of the high polly limits its basically at a finer resoultion? or are we talking sub-poly painting. Maybe user X system cant handle 20 million polys but 5-10 and if its one rgb value per polygon it might show, but if its also sub-poly then it doesnt matter right?
Either way, amazing stuff.
Pixologic should be very proud of this release.
-andy
are you daft? when they are CERTAIN of a release date they will announce it officially. they ESTIMATED a release date a year ago and it blew up in their face. you are like a broken record man, please give it a rest.
and why are you even interested in the release date of Zbrush 2.5? a couple of weeks ago you proclaimed the following:
well, good thing we don’t have to debate this anymore, lol. so why are you even here?
Just to clarify, I was not asking for a release date, nor whining. I was simply stating the fact that after missing an initially intended release date in '04, I find myself hesitant to get too excited about these features as I have absolutely no idea when they will be available to use. Much like I am not thrilled by the exploits of the latest Ferrari, as I will not own it.
I’d rather they held back until 2.5 is as good as it can be. Release dates put pressure on those working on the software, forcing features to be scaled down, limited or even scrapped altogether becuase they won’t meet the deadline!
How many PC games have you bought that were buggy as hell from day 1 because they were churned out to make a deadline? I think it shows Pixologic want to deliver us THE best piece of software that they possibly can.
These demonstration videos show that their well on the way, even if they haven’t commited to a release date yet.
Does anyone want some chocolate? Just asking… i feel sad without ryans videos…
I also second that opinion, that they should take as long as they need. I’m only remarking that I see no need to get myself worked up over features I may not have at my disposal any time soon. I could just as easily find myself excited over planned features of XSI 6 or Modo 301.
well good for you, getting yourself worked up over things can lead to unecessary anxiety. thanks for letting us know you won’t be doing this…
Your genuine congratulations and thanks has been taken to heart, as has the sage advice.
If read you all my other posts I said clearly that Zbrush 2.5 could
change that equation. Why did you not post that statement?
And let it be noted I Use Zbrush now and into the future. I was one of the first to buy it when it first came out. I would not be on this forum if I was not a Zbrush User. I also use Silo, Max ,Maya, Cinema. I am not bias to one app to the other . I use whatever fits into my pipeline.
I am not interested in hearing the complaining about release dates either.
They will release it when is ready. I was just sharing my thoughts on a solution to the problem.
I want to comment on how awesome today’s presentation on the upcoming Zborn toy --After Effects (and others) plug-in was. It would be great to have more info or a link to more info about that plug-in here as well - perhaps a video too. I know ZbornToy isn’t part of ZBrush, but to be able to output from Zbrush directly into After Effects and have such amazing control over lighting, caustics, and the many other features it has is awesome and yet another feather in ZBrush’s cap.
new features look neat. hopefully its released. its pretty messed up they treat us like where going to a strip joint. its in your face… but you cant touch it!
Yep the After Effects plugin could be a nice addition to rendering with Zbrush
because I haven’t read all your posts. I did read that one though, and it stuck in my mind since I thought it was insanely presumptious.
to give another estimated release date? which, if they fail to meet it, will cause another uproar? my guess is that they learned their lesson the hard way. don’t announce anything until you’re 110% sure or it will come back to bite you.
I’m dropping this argument now as I’m whining about the whiners, oh the irony of such a vicious circle…
This is going to sound very strange coming from me, since I’m probably more guilty of it than anyone, but…
Play nice, people.
Everyone wants to know when we can get our hands on the new version. Pixologic is keenly aware of this desire. Whether we accept their reasons or not, they’ve weighed the consequences and decided not to go back out on that particular limb. Repeating the question won’t change that. Nor will explaining this make anyone stop asking.
That goes for the rest of their business practices as well. Our criticisms are not news to them, and they’re well aware by this point of what their competitors do differently. Trust me, they know this. Anything you post in frustration, they’ve heard before. So, the decisions they’ve made couldn’t have been easy. But they’re made. It’s their business. Not any of ours.
Do I expect things to change now that I’ve said this? Of course not. Either you agree with me or you have no respect for my opinion – welcome to the internet. 
Let me also add that ZBrush is for everyone. Not just the loyalists. We’re all entitled to get excited about the new release, and those whose hurtful public declarations prove wrong will know what they’ve done without anyone having to rub their nose in it.
In short… We’ll never agree. We’ll never change each other’s minds. But we should at least tolerate each other.
This is a happy time! Let’s not ruin it by fighting.
And on the other side of that coin, you have Duke Nukem Forever.
(Couldn’t resist.)
My own opinion is they shouldn’t rush just to meet a deadline and end up making a buggy release, but, at the same time, they shouldn’t keep adding features if that’s what they’re still doing. There’s a point when you have to freeze the feature set and finish everything up. (I’m hoping they’re doing this now…) Otherwise, you end up with a perpetual “it’s done when it’s done” which is hopelessly frustrating for both the company and the end users.
Dang. I was excited to get home today to see the new movies. Sorry they didnt get posted. No problem. I can wait.
Hey Ryan. Do you think we will start seeing some of the outstanding work some of the testers are doing soon? I do like to watch or look at their work.
JIM
new videos for day 3?..please 