Zbrush: How useful is it?

[braddewald]

I was wondering if anybody could give a little info about their experience with Zbrush. I'm considering purchasing it for more detailed modeling like wrinkles in cushions or organic shapes like food. Or, is it kind of overkill to be using Zbrush for anything but advanced character modeling?

[Scott Schroeder]

It's extremely useful. It's not only for wrinkles, but for woods, metals, etc. To top it off, Zbrush can crank out nice normal maps so you don't have to re-import the 20 billion poly zbrush object back into your scene.

 

The kicker of this is, the time needed to get familiar with Zbrush's interface. Some can pick it up quickly, some it takes time. Once you do, it's like riding a bike and it becomes easy. The other thing is if you have the time to go into Zbrush to add detail. Sometimes in projects there is no extra time.

 

I wish arch viz would adopt sculpting packages much more. If you want Zbrush, but are on the fence, I suggest checking out Scuptris. It's from the makers of Zbrush and best of all, it is free. Think of it as a slimmed down version but still incredibly useful.

 

http://www.pixologic.com/sculptris/

[braddewald]

Is Sculptris kind of similar to Zbrush's interface? I have plenty of training available for zbrush, but I've been putting it off because it doesn't look like Zbrush has a demo available for me to see if I like it. Would Sculptris be able to play that role, or would I just be better off making the investment with Zbrush and starting to learn it right away?

[matthewspencer]

zBrush has a famously catastrophic interface, but Sculptris is not a remotely viable substitute, outside of pure sculpting and a tiny bit of topology editing capabilities. If you want to get UV unwrapping, decimation, retopologizing, robust texture painting, you're gonna need to go all the way.

 

zBrush has an intense learning curve; I think Scott understated this. It's really going to depend on how much free time you have. The interface is nothing like any other 3D app, there are infuriating oddities and quirks that are legacy hold-overs from decades past, etc. So IMHO re-frame your question and ask it to yourself: "Is $700 + probably hundreds of hours of practice going to generate results that are worth it?"

 

Don't forget about Mudbox. It's a superior interface, and some people claim it's a better program. Also if you happen to have Cinema 4D, there's always Bodypaint.

 

And since we're talking couch cushions and other simple objects, and not video game beasts, why not just look into Blender? It has full texture painting and UV editing capabilities, is $0.00, and has an interface that wasn't designed to inflict pain and misery.

[braddewald]

Well I have a subscription to a few online training resources and am always looking to expand my skill set so the learning curve doesn't really bother me. But I've heard a million arguments between zBrush and Mudbox and it looked like zBrush was just always the way better choice -- but is that incorrect?

 

Does Blender work well with 3ds Max? I basically just want to model something basic in Max then do some additional details/texture work in a sculpting utility and then return to 3ds max.

[edgemaster]

The learning curve is high for Zbrush. But the pay off for learning it is worth it. Yeah Cusions and organic shapes would be a good use for Zbrush. Every time they do an update Zbrush just gets better and better! Maybe try the demo and see if its for you. But lke someone else mentioned about maybe blender I did come across this http://www.blender.org/features-gallery/feature-videos/?video=head_sculpt I've tried mudbox a few times but it just doesnt have all the tools that zbrush now has.

[John Dollus]

Mudbox had a promising future at one point as a contender but Zbrush has really asserted itself as the more innovative package with a stronger community and more innovation. For what you are describing, Zbrush would work well. You can use it for really quick and simple import, touchup, export to max stuff or you can grow into it and start developing entire models within the package for use in Max. Alex introduced me to Sculptris and I feel it's good to get a basic sense of the workflow but I believe the developer of Sculptris was hired by the Zbrush dev team so don't expect anywhere near the same level of support/development. It's meant as a gateway application for potential Zbrush users.

[Nic H]

on tommy l recommendation i got mudbox and love it

still getting to grips with it but its VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD..interface wise, feature wise. easy interface with max as well.

 

i did buy the eat3d mudbox sculpting tutorials and watched them closely before even opening mudbox

then watched again and followed along - which i rarely do...it made a big difference to having an overall understanding.

 

iv not used it on commercial architecture work yet but i will definitely use it for painting textures at the least

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

on tommy l recommendation i got mudbox and love it

still getting to grips with it but its VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD..interface wise, feature wise. easy interface with max as well.

 

i did buy the eat3d mudbox sculpting tutorials and watched them closely before even opening mudbox

then watched again and followed along - which i rarely do...it made a big difference to having an overall understanding.

 

iv not used it on commercial architecture work yet but i will definitely use it for painting textures at the least

 

 

Did someone highjack your account? Your post is missing the usual sarcastic statements that we have all come to love.

[Nic H]

no it def me - i was just being my usual positive self.