ZBrush- Is it worth it?
 

I've seen you lot do some pretty sweet looking stuff with zbrush, and frankly, I hate bumpmapping in every damn detail. So I ask you, is ZBrush worth the money and the time it takes to learn it? I know it's pretty unintuitive, but it seems pretty powerful and it seems that more and more animation and game design jobs are looking for people who can use it. What's your take?

I say it is worth it, as it is becoming quite prominent in the 3D industry. Plus, it is fun

How can I put it:

Accept no substitutes. Ive been using Zb for near 2 years or so now and it gets better and better.

Whilst a little unorthodox in its approach when you first get into it you'll find that all that unfamiliarity goes after a day or so. Its like anything new in that respect.

For me its better than mudbox, which Ive tried and tested both versions, but found MB a little sluggish in areas where frankly it doesnt need to be. Plus its become almost a copy cat version with a few of the new features that were missing before...

As with all good kit, ZB offers a whole range of workflows for each individual, as we all use stuff a little different. For example, those wanting to painting on a 3d model and hate doing uvs, well dont worry, paint away and let Zbrush worry about the techy part. I could go on.

For the money you get a hell of a lot of software and then some. Once youve bought and registered your copy each upgrade after that is free! Yes Free!!

Something for nothing, thats a rarity these days, the big hitter Autodesk doesnt even do this for the prime packages it now owns, despite the amount of money it must be making, they should take a leaf out of Pixologics books....

anyway thats my pounds worth of crud, I leave the rest to you

Jay

Is it worth it???? Hmmmm.

Damm right it is!

Then again you need to actually use it to justify the cash but its pretty cheap at the end of the day, As Jay pointed out, with the free upgrades its well and truley worth the cash.

Worth buying.

^^^^

wasnt me, i dont even have it so idk

lol

yeah - definitely worth it - the more you use it the more lovely it gets.

Zbrush is easily one of the most important tools in the gaming industry, and probably just as much so in the film industry. Having all the artistic freedom is overwhelming.

Alright, thanks guys. It sounds like it helps you get past the parts of the creation process I hate the most- the constant going into photoshop, painting it on, having it look like sh** then going back and doing it again an additional 500 times.

Second question is: I haven't gone to school for this or anything, yet. Should I get this before I go to school(this coming fall)? I know that making anything remotely believable in maya without training has a certain blank check quality at a lot of schools at the moment, does the same hold true with Zbrush?

Also, The reviews for it all either hate it or love it, but I can't really find any explanation of its features and how they compare to the various 3d paint platforms (price vs. effectiveness in particular). Anybody have a summary or a review favorited that would cover this?

Sorry for so many questions, but hell, its expensive.

the reason is there is nothing like it, maya's mudbox still doesn't match the capabilities of zbrush

3d World had a review of it that wasd pretty straight down the line.

The thing with Z is that its not been designed like a 3d app as its not really, so it just takes a bit of getting used to as its slightly quirkey in how it goes about things.

Download the free 30 day trial of it to see if you get along. The other option is mudbox and bodypaint.