ZBrush 4R2b update patch and a codenamed tool

Kulsoom Middleton | News | Products | 24/01/2012 18:22pm

Pixologic has released an update patch allowing you to take full advantage of the powerful features in Z4R2 prior to the Z5 release

ZBrush 4R2 introduces significant new sculpting features, as well as major enhancements within the Best Preview Render (BPR) system. With over 30 start up brushes to sculpt with and the ability to create an endless assortment of your own custom brushes, Pixologic has made sculpting in ZBrush not only powerful but incredibly easy.

According to one ZBrush 4R2b user, the “fur is just so cool to play around with, the fur styling brushes are great too. This really is another revolution in 3D image/model creation! Edgeloop Mask Border is cool as well!”

'The Seven Sisters'. Darrick Pister created this image while beta testing ZBrush Z4R2. To see more work by beta testers and this render in its entirety head over to ZBrush Central. Note: contains material that may not be suitable to an overly young audience

The new features in the free update patch include:

FiberMesh to create real 3D fiber, fur and hair geometry with export capabilities
New set of dedicated FiberMesh “Groom” brushes and corresponding Brush settings
MicroMesh support to render fibers or single polygons as separate 3D objects
New set of BPR filters and operators to greatly improve your final ZBrush renders
BPR Global Shadow and Ambient Occlusion settings simplifying shadow management
New Cavity Mixer used to define different material shaders based on the mesh cavities
Improved small details creation through Alpha and Mask. Alphas may be placed using TransPose
Surface Smoothness feature detects mesh curvature for Mask creation
New global deformation with Transpose Curve deformation and UnClip
Improved Mask operations with Shrink and Extend
Topology editing additions: Group Mask and Edgeloop Mask Border
New JPEG Exporter with Crop, Preview and adjustment settings
Numerous improvements such as preview of mesh Extraction, Auto Adjust Mode for perspective… and so on

And that’s not all, there’s talk of a remeshing solution – “QRemesher is result of the collective efforts of both Pixologic and Verold. As its name suggests, it is a remeshing solution both automatic and guided. Stay tuned, for a February pre-release Alpha version of QRemesher, available for download and preview inside ZBrush 4R2b.”

While ZBrush 4R2b is a free update for all registered ZBrush users, it appears that QRemesher will be sold separately… It’s all very hush, hush at the moment, but as soon as we learn more we’ll let you know.

Read the full new feature list at ZBrush Central

Watch the training videos at ZBrush Central

Posted on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 6:22 pm under News, Products. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.