Page 78 - 3D Artist 110 - 2017 UK

Industry experts put the latest workstations,
software & 3D printers through their paces

ZBrush 4R8

The real-time
This latest upgrade improves workflows and Booleans and Vector
introduces a new set of powerful tools Displacement maps
are real game-changers
f we had to describe ZBrush with a single word, within the tool you are working on. The new
it would likely be ‘innovation’. Artistic freedom deformers are simply amazing; they use a new in this new version
Iis also right up that alley, but with every new system of manipulators (coloured cones) to help of ZBrush
iteration of the software, novelty seems to be the you deform an entire mesh in very interesting
constant. The new release of ZBrush 4R8 aligns ways. Once you get used to the way they work,
with this legacy. It offers artists a fantastic set of you’ll realise how helpful they can be and how you
new tools and impressive improvements to can integrate them within your worklow. The
existing worklows. Bend Curve deformer, for instance, is a fantastic
Some of the most anticipated new features way to manipulate FiberMesh clumps.
were obviously real-time Booleans and Vector Another good use for the deformers is to utilise
Displacement maps. These are not necessarily the Bend Arc to wrap text around a curved surface.
new concepts, meaning that the innovation in this Use the new 3D text plugin to create text meshes
case comes in the form of helpful worklow in seconds and deformers to adjust their shape.
enhancements and the integration of features. The Vector Displacement maps, or VDMs, are the
real-time Booleans and Vector Displacement maps next great addition to the latest version of 4R.
are real game-changers in this new version of They are similar to alphas (in that they are loaded
ZBrush. However, these are not the only features into your brushes) but instead of using a greyscale
that deserve a special mention. image to distort the mesh in one axis (depth), they
In 4R7, the Booleans operations were conined have information to displace the geometry in all
to a somewhat cumbersome process involving directions (X, Y and Z). Since they live within your
multiple steps. With 4R8 on the other hand, brush, they are also affected by the brush and the
real-time Booleans can easily become the new stroke modiiers, enabling you to create very
standard for hard-surface modelling in ZBrush. Not complex effects with a single brush stroke.
only do you have instant feedback and precise Another great worklow addition to the brush
control over what you are doing, but real-time system in 4R8 is the IMM shelf. If you have
Booleans seamlessly integrate with other ZBrush multiple VDMs in a single brush, the shelf enables
processes like Array Mesh, ZModeler or Dynamic you to select one before you apply it.
Subdivision, for full control of your model. A very cool aspect of both the shelf and the
Talking about precise control in 4R8 is to talk Gizmo is the ability to switch between various
about the new Gizmo 3D. Although you can still insert meshes to see which one looks better. With
access the Transpose line, the new default for any IMM brush, drag to insert a mesh, switch to
scaling, moving and rotating is the more the Gizmo and then select another mesh from the
streamlined Gizmo manipulator. This new tool is shelf. The mesh will update immediately and you
not only very intuitive, but it is also loaded with a can keep selecting other meshes to ind the one
series of very handy options. From the cog icon on that best suits your model.
the left-hand side of the Gizmo, we now have This update also improves on some other
access to interactive primitives and the amazing less-obvious elements of the software, including
new deformers. the UI and fonts scaling for HD monitors, the
The interactive primitives from the Gizmo let masking and the continuation of depth stroke.
you insert and initialise geometric shapes from Pablo Muñoz Gómez

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