ZBrushCore 2021

ZBrushCore 2021 incorporates the most essential elements of the award winning ZBrush software.

It includes everything that you need to get your start and make your mark in the world of digital sculpting and painting. These core ZBrush features are streamlined into a package that is approachable for artists of all experience levels.

See ZBrushCore in Action

What's New in ZBrushCore?

Sculptris Pro

Sculptris Pro is a dynamic tessellation sculpting workflow that enables you to ignore the constraints of polygon distribution. Start with any shape or model of any size, and simply brush across the surface to dynamically add or reduce polygons where needed.

Realtime Silhouette View

Looking at your work from a fresh perspective is sometimes all you need to make sure it works on a foundational level. Evaluate the overall shape of the model in a small window while still being able to see the same model with fully painted and sculpted details in the main document space.

CamView

You will always know the orientation of your model relative to the world axis with CamView. Switch from front to back or left to right views of any model by just clicking on icons within the CamView.

Subtool Folders

Apply actions to all contained meshes at once such as Move, Scale, Rotate, Duplicate, Delete, Hide/Show PolyPaint, Live Boolean and more. This is far more than just an organisational tool.

Universal Camera

The ZBrush Universal Camera offers complete control over the Focal Length, Crop Factor and more. It supports undo and redo of camera movements. There is even storage of various camera settings, making it easier than ever to find that perfect final composition.

ZeeZoo

ZeeZoo mannequins are essentially ZSphere armatures. ZSphere Mannequins can readily be edited to fit any character or creature you need.

ZBrushCore Features

VDM: Vector Displacement Mesh Brushes

ZBrushCore introduces two new brushes: Chisel3D and ChiselCreature brushes. These Vector Displacement Mesh brushes allow you to sculpt with a 3D Alpha which will support overhangs or draw complex objects on the surface with a single brush stroke. Imagine being able to texture a dragon with overlapping scales or draw a fully formed ear without needing to re-sculpt it for every model.

Gizmo 3D Deformers

A new addition for ZBrushCore are the Gizmo 3D Deformers. ZBrushCore includes six of the 27 Deformers found in the full version of ZBrush. Each Deformer has a unique feature set to allow quick shape alterations that would not be possible through brush strokes.

Gizmo 3D Primitives

ZBrushCore also provides the Gizmo 3D with a unique way to rapidly design using simple geometric shapes. Artists can freely adjust the geometry that defines each shape, even after the shape has been applied to the surface. Convert a smooth cylinder to an octagon, adjust a sphere to have flat poles or change a cone into a pyramid - all in real time. Using this system, a few primitives can be turned into an entire library of sculptable shapes.

3D Text and Shape Creator

ZBrushCore comes with a complete generator for creating 3D text in real time. This makes it possible to create individual words or short phrases as editable 3D objects. You can also use an SVG file to create your own custom logo for placement on any surface.

Decimation Master

With DecimationMaster you can easily reduce the polygon count of your models in a very efficient way while intelligently analyzing the surface to keep all of its sculpted details. This solution is one of the fastest available and is able to optimize your high polycount models from ZBrushCore, allowing you to export them to your other 3D software packages. It can also reduce the polygon count for exporting into your preferred render application with no need to assign a displacement or normal map.

The slimmed down version of Decimation Master that has been added to ZBrushCore provides five new polygon count-controlled presets.

3D Print Hub

The full version of 3D Print Hub has been added to ZBrushCore. This plugin offers everything you’ll need for exporting any model for 3D Printing. Find the specific size of any mesh in mm or inches. The 3D Print Hub will allow you to export an OBJ, STL or VRML file. The STL and VRML export options will also support PolyPaint color. Importing an STL file is also supported by 3D Print Hub, including any color data.

Other additions and changes:

• Korean language support
• Removed Polycount Limitations for STL and VRML Export
• Export Scale Values
• Size and Position Values
• SmoothGroups Brush (in the LightBox Brush folder)
• Updated Projection System in DynaMesh
• New Licensing System Utilizing Pixologic ID Account
• Dual Platform License (macOS and/or Windows)

Comparing ZBrush and ZBrushCore Features

Feature	ZBrushCore	ZBrush
Base mesh Generation
Dynamesh	Yes	Yes
ZSpheres	Yes	Yes
Mannequin	Yes	Yes
Primitives	Yes	Yes
Mesh Extract
Sculpting
Max. number of polygons per mesh	20 million	100 million
Multi-Resolution Mesh Editing (Subdivision surface sculpting)	Yes	Yes
Insert Multi-Mesh	Yes	Yes
Number of Brushes	30	300+
Multiple-Mesh support (Subtools)	Yes	Yes
Surface Noise	Yes	Yes
Boolean-type operations with DynaMesh	Yes	Yes
3D Surface Effect ClayPolish	Yes	Yes
Reference Image support	Yes	Yes
Illustration
2D and 2.5D painting and drawing tools	No	Yes
Document resolution	Screen size	Up to 8k
Texturing
3D painting capabilities (PolyPaint)	Basic	Advanced
Texture Map support	No	Yes
Projection Painting (SpotLight)	No	Yes
Rendering
Basic BPR	Yes	Yes
ZBrush to KeyShot Bridge support	Yes	Yes
Render passes	No	Yes
Material editing/import	No	Yes
Import/Export
Export	OBJ, MA, STL*, VRML*	OBJ, MA, STL, VRML, FBX
Import	OBJ, MA	OBJ, MA, STL, FBX
Bridge between major 3D applications (GoZ)	No	Yes
Export settings for 3D printing	Basic	Advanced
Model hollowing for 3D printing	Yes	Yes
Opens all files created by ZBrushCore	Yes	Yes
Opens all files created by ZBrush	No	Yes
*ZBrushCore limits STL and VRML export file size to 200,000 polygons. Larger models must be decimated before these formats can be used. **Once ZBrush 4R8 is released.
General
Available on Windows and MacOS	Yes	Yes
64-bit architecture	Yes	Yes
Number of activated machines (licensing)	2	2
CPU-based - no special graphics card needed	Yes	Yes
Graphics tablet support	Yes	Yes
Library of 3D startup models	Yes	Yes
Language localization	Yes	Yes
Advanced Features
ShadowBox	No	Yes
ZSketch	No	Yes
ZModeler	No	Yes
Advanced Brush/Stroke Customisation	No	Yes
User-made Brushes	No	Yes
3D Layers	No	Yes
HD Geometry support	No	Yes
Fibre generation (Fibermesh)	No	Yes
Advanced copying and instancing tools (Array Mesh, NanoMesh, MicroMesh)	No	Yes
Automatic retopology	Basic	Advanced
Masking capabilities	Basic	Advanced
Polygroup capabilities	No	Yes
Crease	No	Yes
Edgeloop	No	Yes
Mesh projection	No	Yes
Advanced split/merge of models	No	Yes
UV Mapping	No	Yes
Ambient Occlusion	No	Yes
SubSurface Scattering	No	Yes
Environment Maps	No	Yes
LightCap	No	Yes
BPR Filters	No	Yes
Advanced 3D file export through plugins	No	Yes
Advanced mesh optimization (decimation)	No	Yes
Scripting / Plugins / Macros	No	Yes