Blender Sculpting VS ZBrush - The End of ZBrush?

[@ChristinaMcKay]

I am a huge blender fan, but I have to agree with what you said. Personally I ditched ZBrush after using it for five years. But not because Blender is better than ZBrush. It is just better for my workflow and for the few things I am sculpting for clients ZBrush was just too much. In general I am only using 5 brushes or so and am constantly switching between sculpting and editing, so for me Blender is the better choice. But if I would work as character artist in a pipeline, ZBrush would be my choice.

[@davidreyes1453]

Hi, What pc specs do you have, to be able to handle the mode of sculpture fluid with that level of detail in blender ? beacuse blender doesn't work like zbrush. or does it do it?

[@ChristinaMcKay]

@@davidreyes1453 I don't have high specs at all. On my main machines I have 16 GB RAM and 970gtx. But even my old machine is capable of handling up to 25 million poly, with a 960GTX and 8 GB of RAM. I guess links are not allowed, but if you go to my channel you will find 2 videos which are flagged as outdated. One of them is about using multiple blender versions, there I showed briefly how that old machine handles 25 millions with the new sculpt system of Blender. It starts at about 6 minutes. I guess the "secret" is not installing Blender on Windows. If you use the installer all those dlls are passed through Windows. I only can guess, I never installed Blender. But it seems to run a lot smoother and more stable with the portable versions.

[@marcus_ohreallyus]

Same here. I'm going to start doing more sculpting in blender, but only because my needs are limited to a few select tools in zbrush, which blender now has. But I notice a HUGE difference in performance between the two softwares when it comes to sculpting. Blender can't compete in that aspect and that's ok because it does 1000 things that zbrush can't do.

[@NathanRitchie]

The only thing I really miss on blender over z-brush is that fine detail pass. Makes making normal and spec maps super easy. But, as you said, for the type of work I'm doing blender is amazing.

[@mikegrant8031]

I'm looking to move from physical sculpting into digital, this video helps immensely.

[@GunGryphon]

Best sculpting software? Obviously it's Microsoft Excel.

[@yash1152]

how ???

[@GunGryphon]

@@yash1152 A bunch of voodoo involving VBA scripting language. (This is a joke btw)

[@rogimedia-ig]

This comment just made my day😂😂😂😂

[@RealGoOhm]

You have a PowerPoint XD

[@trunks10k]

Clippy popped up and has a tip for you!

[@romansrule3]

Who was behind JFK's death?

[@kernsanders3973]

Go check out youtuber Veritasium on the subject. It's more of a problem with the KZbin algorithm than anything. It favors click bait thumbnails and titles. Creators have little choice but to make one of those two things or both click baity. Also go check all the biggest creators on the platform, Mr Beast, PewPiewhatever all use click bait in every video. Thats unfortunately one of the biggest factors how they got there.

[@automatic241]

@Absolutely DreadfulI assume that this is irony, otherwise: Yeeaah, that's not how that works.

[@nw5992]

its called marketing, welcome to the world of professional artists

[@Wzxxx]

Turbulence King Like all content here it is made to prove that blender is worse then anything else.

[@Spencer635]

@@Wzxxx What are you talking about? They praised blender. Did you watch the video?

[@kidehoward93]

Why limit yourself, it's smarter to use both if you can. Wholeheartedly agree

[@Gam3B0y23r0]

this right here... 3d is fucking complicated process, you must always refine your workflows and use tools which are best for things you do.. If you love Blender very much, use it as general software, compile your projects in there. but don't textur in it, or sculpt(if you are not sculpting basic stuff), there are tools for tasks like that... also If you want to do 3d, you should get over fear of complicated UI-s, ALL 3d softwares have complicated UIs... you'll learn it and it won't be hard...

[@khhnator]

still, if you can do everything in the same software productivity goes up. imagine how much time you save by doing retouchs in the same software where you are animating and rendering where you can check your result with one click instead of exporting, loading in a different program, edit, export again and load on the previous program

[@Zeriel00]

@Trantor The Troll I agree with you. I use both, but to be devils advocate, I would prefer if I could do everything in one place and if that one place was completely free unlike Zbrush and the others. You can literally carry Blender around on a pendrive and use it anywhere. You have everything you need there and it's evolving a lot faster than paid tools that have been around for decades and still haven't changed or innovated at all. They got lazy because they're the king and have no competition. Maya and Zbrush comes to mind. So If Blender comes along and passes them by then I will be moving to Blender. I love Zbrush but I'm rooting for Blender.

[@Zeriel00]

​@Trantor The Troll Yea I agree with you in that kids and students can use Blender to learn but I think it's the wrong attitude to think Maya and Zbrush are for the Pros and Blender for the Indie/Kids. That's the same mentality that has people to this day saying that apple is better for digital art than PC. It's a myth exploited by the companies to make more money. Maya may be used by pros but that is a very misleading statement. The Maya that pros in Pixar and big studios use is heavily modified with their own in house tools and it's not close to what we get out of the box. The reason that Maya is still the number one app it's not because of it's features but because it's the main platform for all the in house tools that professionals use. I learned 3D modeling with Maya and Zbrush so I'm not a Blender fanboy but I can tell you Blender is leagues better at 3D modeling out of the box than Maya. The viewport, shortcut workflow and Modifiers alone makes modeling in Maya feel ancient in comparison. As for Zbrush, Blender still has some ways to go but it's still no slouch at sculpting and it has a ton of functionality that Zbrush and Maya don't have. Maya can't sculpt, Texture paint or video editing for example and Zbrush doesn't have all the tools that come with a traditional 3D modeling package. Blender has everything in one place and it's completely free. So we need to break of that mentality Maya/Zbrush = Pros and Blender = Indie/Kids because at the rate Blender is evolving, I see less and less reason to reccomend using Zbrush or Maya every day.

[@AnonymousMachine]

@@Zeriel00 thinfoilhat.png

[@Gredran]

I like how fair this comparison is, it’s exactly what I expected from you guys :) I figured all of this stuff is DOABLE, but I was interested in how well it did. Best thing about Blender is that it’s free, so even if it suffers from lack of performance, beginners and broke guys like me can taste sculpting before getting Zbrush :)

[@JayStein777]

Get Sculptris or ZBrush Core.

[@mrmachine5632]

in 5minutes of googling you can get most softwares for free..just pay when you start earning

[@QuadPoly]

I love Blender, but the big thing for me is that Sculpting in Zbrush just feels nice. There is just something a bit off in Blender's sculpting. The way the brushes feel and polygons move around the mesh seem way more natural in Zbrush than Blender. I can't put my finger on why though.

[@walkergren4192]

I know this is two years ago but I feel exactly the same way it’s not even like they look that much better but it just feels right for some reason

[@Mae64385]

Strangely I prefer the feeling of some of the blender brushes as compared to zbrush

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Would actually love to hear how both apps in their current states can be compared. Just curious :)

[@zackxmagz6343]

Same

[@DigiFootageFX]

I have a feeling someone who has never really used Zbrush could never fully understand the depth of the features available in that software when it comes to sculpting. Blender is my favorite 3d package by far, and I use it for just about everything these days, but when it comes to production sculpting Zbrush is the clear winner. Not just over Blender, but over any software package available today. I've used Zbrush for probably 3 or 4 years now and still to this day I'm finding out things which could be done in it (features) that I never knew it was capable of. Blender is the same way in some respects. There's some real depth to the toolsets, especially when you consider the addons for it. However, those tools are not focused solely on the goal of one thing as you suggested in this video. The sole purpose of Zbrush is to be able to sculpt anything you can think of, quickly and efficiently, for professional use. All its tools are there to enhance that one purpose. There's just nothing out there like it.

[@KarelChytilArt]

You are right.

[@joechapman8208]

I don't know how so many people can be giving you so many downvotes, but I can guess. It's crazy that people get tribal about software packages, even when the criticisms you have are uncontestable! I'm still sticking with Blender because I can afford free, but thank you for shining a light on how far it has to go.

[@SunsetTheDragon]

I know this video is slightly old considering that Blender has come a bit forward since but sculpting is still really painful for me. While Blender is a very intuitive tool to use for sculpting it can't handle very high poly counts. I downloaded ZBrush trial recently and even with tutorials in front of me I'm finding it extremely difficult to get into the UI. I don't know what to do, I find sculpting fun but I just really hate the situation I'm stuck in. Pablo Dobarro is optimizing Blender so it can handle way more polygons though, I just have no idea when it will get implemented.

[@Jez2008UK]

I couldn't agree with you more. I bought zBrush over 10 years ago, and 10 years later, it's still gathering dust. I've learned something amazing.... please hear me out (I've been using 3DS Max since the mid 90's)...... around 4 weeks ago, I started learning Blender. I'm 60 years old and for a few years never thought I had it in me to learn another 3D package (as 3DS Max was hard enough), also, I hardly ever did any personal projects, I was not really too happy with years and years of Autodesk bashing and 3DS Max is clunky and unreliable, yada yada. Well, learning Blender changed all of that for me. I've never been so excited about 3D in a LONG time. I can now sculpt (okay, like a beginner, but I'm confident). What of the MANY things did this teach me? So many to list, but the one I wanted to mention was that zBrush's interface is soooooooooo intimidating, even when I took another relook into it now I can sculpt in Blender, and I'm *still* overwhelmed by that interface - yes for the pros who know it, it is amazing, but for those like me, it just continues to be way too difficult (same as 3DS Max, all those buttons, look at the Edit Poly modifier..... and yet, Blender is just so damn cool, and I'm not saying that because it's free - I donate anyway).

[@photoceano]

zbrush navigation is goofy, if i go from blender to zbrush i'm risking a convulsion

[@breadforbun]

I've used blender for a while now and I mostly sculpt in it. I'd love to try out zbrush and I'm saving up for it. I think part of the problem for people that use solely blender don't even know how good zbrush is and how great its features are. Like, you were talking about the thing with the horn and the scales? That blew my mind. I'd love to use that.

[@hookflash699]

As a Blender fanboy, I have to admit it's kind of surprising that several *crucial* features (undo & multires, for example) that were broken with 2.8 still haven't been fixed.

[@amrishpatel3501]

Are you serious, they still haven't fixed that?! :O

[@nitinsharmax129]

they are fixed in latest build

[@jonathan2260]

@@amrishpatel3501 You're response of shock that a feature is still broken leads me to believe you are expecting a lot for a free and open-source tool which still only has one developer for the sculpting feature. Companies are finally putting a lot of cash into Blender so things will hopefully move forward faster but I'd be surprised you yourself have given a dime to the Blender foundation to justify that comment. And let me make sure I'm clear, I haven't donated either as most end users. I keep telling myself I'll need to correct that one day.

[@leoleo1035]

@@jonathan2260 You're overreacting way too much.

[@justsomegirlwithamustache3391]

@@amrishpatel3501 give them some time all the 15 developers are working to fix the undo it's not an easy task At least they listen unlike zbrush team who refuses to make an industry compatible UI (and yes it's a very important thing considering that most zbrush users use at least 2 softwares)

[@JoePetrakovich]

Very fair video. I started learning blender sculpting and really like the workflow, but I was also able to get the academic discount for zbrush so I plan to learn that afterwords. I wonder if you plan to do an updated video, as I think a lot of the things you mentioned are now present in Blender 2.93. Multires layers seems to work anyway.

[@JayAnAm]

I think the main problem is that you are comparing an alpha version of a software with a released software. The sculpting features of Blender are at the moment under development, you cant compare it cause it's 2019 or 2020. For example: When the voxel remesher is feature completed in a released version, then you can compare it to Dynamesh - not before, it doesnt make sense.

[@Frozen_Death_Knight]

Blender is not an Alpha version, however. 2.81 is a fully released package which has went through both an Alpha and Beta test before getting released. That said, I agree with the part that Blender is in constant development. Blender is not developed in the same way as other 3D softwares, so you can't expect the same type of polish for a new feature out the gate the same way you would expect out of a traditional software release. It's an iterative process. Eventually you'll get there, but in smaller steps.

[@JayAnAm]

@@Frozen_Death_Knight No sorry, I disagree. This video is not about Blender and Zbrush, it is comparing sculpting in Blender and Zbrush - and the sculpting is not yet finished in Blender, it is developed atm in the 2.82 branch (and other branches that will be merged into this) - it just had been started - and the new start of the sculpting branch of Blender is why we see this video here. If it would be about Blender in general then you could compare the polygonal modeling of Blender for example (relased feature) with ZModeller (released feature) and I think we both know who would win the battle;-)

[@FlippedNormals]

It's still included in a stable release though, so it's a released feature. I totally agree. The features seem very alpha. And we hear this a lot. Just wait until version x, then blenders sculpting will take over.

[@JayAnAm]

@@FlippedNormals Well, I like your videos a lot but I have to disagree here: The reason why you made this video is that Blender started the last weeks a new sculpting development on branches which are still under development and many people see the potential of this development. Of course Blender is released and it contains parts of this development ... but that's it.If the potential in the end can compete with Zbrush - we will see - but now we can't say.

[@z_tiger311]

I totally agree, Blender has a long way to go in the sculpting departement same as in others parts but for a long time it didn't have a dedicated developer working on that specific area until very recently when Pablo showed up and started doing work for many years sculpting in Blender wasn't getting any improvements at all, while Zbrush has a whole team working year after year, so of course Zbrush is way ahead in Sculpting.. but where Blender shines is that it's improving fast and bringing new potential to the table especially if you use both Softwares...Blender can be used for both early & later stages of the process, it's has real 3D Camera which is more pleasant to work with and do blockouts, first pass on the sculpt,standard modeling & retopo tools, creating Blendshapes with proper shading & lighting, testing your final poses is way better then doing them in Zbrush.

[@nodfactor8808]

I gotta use blender because I can't afford zbrush =(

[@Cd5ssmffan]

imagine paying for software

[@nagabro5770]

@@Cd5ssmffan there is literally nothing wrong with paying for software

[@aseedlalchi5035]

You can just pirate it, go to gointopc.com to pirate zbrush

[@AMan-ct1gu]

@@nagabro5770 especially when you make money on it

[@kingzeeb319]

@@nagabro5770 Tell that to Jack Sparrow.

[@rlsvid]

For me, all of my sculpting I'm using Zbrush because it is clearly more powerful, but modeling in general I prefer Blender because has a much more efficient workflow, where you can model, texture and render on the fly.

[@hectobit]

I don't see how one release per year gives the features more time to mature. It's not like blender developers just throw out half assed features because the the next release is due.

[@ogs5276]

because they dont release things when its first ready, theres time for smaller issues and perfections to surface,

[@joelambert7128]

it's pretty easy to see how that works. Say Blender and ZBrush both just released a new version in December, it's now January and both dev teams have got a new feature barely working. The Blender team probably have until March to polish and bug-fix this new feature, before it is thrust upon the world, but the ZBrush team has a whole year to make sure it works as they want it to. Now of course, that Blender feature will probably be refined in the next few releases, until it is solid, but in reality, ZBrush will have had that feature since 2012 and it was already bulletproof when it first came out.

[@hectobit]

@@joelambert7128 But that's not how it works. Before a feature is release in a stable Blender release it is usually tested in nightly builds, alphas and betas.

[@joelambert7128]

@@hectobit that doesn't mean it gets any more time dedicated to polish, it just means the public get to use it in a buggy state: just because a bug is picked up by a member of the public using an experimental build, doesn't mean it will be fixed anymore quickly than if it was picked up by a QA tester in house at Pixologic.

[@JeremJarnex]

@@joelambert7128 is the team for blender sculpting bigger or for zbrush bigger? which team members are more valuable? how to we tell? because of the gpl we, the public, are just as much devs as Ton Roosendaal is. By my count the statistics point towards zbrush's bug-finding to e inferior. still, there's too much conjecture. We'll be here all day if we went by updates. I'll certainly admit my bias towards constant updates being better than fewer ones though.

[@hieunguyenminh8045]

I like ZBrush. Blender is pretty laggy when I sculpt.

[@ChrisD__]

2.81 got a big jump in performance, we're you using that?

[@annekedebruyn7797]

@@ChrisD__ Blender overall is not very good at handling super high poly models. While 2.81 made a jump in some areas, it's still not close to other software.

[@ChrisD__]

@@annekedebruyn7797 Yeah, I never said it was better, only not "pretty laggy".

[@annekedebruyn7797]

@@ChrisD__ But it is pretty laggy unless you are dealing with low poly models.

[@philjpark]

Would love to see that Zbrush/Blender workflow vid series you talked about!

[@mariiazatorska]

just love to listen how you guys talk about the ZBrush, itching love :) I am still learning it, crying along the way and starting to love it :)

[@CptBlaueWolke]

maybe I'm strange but i don't get the hate. All that is annyoing is that it differs much from other 3D Software in terms of shortcuts and has a sepcial UI. But so far I love it

[@JeremJarnex]

purely from a videogame / non cut-scene perspective: as far as i can tell from googling around for ten minutes, zbrush is only better if you're making lots of small details. I could be wrong but that sounds like zbrush is redundant unless you are part of a big team and your primary job is sculpting. if my sources are correct, blender introduced sculpting 8 years after zbrush's launch in 1999. It's super hard for me to believe that people like me wouldn't be holding onto zbrush in-part because of muscle memory and nostalgia and brand loyalty. as an indie dev, if i had a massive budget I still wouldn't want to stick one modeling guy on zbrush because I'd feel my money would be getting wasted on intricate things that i reckon could be skipped or circumvented. as for the "use both" approach I never want to encourage double handling. I try to see any way that I can to avoid slowing down or getting burnout or being able to save budget for team building.

[@mibdev]

The con "small team" and pro "open source" are in contradiction. Technically, Blender (and all other FOSS software) has an "unlimited" amount of developers, but let's not kid ourselves; that sadly doesn't hold up in practice and is a stretch of the imagination. The fact that I - a developer who happens to enjoy modeling - can fork blender, make a change, follow it up with a push request and then see my change on `blender-git` the next day, is what gives it - and other open source software - the ability to improve (and innovate) at speeds not possible by closed source applications. This of course doesn't mean that Blender is better for sculpting, but it does allow it to improve fast (especially compared to ZBrush's annual release cycle) and add features by demand (since if there's demand, there will be developers to fix them [I can elaborate if need be]) It's also not realistic to see a PR (Pull Request) get accepted without copious amounts of discussion first, but as said, it's still a lot faster than ZBrush and that discussion plus subsequent testing leads to a better, more polished product. The counter argument that letting a feature get developed in-house over a longer period leads to a better product seems counterproductive to me. Getting it out to real users and getting real feedback with real user experiences leads to real changes with real implications. I'm not saying you guys are wrong though. The time for exports should be improved on, and there are several other points that are very much true and "on point". ;)

[@ionflux_]

One could also say that it is a strength of Blender that its features are that structured. Objects are objects and meshes are meshes, and you can always rely on that being the case over all operations. So whenever a new feature is added, it will be (mostly) compatible with what is already there. So, instead of having 3 different convenient ways of adding meshes to a sculpt, there is one way of adding them - and they can also be used with all other features (like e.g. modifiers) - which is what makes Blender so powerful, IMO. That being said, your discussion was balanced and fair despite the clickbaity title. :)

[@samdavepollard]

to paraphrase Samuel Johnson - “Sir, Blender's sculpting tools are like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”

[@tlilmiztli]

Hahaha, that was good one :D

[@ddk505]

天秀

[@MrJustwatchin9]

Question for the creators and other users. What’s your preferred approach for creating characters? A. Creating a base mesh in a 3d modeling app and importing into zb, or B. creating the entire character from scratch in zb?

[@elena...5824]

Actually, it depends. If you're doing something personal or experimental, it would be better if you work as much as you want on a sketch and then switch into zb. But! If it's something for professional work I recommend you to have at least an idea/concept so you won't waist your time. Hope that I could help!!

[@justsomegirlwithamustache3391]

Blender may not be the best tool for pure sculpting But it's always the best tool to add some imperfections and tweaking fast when you finish modeling

[@xanderholland6086]

Which is the point of Zbrush, you're making the model that will be sent to someone to remesh and tweak in Blender or Maya for it to work properly in the project.

[@justsomegirlwithamustache3391]

@@xanderholland6086 what I meant is it has the best sculpting tools among general 3d packages so you don't need to send your donut or rock model to zbrush just to add some

[@skarlok1]

The question should be more like "How to modified blender or brushes so he can be more closer to Zbrush" How to improve performance for expample? does he use more cpu or gpu when sculpting? etc. What are other options for linux users? Can you compare sculpting in 3d Coat as well?

[@Frozen_Death_Knight]

I am of the opinion that Blender is a better concepting tool than ZBrush. It's very easy to jump in and out of the program without feeling completely lost and just start working. You also have a much better environment to mix and match 2D and 3D, allowing you to do things you just can't even do in other 3D programs (Not to mention better general modelling, retopology, and UV tools.). Where Blender falls short is in the later stages of sculpting when you need things like subdivisions to finish your work. In some cases you can use add-ons to fix some lacking features in Blender (QuadRemesher is pretty much ZRemesher since they are made by the same guy.), but the software just needs more time to grow. The devs at the Blender Foundation are pretty talented, so I am pretty optimistic about the future. 2020 is already looking very promising with things like improvements to vertex painting, bugs for MultiRes getting worked on very soon, and a polygroups system getting worked on. Until the day comes that Blender can start matching more of ZBrush's best features, it honestly makes the most sense to use both. They complement each other very well from my own experience.

[@philmehrart]

Great video, come back to it sometimes to listen while working! Would love to see an updated video on what you guys think of Blender sculpting now, and maybe the future of sculpting in this awesome software. Thanks!

[@Stylusofwonders]

First of all, I am not trying to pick up a fight or something. I am just sharing my humble opinion on the topic. I have to say that this video is extremely biased. The one thing I especially do not appreciate in a lot of comparison between software is those two words: "industry standard". Just throwing out those two words is enough to make a beginner think that the "industry standard" application is the most powerful and best one available there for the job. That is simply not always true. One might say that photoshop is the industry standard for painting but reality is that photoshop in itself isnt really a painting software and they are definetely better applications for painting like clip studio paint. Anyways let's get back to our main topic. Sure they are some things zbrush is better at than blender, but seriously if one takes time to learn blender I think one might prefer it to zbrush. It's a matter of what you've been using the most. If one has been using zbrush professionally for at least 18 years while once in a while trying blender, of course one is gonna say zbrush is better . I myself tried both and though I spent more time using zbrush, I have to say in my experience blender has become better, especially for creating stylised things. (Like disney style) 😐 Maybe if you want to create a model with immense level of details then zbrush might be the best choice. The thing is, it is not fair to compare only blender sculpting mode to zbrush. If you add all other blender modes, blender surpasses zbrush for modeling, posing, rendering and even texturing. I won't even list the incredible addons made by the community to make blender more powerful and super fast. In the end what I'm trying to say is you should not trash blender this way. It might not be fully optimized yet for production but I guarantee that when it does, a lot of people are gonna switch to blender and it is already happening. Trust me, I have been talking to some professionals who told me that for what they do blender is better and faster than zbrush. To put an end to this super long comment 😬😡😕, I believe Each person should give them a fair amount of time then decide for themselves, what is best for them.

[@DerekWicks]

A lot of us are die hard blenders!

[@yofadhli]

we got udims now on 8.2 i mean maybe not now, but i believe in the future blender could be the all in one tool. and it wont be even too long in the future just wait half a year and you would see tremendous improvement in the sculpting environment.

[@FlippedNormals]

Exactly the point we make in the video. Sculpting is getting better and better. But a lot of features are still missing. And will for a long time

[@jordanjenkins246]

How do you think blender sculpting compares to mudbox sculpting ? Is it the same thing where mudbox is made just for sculpting so it is better? I cant get the hang of zbrush so I use mudbox ag the moment

[@FlippedNormals]

Stick to mudbox in that case

[@jordanjenkins246]

@@FlippedNormals ok, thanks for replying, much appreciated :)

[@OSKESIS]

I love zbrush becoz so far it doesnt kills my PC as i level up polygons 😂😍 but i love blender too

[@trodat07]

You two sound like Linus talking about Intel vs AMD a few years ago, before the Zen series. Not only he praised Intel, he also made it look for the unaware audience that AMD didn't work for gaming at all. ZBrush is a dedicated tool for sculpting but Blender can do the job too, with very similar results depending on the model.

[@alexkt3400]

@Trantor The Troll Any MMA fighter would wipe the floor with an expert on a single martial art, that was s bad example on your part. It inadvertedly held some truth tho; Blender is probably the future of content creation for smaller studios and indie teams, exactly because it's a jack of all trades. Why bother learning all that dedicated software when you can do the same job just as easily on a single piece of software that does it all?

[@jonathan2260]

I think something that is often forgotten is why is Blender a general-purpose 3D package? Ask yourself this, is there a Zbrush for Linux? Blender is the only good software to sculpt from a Linux point of view. This is also why Blender has a VSE because, for a long time, that was the only good option out there from a Linux point of view to create your movies from the rendered files. Maybe if there had been an open-source z-brush alternative out there at the time Blender started to do sculpting, maybe the developers would have passed on that feature in Blender.

[@bestboy007]

if flippednormals says blender is a all in one package, thus its not good in anything, thus zbrush is better than blender. this then also means maya is better in everything.

[@jonathan2260]

@@bestboy007 you read my post but failed to understand it. Zbrush and Maya being better is irrelevant. The reason Blender has these tools is because there are no equivalent to tools like zbrush in the Linux os.

[@MaxPuliero]

amazing! this is probably the first time I agree with you guys. (btw blender has mask tools and you can smooth it with the smooth brush to get less even smoothing effect)

[@FlippedNormals]

Happy to hear it Max. It's been nice to see some more basic masking features getting implemented. And setting them up with hotkeys makes them a lot faster to work with

[@mustafaozturk3343]

@@FlippedNormals Check 2.83, there is a pie menu for sculpting brushes.

[@mustafaozturk3343]

@@FlippedNormals wad

[@seboritter]

Blender cant really handle the high poly workflow like ZBrush does. I like using it as an addition therefore but that really works well.

[@joao_belmont]

This is a very interesting topic. I´ve come to blender after being a zbrush cowboy for 7 years. Let me state that Blender is an awesome software, and it´s humbling to know how little zbrushers actually know about 3D. So it´s been a super cool learning experience, diving into cameras, lighting, render, shading, etc. SUPER recommended for all zbrush users. THAT BEING SAID, I do miss my zbrush tools/and how light my sculpts feel in zbrush (I´m on a ryzen 5 3600/32gb ram/2070 super). Also, I´m not really a texture artist per se (substance/quixel), and I love the freedom zbrush gives me to work ON the mesh. So, I´m keeping Blender and I´m also going back to zbrush at the same time!

[@disruptive_innovator]

Thank you for a straightforward video about Blender's current sculpt features. It's frustrating to sift through both the Blender new release hype and the Zbrush hype to find an accurate current feature evaluation. The fact that Blender subdivision and multires is unusably different than Zbrush does not really become apparent until you dive into their bug reports. I hope you guys continue to do these kind of direct professional usability comparisons in the future. I hope knowing the big problems will help Blender get better as its users become more aware of them. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou!

[@FinalDriveGame]

I use blender, zbrush and Maya actually. Zbrush for sculpting, Maya for retopo, and Blender for the real-time stuff. Id use unreal but blender loads faster

[@mattykrosschell9046]

all blender needs in my opinion is hole cutting ability's and mesh merging ability's (not boolean operations those are broken or all 3d softwere and don't you dare argue) it needs to merge things the way dynamesh does

[@velocelt]

I'm interested in learning a digital sculpting program, but after watching this video I'm still not sure which would be the better choice for me. Right now, my sole reason for learning a sculpting program is to create models to 3D print. My chief interest is going to be sculpting fossil skulls/bones, but also sculpting models of living animals/people that could be 3D printed. For example, with something like a fossil skull of a dinosaur, I'd want to be able to achieve a realistic texture of the rock-like appearance. With something like sculpting a figure - say something like a mini or larger scale figure with clothes/armor/etc, again I'd like to be able to simulate the texture of clothes, armor, fur, etc. I don't have the money to purchase a full version of Zbrush, but I see that for a substantial difference in price there is Zbrush Core (and even the free Zbrush Core Mini). Of course Blender is free, but a lot of the features I'd currently have no use for - animation for example. The obvious learning-curve differences between the two programs have me wondering as well. I guess, could I realistically get some decent results sculpting things with good texture for 3D printing output with Blender, and as you're saying, maybe justify that Zbrush Core subscription or maybe even the much higher price tag for the full version later on? Thoughts, suggestions?

[@MR3DDev]

I think the videos of "(Industry standard tool) vs Blender" are pointless. If you are a hobbyist (I used to be one before getting a job in the industry) use whatever is more affordable for you for what you want to create. If you want a job in the industry you need to use industry standard software. Yes, skills are transferable, but HR departments (and some art directors) will pass on your resume if they don't see Zbrush or Maya or Max or Substance on your resume. If all you have in the software section of your resume is Blender you are going to have a very hard time getting a job.

[@quellessence5232]

I agree with your point. For hobbyists or freelancers a cheaper all around package could be better. I personally started sculpting in blender ( purely hobbyists), however after using the free trial for zbrush, I personally think Zbrush is just way faster and fun and smooth to use for just purely sculpting. And now that they have subscriptions its a bit more affordable too. ( for now at least).

[@MR3DDev]

@@quellessence5232 Yes, but the reason I did not included freelancer in my comment was because of the myth that freelancers have to pay for software and this isn't true. You build the software price into your hourly rate, so the cost never comes out of pocket.

[@AdamMann3D]

@@MR3DDev when doing freelance i keep my painter subscription when i don't have work. So i don't really agree here.

[@MR3DDev]

Adam Mann well that is your desicion to keep paying for software. When I was doing only freelance I would bill for a year subscription on the big jobs, tht way I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the smaller things. If you also live in the US you can write off the software expenses on your taxes, which is like not paying for it in a way. I am not criticizing what you do, but I get many students on my class with the “paying for software” argument which is not true because you can use the ways I explained before. As for portfolio stuff, I used student version back in the day before I started getting jobs which were either free or fairly cheap. Unfortunately perpetual licenses are dying, but tht was another good way of getting the software part out of the bill equation. I alredy own perpetual licenses for many software that I could use in case I don’t have a job that pays to update them.

[@z_tiger311]

It depends on your specialty though if you are a Storyboard/Concept Artist,Animator,layout Aritst..etc u don't need to know all these tools a killer portfolio is the key but for Technical/Production Artists like Riggers, Character/Environment Artists then you have to master the industry standard ,but I think Blender will slowly be adopted in the Industry after getting away from the awkward phase it had & should improve it's toolset to be good and polished as the commercial one, because right know it's still feel lacking that power and high refinement to be one of the Industry tools.

[@adrianarman5186]

love how this video feels like i'm doodling while the teacher's explaining - and for some reason it's making me understand the conversation much better! great bit of info guys, thank you so muchhh

[@pugo7925]

I really agree with your point here. what a silly question

[@pugo7925]

I don't use Zbrush because I don't sculpt very much. For me blender is agreat tool tho.

[@wayfarerzen]

I use both because zbrush's sculpting and painting is more impressive but then i just export to blender for all the rendering and rigging and tweaking

[@itsLindell]

Oh come on what is this cheesy clickbait title?

[@daniboiyy]

What, you don't like cheese or something? I'll see my self out:(

[@mohitrahaman]

@@daniboiyy i hate yt titles that end with a question mark? or do i?

[@solrax6026]

It's a title.. who care. It asks a question that some may have and they answer in the video. Well I feel they answer this titled question

[@zigfaust]

@@mohitrahaman find out today on this episode of Mind Field!

[@justsomegirlwithamustache3391]

@@mohitrahaman music starts playing

[@dannywaterss]

I really like the interface and controls in blender, but sometimes I just have to use zbrush (remesher in most)

[@krystalfinlinson8517]

I have only just started trying to learn digital scultpting and I was really intimidated by the cost of zbrush, so I was really happy to find such a relatively powerful tool for free so that I can learn what I'm doing without feeling like I'm throwing money away on software I can't take advantage of yet.

[@FlippedNormals]

And that's where blender is perfect. Maybe you get a feel for it and really like it. If it's something you want to pursue professionally down the line, then consider getting zbrush

[@kayosiiii]

There is another pretty serious drawback for zbrush, If your primary OS is Linux then there is no Zbrush for you. Also you have an alternative for inserts early in the process, object mode, add object, select both objects, Ctrl + j, sculpt mode, remesh.

[@digitalspecter]

Yup, that's Blender's killer feature for me. Fortunately Blender is very good :)

[@Clases3d]

I agree with you, I like to use blender and zbrush but I also like 3d coat for hadsurface, for retopo and painting, what is the problem?

[@filippek8369]

Are you guys willing to do an update on this topic soon?

[@GavinBall]

Can you do a comparison of 3D Coat? I love that software, but I'm curious about your take. 3D Coat doesn't have a traditional subdivision workflow, which I'd like to see them implement, but it does a lot of things are programs can't do.

[@tomatopotato2508]

Gavin Ball it actually has sort of subdiv workflow

[@GavinBall]

@@tomatopotato2508 You mean with decimation?

[@seragx99]

It's nice to see this detailed level of analysis from the working pros. But regardless of monetary value, and taking your "right now" state of art approach, Blender is right now giving tools and formation expertise to thousand of young creative people across the world. If we go to the speculative approach and if things keep the way it is, these kids will do great things with this tool and will eventually drop it on the basis of pipeline and working constraints. Regardless I think what Blender is doing right now in regards of talent shaping is priceless.

[@amini011]

main issue I have with blender is the remesh and performance with it. I heard multiple times that zbrush has better performance in there, if thats so that's mainly what i need for baking proper normals without subdivision artefact.

[@Yanomeko1]

UDIMs are in the experimental build right now and works pretty gracefully. Vertex Paint Tools are gaining more depth a well, Polygroups is in development and will appear in alpha soon too. I agree with the MULTIMESH issue, its holding Blender Sculpting back the most. I echoed this to new Blender users before hearing it here. Something about the core 3d object data needs redesigning to be more fit for sculpting projects is something Pablo Dobarro mentioned. Ultimately - Blender's recent gain of large patrons and 2.8's impressive evolution will show an explosive improvement in every corner of it by mid 2020. Exciting timeline to be in.

[@keikurono808]

I like the blender and if I want to use more detail, I just go into the GOB and finish the details in ZBRUSH.

[@Marcel2278]

I'm no expert in zbrush but i have tried it and you guys are right, blender is the closest to zbrush in terms of feel and i think that's where a lot of the comparisons stem from, but I know zbrush has way mor tools and can do way more with regards to just scripting. Its like in dnd, the barbarian is designed to just be the tank and a fighter can do everything as well as tank but just because the fighter is a class that exists doesn't mean the barbarian is an irrelevant choice or a worse tank. They have different skill sets so they are different classes even if they can perform some of the same functions.

[@Ironpants57]

This video was an awesome and fair comparison. Whats weird is that people thinks the title is too clickbaity. Actually.. This phrase comes up quite often in groups, plus "X vs Y, but D.. D is better".. So it's not really a surprise or at least it shouldn't, unless you're new or been in under a rock.. Every single forum/community/discord has a VS topic.

[@MaheerKibria]

Zbrush is honestly my least favorite 3D tool because of the sheer amount of time I had to spend learning the tool. Almost every other tool came naturally to me. I still have trouble with the Zbrush interface. I think that is a large part of why people keep asking if Blender is finally good enough to replace ZBrush. I think Blender will catch up and surpass Zbrush eventually in the meantime I will just have to just deal with it or maybe ZBrush like blender will realize their UI needs a revamp and they will make it more intuitive. But I am not holding my breath for either to happen

[@EvilMP5]

Painter is older than Zbrush. It was the first vertex painter. You should do a comparison of 3D Coat and Zbrush.

[@MrJustwatchin9]

I think the blender developers have a very interesting opportunity to rival z brush based on its ui. Since z brush lacks that industry standard ui blender could eventually make improvements in sculpt mode and gain momentum. I just started using blender like a month ago and I like being able to create a base mesh in object and edit mode and then switch to sculpt mode within the app very quickly as opposed to exporting and then importing into another software. But adding objects in z brush into the main mesh is very seamless as opposed to having to go into object mode place it into the sculpt and then switch back to sculpt mode.

[@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608]

I have yet to see blender work that mirror what you can do with zbrush.

[@Damian_DH]

these blender madman are always trying to beat anything xD chill guys.

[@robertban871]

are there any 3rd party UI upgrade for zBrush? or why have there not been any made yet? i imagine it would be a great help and must have for zBrush users

[@joshua42777]

I'm just getting into sculpting blender looks good to start with

[@jinxatron]

This is a very fair comparison, and at this point in time blender's sculpting is very basic but improving. However, I find it very impressive that one developer in the scope of around..8-10 months, have taken blenders sculpting pre 2.8 which was not only basic but highly flawed in a lot of ways, and then completely refurbished it in such a short time. At the time of writing blender 2.82 is in alpha (Beta?) and has another wave of fixes and new improved brushes, along with the new sculpting core API. So, all in all, I would say Blender does have and will have a lot of pull in the sculpting department, Even if it have little chance of becoming the major sculpting suite. One thing I'm thinking tho, Zbrush can handle 100s of millions of polygons, and that is amazing. However isn't a lot of those detail things that are slowly moving from being sculpted in actual geometry, and then being replaced by using programs like Quixel or substance and adding it after the baking by painting it on? I usually feel that sculpting such small high frequency details is a waste of time, since it can more often than not be easier to add it in substance painter.

[@ProjectAtlasmodling]

jinxatron i think blender's pre 2.8 sculpting, despite it's problems was a good if not solid base to work from. which probably helps a lot with it's development pulse the community turns one person into a full team in a way.

[@sweetestgravy9880]

You did this without dynatopo???

[@JonLauArt]

I'm glad this came out. As someone who wants to get into 3d sculpting I was wondering whether to bite the bullet and get zbrush or can I learn basics with just blender just to see if I even like it. Will I have to nut up and buy zBrush? Eventually, if I even like sculpting that is.

[@JBoehmGames]

I wouldn't, given ZBrush's abhorrent price tag ($40/mo or $895 lifetime). If you're just looking to do 3D as a hobby or to learn the basics, using Blender and maybe purchasing a small 3D course taking you through the blender workflow is probably the way to go. You can get a healthy amount of information for probably $40-50

[@marioandresruiz2294]

Can you guys make a video talking about 3d coat, what works what doesn't and if it's worth buying? I know it's not as powerful as zbrush but it can be very helpful in the beginning for concepting and ideation. I'm looking to buy either zbrush or 3d coat in the near future and would like to hear your taken on them. thank you

[@bobwmcgrath]

I would say that, when it comes to deciding which tool to learn, features that blender doesn't have yet* matter a lot.

[@MartinMalorni]

@flippednormals would you recommend learning to model with Sculptris or Blender considering an eventual switch to ZBrush?

[@RomboutVersluijs]

PS what format are we talking about when you talked about exporting from BLender? It would really depeond on what exporter your using i guess

[@pipeliner8969]

Will you ever have a chance to make a studio tour at Pixologic and talk to actal Pixologic developers?

[@alocanushini563]

the main reason I dont use substance and zbrush is shortcuts. really, why I cant tweak navigation keys in substance. I should learn a complete new thing.

[@Zeriel00]

What do you use instead of substance? Mari costs a fortune and Quixel seems to have dropped off the map. There aren't any real alternatives and that's why Adobe bought it to push their monopoly.

[@vi8799]

Blender pushes hard in this direction. I’m glad that we can at least compare blender with industrial software and it not looks as a complete looser. Even at this moment blender sculpt can have a lot of applications, or as a good rough sketch before zbrush to polish.

[@JayAnAm]

It's just too early to compare. The sculpting features' development has just been started yet - when it's completed and polished, I will do a comparision video:-)

[@Kozzren]

As a person really interested in interring the field for 3d asset artist, which 3d modeling software would you recommend for professional use?

[@ronthehybrid]

I love zbrush but that remesh in blender made things so much easier. In 2.81 sculpting is real comfortable. Only thing I want that zbrush has that I feel is important is the layer system for sculpting.

[@Magic-Mark]

Maybe it is possible in the future for one person like Pablo, to keep up with Z-Brush cause he already got Z-Brush as a kind of Blueprint.

[@nl1125]

Do you use a wacom when your sculpting or a mouse? I am new to the 3d world.

[@FlippedNormals]

A mix of wacom, huion and xp-pen. Some are regular tablets, others are screen tablets. But never a mouse

[@nl1125]

@@FlippedNormals Thank you!

[@AdamEarleArtist]

How many Devs are there working ZBrush?

[@Zeriel00]

I started 3D with Maya and Zbrush. I went for the best in the industry and never considered Blender real competition. 5 years later here I am using Blender and Zbrush and now slowly gravitating towards Blender alone. The thing with Zbrush is the same as Maya. It's the industry standard, it's the king at what it does BUT there's a lot of downsides and caveats to that. Let's just ignore the fact that Zbrush costs around 700$ and Maya you would never own until Autodesk owns your soul and your first born when Blender is completely free and you can download it on Steam. One thing a lot of people ignore is that Zbrush is not really a 3D program. It uses Pixols, it's a 2D image simulating 3D and that's why it can easily handle millions of polygons easily making it the king but there's also a huge weakness to this. Once you have your several million poly sculpt with skin pores and everything, you realize that it's completely useless. You have to completely remake it into a useable mesh for Animation or posing in a 3D scene. You have to Retopologize it, UV map it, Texture it, Rig it etc. etc. that's when Zbrush fails and becomes a huge pain. Not only is the Zbrush interface a nightmare to most people but anything besides sculpting is barely usable at best. I wouldn't be caught dead using Zmodeler or Zspheres for Retopo or that UV paint/Unwrap thing. So you NEED a good 3D app to continue. That's where Blender comes in. It may not be able to handle the several million polygons of Zbrush with ease but if you don't need to make a photorealistic sculpt or work for a AAA game do you really need to? Blender allows you to go from sculpt to 3D modeling to rigging to animation to render with incredible ease. It even has some basic texture painting tools that you can easily export into Photoshop if you need to. You can build BSDF materials that can easily export to UE4 or Unity and your sculpt will look the same on both places. The interface is also a lot easier to use and it's a lot faster to get from sculpt to finished product on Blender. Finally, Blender is evolving a LOT faster than Maya and Zbrush. It may not be there right now but who is to say in a couple more years? The sculpting tools already have cloth brushes and posing tools that Zbrush doesn't have. I love Zbrush and have been using it my whole life. It's the first 3D related software I learned but every day it seems Blender is becoming the future and even as it is now it's amazing that a free app that you can carry with you anywhere on a pendrive compete with full fledge software that cost thousands of dollars. I think I will keep a close eye on Blender and start migrating over from Zbrush. Having everything I need in one place is just really appealing to me.

[@intech7863]

Amen

[@swrutra]

Your comment is exactly what I was looking for, when trying to figure out whether Zbrush is for me or not. Thanks for ridding me of a big doubt. Discarding Zbrush, now I just need to figure out if Substance Painter and Marvellous Designer are still worth it in their fields of specialization. Or... is Blender the single tool a hobbyist will ever need to model/sculpt, texture-paint and even dress up characters?

[@MrJustwatchin9]

I prefer the the blender ui over zbrush. But I haven’t used zbrush very much. I’m hoping blender catches up but as a free application it probably won’t unless they have more developers that sell add-ons. But for anyone who is looking into zbrush core don’t waste your money. You’re better off using sculptris or blender for free. You can export and import objects in. While for zbc, you’re paying 200 just to get familiar with the ui. It’s practically a demo that doesn’t expire.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

What i did really get was the part where they said, multi res is broken. When they showed it in the video it looked like it was working fine? Not sure though, i dont sculpt so i cant really say

[@RomboutVersluijs]

You can get that addon for blender which is about the same code as the remesher in Zbrush. Its actually made by developper. Not sure how he got that licensed, perhaps the core of the code is different. But ive read super great stuff about his work. Its just to bad he ask so much money for it

[@RomboutVersluijs]

I belive he stated at one point he would put the code in the open and contribute back to Blender. Guess the money was to good :( At one point i can understand this, he needs to live and make money as well. I just find $100-200 frkn overkill!

[@disurty3952]

Where’s the thumbnail from?

[@JBeestonian]

You guys have been working on that same Cave troll for years now

[@HanSolocambo]

I read somewhere they plan to finish it around 2050.

[@Luxalpa]

Practice makes perfect

[@OSKESIS]

Do you know what is better than both zbrush and blender? Is GoZ and GoB..

[@albinoraven8087]

I sculpt figures for 3d printing for personal tabletop use Always used blender and jeez I was so confused when I tried zbrush at a friend's house felt like a newbie XD Anyway the new pose brush is a real time saver for me since I don't need to do animations even though sometimes messes the mesh up

[@Prinzherbert]

Blender has recently entered version 2.8, and it's still in heavy development. The changes from 2.8 to 2.81 were already huge, so I can see it getting better and better in the future.

[@FlippedNormals]

We're really excited to see where it goes from here!

[@timedriverable]

Thanx for a really in depth comparison.I actually use both.

[@علیامیری-خ7ي]

Hey guys I want to learn zbrush and blender and 3d modeling I wanna know can i use them as main job? I mean can i make money from that??

[@sergsergesrgergseg]

yes

[@JonathanPriceArt]

All I want to do is learn to make stylized 3D figures for printing. I'm not interested in animation or making games with 3D assets or anything like that. I already have ZBrushCore but I find there aren't many tutorials specifically focused on its limited toolset, and I find myself either trying to substitute what videos show in main ZBrush or trying to self-teach. But I'm not used to using Blender at all and navigating in that software is pretty awkward for me. I don't know if I should keep trying to get good enough with Core, study Blender or pony up for main ZBrush.

[@hadashatuka8280]

You guys are hilarious, love your videos! Tnx for the info! ♥

[@nw5992]

Blender competing has lit a fire under Zbrush's butt a bit, which is awesome because it led to Sculptris Pro, speaking of they need to add support for that when the mesh is partially hidden, Blender has supported that for years now.

[@adorethered]

As a non professional, I look at most things in this way. I compare the price to benefits ratio of most things I purchase since I am on a pretty tight budget. So obviously Maya and Max are out same with substance now that perpetual licenses are a thing of the past. However Zbrush still has a perpetual license (who knows for how long though the way the industry is heading when it comes to commercial creative products). The perpetual license for zbrush as of my research today is 895 dollars. The question that MOST people who would have clicked on this video should ask is "Do the benefits of using zbrush over blender (or similar products) justify the cost of the license?" I have a feeling that most people who would click on this video are beginners otherwise there wouldn't be much question which is better for sculpting. Yes at the end of the day zbrush has many cool features that are either new in blender (like udims) or just better implemented like the faster imports and exports, remeshing etc. But as a beginner on the topic, I suspect that they would appreciate the lower cost to entry for blender. Again if you're already a major professional I'm almost certain your studio probably uses zbrush so it's not even an issue. But if you're a hobbyist, low budget indie, or learner. I'd go with blender. Yes it's a bit slower when you're iterating 30 versions of a character for your boss. But I really think the people who searched this topic don't have a boss yet. and if they do, then why are they on this video? At the end of the day, compare the cost to usefulness ratio based on the feature differences and your own needs/skill level. I'd also point out that at the beginning, when you listed the pros and cons in a list format you put "better feel" 2 times in zbrush's pros category. That's not a real quantifiable feature. Feel comes from familiarity, ask any musician about their instrument. You'll find that most of them like the "feel" of an instrument even if it's quantifiably worse (pick up design tone woods, ergonomics etc) feel is ENTIRELY subjective. as are several of the things like "industry standard" you pointed out. Because the industry is an ever changing and evolving thing. In 10 years neither one of these products may exist. If you're learning. go cheap, as you improve, consider more expensive options.

[@EliaForce1984ita]

What about 3D Coat and Mudbox?

[@aviksaha2746]

From my perspective, community is where blender takes the lead. Most software more or less does the same thing by some or other trick. The industry standard is frequently thrown because free Lance weren't popular back and the troubleshooting feedback was present inside the workshop. And people don't like to move.

[@ProjectAtlasmodling]

Artisan it's also the free movement of ideas and the way blender's community has developed. any open source software realise heavily on it's community. If the community fails it dose and if the software takes on it's community's attitude as it's personality. there a lot more to it than that but still

[@flamefeather01]

How about zbrush vs 3dcoat? Or othee sculpting softwares?