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Hi Melissa, it is under Advanced tab , you need to add the path if you don't have it there, or change to Zbrush2021 folder in Program Files if the path points to Zbrush2020 or early versions
Thanks, Cath! Worked perfectly.
Edit: Thanks Phoenix1966 as well. :)
I gave up on GoZ years ago
obj export import works fine
oh and don't use dynamics on fibermesh
it all falls out
Oh really, what fibermesh you talk about, the one from Zbrush or DS , the one in Zbrush works fine with dynamics , just don't convert it to obj or it will be too big for simulation that have limited count of poly , the roots need to be masked to works proper. in DS I don't know since did not played enough yet with the hair and d-force to have opinion
Happy to hear that !
just in Zbrush with fibermesh created on the figure
yes masking would work it I could just nicely paint it just on the roots,
it won't let me morph to UV though on fibermesh, is greyed out
I do that for DS obj imports by creating a surface in Ultimate Unwrap 3D at the roots using the fibermesh UV to select the first segment, works with Carrara hair converted to mesh with Philemo's plugin too.
is terribly heavy though to simulate as not curves like the PA only strandbased Dforce options but yes I do do it.
load your figure to Zbrush, create the hair, run simulation and then export as obj , if you keep and safe your orginal fibermesh project , you can make as many different simulations on the same hair you want , that how I do Unshaven facial hair , you can even load basic transmapped hair and do the same, the cape and roots need to be masked before so it don;t slide
also go slow with the simulation in Zbrush, how faster you do how more elastic it will be and destroy the UVs too much , so give it a time to calculate
Hmmmm, OK not with this new cloth function in zBrush is it competitive with designing clothing in Marvelous Designer 9.5? I need to find out if it is becase I have a choice next month to buy the Marvelous Designer 9.5 perpetual licence for $490 or the zBrush 2021 perpetual license for $890. Of course I know zBrush can do a lot more but as it turns out I'm actually not super interested in a lot more (having 5200 DAZ 3D products ill have that effect) but I am interested in making original clothing and editing existing models but that can be done in Blender sufficiently for my purposes so really I'm interesting in how making clothing compares between the two. Any of you actually have both and tried back already in this early zBrush 2021 stage? (I guess I can save up & buy zBrush at a later date as well too as it's not like Marvelous Designer's perpetual license that is going to become unavailable sometime between mid September to mid October, I was told though by MD support that MD perpetual license will not be going on sale before it goes away so it's $490 or nothing).
The new base of creating dynamic clothing in Zbrush is much easier than MD but that is my personal opinion only since I have made clothing in Zbrush since Genesis 1 and use Zbrush since the beginning of it, you need to be interested in more, other way you will never make anything in Zbrush that offer amazing tools that MD don't. Best way to use demo or free core of Zbrush and see how it works for you , I tried MD long time ago but it never "speak" to me and I still needed Zbrush to edit it the way I want ,and I know how to make clothing in real life , so the decision here is only yours and the truth is that when newbie open Zbrush he or she will not be able to do anything with it until learning the basics at last, and since there are not yet deep tutorials on the new features , you will not be able to learn quick if you never used it to make anything . Try the Zbrush core mini, it is free and see how you feel working with it, for some it feels natural, for others it is NO to go.
As always, the programs don't make stuff for you, you have to do it .
Don't MD allow a monthly subscription now ?
Thanks. Both have monthly subscriptions now already but like some will only buy a zBrush perpetual subscription, some will only buy a MD perpetual subscription. There are some people that refuse to buy a subscription for any software. Myself that doesn't bother me but the fact of the matter is I can't afford more subscriptions right now as I'm paying $25 a month to swim laps at the local pool and $12 a month to the Blender Foundation. The Blender Foundation sub though is just a 'thanks' to them as I don't have to have an actual subscription to use Blender.
I will buy the MD perpetual before that offer gets yanked and it does offer upgrades up to MD 12, and possibly will buy zBrush next year, althought $890 is so expensive it will like take two years to save that as there are other things to do with $890 on my meager budget than zBrush. Now that I've saved and built a computer that can actually run either of them it's exciting to be able even have the opportunity to use such SW. Blender is good and much improved too but my experience sculpting with it is why I chose MD over zBrush as I'm not a talented digital sculptor at all.
To be honest, I still have both. My first thought was "OOH YEAH THIS WILL ELIMINATE MY NEED FOR MD", but in actuality I've found I like to do certain things better in each application. I know it may sound like an elitist answer, because they're both not cheap, but I just prioritize building over buying assets so it's just a matter of where you put your money. I only say that to put it in context... I'm very much a hobbyest, not a professional, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.
ZBrush is amazing at either building up core shapes and pieces VERY QUICKLY (especially when they require less precision, although it can do precise as well). Because of that, it's also really adept at making fast changes to meshes and creating morphs for both hard surface and organic things. It can make clothes, but it can also make amazing accessories, organic and hard surface, and you can retopologize, and paint, and render, and morph, and combine, and split... it's my go-to for any models that need "fixing" for my purposes, and I can do anything I need to with it. Just because I'm comfortable with it, though, doesn't mean it's the best tool for the job all the time.
Marvelous Designer, however, has a very specific focus and (in my opinion) is still king when it comes to overall clothing design with a generalist approach. What I mean by this is that all of the tools are geared towards and specifically designed to facilitate the creation of clothing. For instance, I can use MD to knock out a quick outfit, or a quick clothing accessory, when needed, but that's pretty much it. I also find that the default simulation settings are immediately ideal for creating wrinkles, settling loose clothing, and getting a natural look. It isn't that you can't do this with ZBrush, just that the default settings are already set for you so... again... preconfigured to be ideal for creating clothes.
At the end of the day, you can make and customize clothes with both applications, as they each have overlapping functions. ZBrush, however, has a crap-load more features and options availble to you as it's also a full-fledged modelling software (not just for organic stuff, mind you), but the learning curve is steep and if your primary focus is clothing it may not be the best option for you. @MEC4D is exactly right... they feel different and one will speak to your inner artist more. For me, it's ZBrush as wel, which is why I'm obviously so excited about the inclusion of dynamics, however I don't see myself trashing MD any time soon as I still use both.
It's a long post, I know, but I also know how frustrating it is to hear "just test them and find out for yourself", so I tried to give that answer some context. In the end, though, it comes down to your expecations from the program, as well as expectations for the learning curve, and what feels right to you... IMO there's room for both. I also use Substance Painter, though, so maybe I'm just a name-brand junkie. I've had a million people tell me to save my money and learn Blender but... alas... I took my own advice here and just went with my gut haha.
MD caters to tailors/fashion designers with its pattern and sewing approach. I imagine the new features in ZBrush could hurt them a bit, my guess is that the vast majority of MD users are actually not tailors but just CG people that had to learn that aspect because they needed realistic clothes for their characters. Those same people very likely already use ZBrush anyway so if they can do it in there why go to MD.
Actually you weren't that long-winded as you can't explain something so complex with few words. I'm just a hobbyist too I am a programmer by profession but if I'm not being paid to code I not interested in doing a lick of coding unless I am really motivated by the technical qualities of the code I'd be writing so I very infrequently code.
I apprecite MECD's and your advice. A look a my post count will tell you I've bought a boat load of DAZ 3D models because I want the flexibility and habitually varicate when I have tasks to do where one doesn't get rewarded for being the 1st to finish or most technically accurate as is my situation now. So I'm happy that varicating (not that I plan to varicate, it just happens) does have some small reward as DAZ Studio, Poser, Blender, compute power have all been very much improved; and my artistic choices and possibilities much improved too. Or at least the artistic choices available have improved as looking back at some of my old artistic choices that I thought were good and weren't, I'm still not satisfied my current choices are that great but they do seem to have at least improved quite a bit from back then at least. My key now are shader materials I like stylistically as the geometry availability is 99% there.
For now, I have pretty much settled on two styles of 3D models to use. Both are toon styles and won't be used in the same game / animation but different ones as the styles clash together in the same scene. However the number of different faces those 3D models supply isn't enough for my liking so I was thinking of getting zBrush 2021 instead of MD 9.5 to make edits since it added the improved help cloth modeling but ultimately being able to make clothing quickly and in high quality that I need to make my scenes that isn't ever going to show up for sale in the DAZ Store means I need to buy MD instead. The clothing I need to make for me scenes is actually more important than the number of unique bodily representions of people in my scenes.
So more varicating but you all have been a big help.
I couldn't figure out MD at all but both times I had trials I also ended up having other dramas in my life that got in the way.
Zbrush took me years too but I had bought it so eventually learnt more.
Both do stuff completely different and one may suit someone more than another so hard to say except try both.
Honestly though I have modeled more clothes in the vertex room in Carrara than any other program, for what clothing I personally make.
The new was of making dynamic clothing in Zbrush2021 start very closer to MD , you need to have a pattern , then "sewing " it , inflate, and run gravity simulation , making pattern is very easy , I think you gonna have fun with it Wendy .
Am I right in thinking that the "core" product doesn't support GOZ which seems, for some, to be a big factor in the DAZ Studio - ZBrush workflow?
It's not for me, right now... LOL...
In all seriousness, I think that it does not just as you say. Honestly, if you're only planning on doing stuff with geometry, manually importing/exporting isn't that big of a deal. Sure, it's more convenient when GoZ works, but it's no showstopper if it doesn't.
I use Zbrush for everything but texturing. I've never used GoZ.
Ok, thanks for the insight. I use Blender for morphs (usually fixing poke through and fitting clothing to my oddly shaped characters) but the process of exporting OBJ files is a bit tedious for me whareas a one-click GoZ (or rather, GoB) would be a time saver. Not, as you say, a showstopper but I'd like to have that option. Apart from the impressive cloth addition to ZBrush 2021, I can't really see a reason to splash money on ZBrush when Blender is fine for my sculpting needs, especially as I already have an underused Marvelous Designer 8 sleeping in my Program Files. I think the GPU upgrade I'm pining for still lays claim to my hobby budget.
Has anyone ever found a work around when goz crashes DS, to be able to reopen the saved file then GoZ without wrecking everything? It's so annoying to have to redo so much work because of a stupid crash, especially when you save in DS right before sending to ZB so everything should be the same.
That why I use GOZ only for quick fixes or tests, final morphs and files always imported manually , just to be safe .
You need to save the project in Zbrush as well or the cache will change and nothing will be the same . safe the project before exporting to DS, and if DS crash you can reopen your saved files and send it back or replace again in Zbrush. If the link between Zbrush and DS crash and you sending stuff again to ZB, it don't matching the cache and Zbrush handle it as a new stuff replacing your subtools , I hope it is the answer you where looking for.
Didn't you used to make stuff for Poser Joe? If so how did you successfully export and import mesh updates without the unimesh code that DAZ Studio has? It's still the bane of anyone that creates stuff for Poser figures!
Not sure I understand lol. In DS I save the scene, then I GoZ a person and a kitbashed clothes/armor mishmash to ZB, I do the fits making armor going on top of the clothes or whatever, then GoZ back. A lot of times DS will crash(ZB is still open, not crashed). If I save the project in ZB before GoZ, it will save the transfer files with the project? If I reopen the DS scene, then just hit GoZ from the still open ZB, it asks to replace or update, but if I update, the clothes/armor goes flying all over the scene instead of fitting lol. Maybe I should just try importing as a morph next time, see what happens. Not sure about what export settings I should use though to make sure sizes and axis match up.
Zbrush create temporery cache of the files that where sent previously to Zbrush from DS using GoZ , if the project is not saved in Zbrush it can get messed up next time you send it back while Zbrush are still open from preview session with GoZ. Always check the export option in DS ( send with deformation ) It will tell Zbrush where the subtools should appear in the scene in relation to the main figure.
When I export my scene via GoZ to Zbrush, I always save first the project before doing anything, in case any of the program crashing in the middle of a work. This way if DS crashed, you can resent everything back again from Zbrush , however it is always better to export all the obj manually and load it in DS manually as well.
For some reason in DS 4.12+ if I save the scene with imported morphs that where set up with values for just testing out , the scene don't save the values but just the morphs with zero values . I have to save the morphs in DS before saving the scene to keep all the values.
Export settings from DS to Zbrush when working with morphs
uncheck : export with currently resolution ( base obj resolution will be send)
check in : export with defomation ( the deformation. and model position in the scene will be exported)
I think I used this for morphs (https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/?ViewProduct=37406) and this for clothes rigging (https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/?ViewProduct=21081).
It's been a long time though. But I scrolled through my Renderosity order history and that's what I came across.
less than 10 min simple NEW T-shirt in Zbrush2021 , no sculpting , just dynamic cloth for all job , of course there could be much more here , but just for fun to see how the process work with just dynamics that everyone can make , I did not used the Zbrush2021 patterns here , if you use for D-Force or sculpture it is great, but if used for posable rigging only , I prefer my poly directions to go with the base model for better behavior with weight maps
Hello Cath,
because of you and your video tuts I made the big jump a few years ago with Zbrush. You showed the simple use of Goz and Zbrush and I was convinced immediately :-) . I must say that, even if I only use 1% of the possibilities of Zbrush , this 1% is already enormous. And now Zbrush 2021 with dynamics: I hope to be at 2% !
So: many many thanks to you !
Happy I could help, you just dropped in the right time since I prepare new tutorial for dynamic clothing creation in Zbrush2021, the easy way just as you like it , I will post link later today to my simple dynamic T-shirt with some extras, so check out later .
And you more than welcome !
Thanks Cath , I'm waiting for it :-) !
Cool. Thank you Joe!
I look forward to seeing your video on the tshirt, will it be a timelapse or regular video? I am hoping to purchase Zbrush this year, hoping it's on a sale.