Sculpture and painting are historic art forms that have employed many all over the world. With the rise in the adoption of software technologies, digital sculpting and painting have emerged to complement conventional practices in terms of skills supply and other improvements. In the toolkits of digital sculptors and painters are several programmes that help boost their creativity and productivity. If you are an industry insider, you must be conversant with ZBrush. If not, kindly devote a few minutes of your time to this short post. 

Ofer Alon and Jack Rimokh co-founded Pixologic in 1997 to provide career-boosting digital sculpting and painting software solutions. Both men were visionaries aiming to create tools that would enable artists to unleash their creativity without limitations. In 1999, Pixologic introduced ZBrush, a suite of 3D sculpting and 2D painting tools that offer several possibilities. 

Pixologic was acquired in January 2022 by Maxon, a German 3D software developer and subsidiary of the Nemetschek Group. ZBrush is now part of the ‘Maxon One’ subscription service. The latest version of the software is ZBrush 2024.0.4.

ZBrush which its creators describe as an ‘art tool created by artists for artists’ is now a popular product and award winner. It is based on a brush system which designers and artists leverage to sculpt digital clay on a real-time basis. Its powerful features are designed to remove the constraints posed by traditional modeling while empowering users to create freely, just as they would with natural clay. With its customisable brushes, you can work on virtual clay in a variety of ways (e.g., shaping, texturing and painting) in real-time settings that offer instant feedback. ZBrush is used by game developers, film studios, toy/collectable makers, illustrators, ad creators, automotive designers, jewelry designers, aviation designers, and other professionals all over the world.

Notably, ZBrush boasts an Academy Award for the revolution it has brought to cinema and special effects. Movies where ZBrush has played a key role include Avatar, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man, The Amazing Spiderman, Pacific Rim, Tron, and the Chronicles of Narnia series. The versatile program is also relevant in many cartoon-like projects, including, Rango, Tangled, The Lorax, Wreck it Ralph, and Dragons 2. ZBrush works on both Windows and Mac operating systems.

Learning how to use significantly technical software like ZBrush can be quite challenging. Luckily, there are several avenues to learn ZBrush. Books about sculpting and digital painting are a good option but you need to practicalise what you read. Formal training, say in a university, is another way to learn ZBrush. 

You may also want to join online communities and forums to meet experienced pros who can coach you and even help you find work. For example, the Maxon ‘ZClassroom’ offers the following six courses that teach different ways to use ZBrush:

1. Getting Started

If you're a ZBrush newbie, The Getting Started series of lessons will help equip you with the knowledge, and tools you need to optimise your ZBrush experience. Some of the lessons in the series include ZBrush Introduction, ZBrush UI, Zmodeler Introduction, Gizmo 3D, Getting Started with Redshift in ZBrush, ZBrush for Concepting and more.

Lessons available under this series include Snapshot 3D, Folders, Using Template, Nanomesh, Fibermesh, Vehicle Design, Architectural Design, Helmet Design, Dynamic Subdivision, and 3D Brushes, among others.

Maxon’s ZBrush course on Texturing is grouped under three categories namely Spotlight, Texturing with Goz and Painting Techniques.

Here, learners have only one category to contend with – Timeline and Blend Shapes. 

Rendering has five course categories that include BPR Filters, Universal Camera, Materials, Lighting and Render Properties. 

This course teaches how to use ZBrush plugins to add new functionalities to the programme's features. Plugin lessons include ZBridge, GoZ, UV Master, and 3D Printing and Prototyping.

ZBrush enhances diverse workflows and offers limitless creative or career possibilities. As noted above, it is a versatile software used in several industries, from film to aviation and more. So if you learn ZBrush, you become eligible for lots of exciting career opportunities. For some insight into the viability of ZBrush as a skill, the following data from Payscale shows the annual average base salary estimates of some jobs with a Pixologic ZBrush skill component in the US as of July 31, 2024. 

Jobs with Pixologic Zbrush Skill                                                      Average Base Salary (Annual)
Graphic Designer                                                                                  $41,374
Video Game Artist                                                                                 $65,000
Character Artist                                                                                     $76,302
Senior Character Artist                                                                         $114,650
3D Character Artist                                                                               $87,728
Concept Artist                                                                                        $76,546
Environment Artist                                                                                 $75,717
3D Environment Artist                                                                           $72,884