®

ZBRUSH
ZBrush 2021 What’s New Guide
 Welcome

Welcome to the What’s New documentation for ZBrush® 2021. While much of
ZBrush® 2021 is very similar to other previous releases, there are quite a few new fea-
tures to help make your ZBrushing even more productive and creative. We hope that the
information you find here helps you understand the differences between this release and
previous versions of ZBrush®.

This document only covers what’s new in version 2021. To learn more about the
features introduced in previous releases of ZBrush®, we invite you to read the other
ZBrush® What’s New Guides, located in your ZBrush installation’s Documentation folder.

You’re invited to visit our ZClassroom for a huge database of free high quality movies
explaining all the main features of ZBrush®. Here you will also find the Artists Spotlight,
where famous 3D Artists explain how they use ZBrush®, helping inspire you to create
like the pros.

Don’t forget to subscribe for free to our ZBrushCentral community to discover tips,
view artists’ creations, locate useful help for all things related to ZBrush® or post your
works-in-progress!

We encourage you to regularly visit our ZBrush® Blog as well as our social media
outlets where you will find all the news related to the ZBrush® universe, from the most
recent Interview to new plugins or gallery additions.

ZClassRoom Portal: http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/

Artist Spotlight: http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/artistspotlight/

ZBrushCentral: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/

ZBlog: http://www.pixologic.com/blog/

Pixologic.com: http://www.pixologic.com

Pixologic Social Media: Facebook - Google+ - Twitter - Pinterest

The Pixologic Team

© 2021 Pixologic, Inc. All rights reserved, Pixologic and the Pixologic logo, ZBrush, and the
ZBrush logo are registered trademarks of Pixologic, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of
their respective owners.
 Mac OS X & Windows Version of ZBrush®

Instead of the Windows Ctrl key, the Macintosh uses the Command (Apple) Key. This
documentation will always refer to using the Ctrl key name, although it may sometimes list
both as Ctrl/Command. When the Ctrl key is mentioned anywhere in the documentation a
Macintosh user will want to use the Command key instead.

The same is true for the Windows Enter key, which the Macintosh calls Return. When
seeing the Enter key mentioned anywhere in this documentation, a Mac user will want to
use the Return key instead.

The Close/Quit, Hide, Minimize and Maximize buttons are located on the top right in
Windows and at the top left on Mac OS X.

ZBrush Localization

ZBrush is available in multiple languages and will attempt to automatically set its
language to match that of your operating system, if available. You can change the
language at any time in the Preferences >> Languages sub-palette.

If you wish to translate ZBrush for your language, please refer to the Multilanguage
section of the ZBrush User Guide and contact [email protected].

ZBrush 2021 Whats New Guide - version 1.00

This documentation has been written by Marcus Burgess and Paul Gaboury. Edited by Matthew Yetter.

For all documentation questions and inquiries, please contact us at [email protected].

ZBrush 2021 - About

About ZBrush® 2021

ZBrush sets the industry standard for digital sculpting. Its features enable you to use
customizable brushes to shape, texture and paint virtual clay in a real-time environment.
When you use ZBrush, you’ll be working with the same tools used by film studios, game
developers, toy/collectible makers, jewelry designers, automotive/aviation designers, il-
lustrators and artists worldwide.

ZBrush 2021 continues on the path of creativity and productivity with major new
features allowing artists to work even faster and with more freedom. This version carries
the ability to experiment and work in a natural way to a whole new level, offering artists
greater freedom to express their ideas and discover ways of working that previously have
been beyond imagination. Get ready to unleash your creativity!

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 ZBrush 2021 - About

1. Cloth Simulation

Cloth is one of the most difficult things to create in 3D. The folds and the way the
cloth lies on a surface can challenge all of an artist’s ingenuity and talent. But with cloth
simulation and dynamic collision detection the process is made a whole lot easier. The
ability to control the effect by running a simulation that can be stopped and restarted
at any time, or alternatively by using the new cloth brushes to affect the result directly,
makes the whole process easy and fun.

2. Dynamic Thickness

A new feature for Dynamic Subdivision, you can now add thickness to single-sided
meshes. This means you can add thickness as and when you need it, and adjust at any
time, instead of having to plan in advance.

3. MicroPoly

MicroPoly is a new feature for Dynamic Subdivision that allows the tiling of meshes
to produce cloth weave and other materials. Easily switch between different MicroPoly
meshes to get exactly the effect you are after. Combine with Cloth Simulation to produce
amazingly realistic results.

4. ZModeler Additions

Two major additions have been made to ZModeler: Edge Extrude for creating single-
sided meshes and re-topology. And Inset Equidistant for creating insets that don’t change
you existing topology profile.

5. NanoMesh Additions

When you have several versions of the same object in your scene it can be tedious
and time-consuming when you need to update them.
With the revised NanoMesh Edit Object functionality this is now easy - work on the
original and see the copies update in real time.

6. iMage3D Gif and iMage3D PNG

Introducing a new way to save your models! The iMage3D GIF and iMage3D PNG
formats allow you to share your files in *.GIF and *.PNG images. Want to share your

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ZBrush 2021 - About

work on Social Medias? Simply save your model as an iMage3D GIF or iMage3D PNG
and create the post! When saved the file will be stored in a standard *.GIF or *.PNG for-
mat showing you a thumbnail of the mesh along with the 3D information built in..

7. Other Additions

Find in this section all the various other additions and changes made in ZBrush
2021.

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 ZBrush 2021 - Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ZBrush 2021 - Table of Contents

ZBRUSH 2021 WHAT’S NEW GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . 1

1. Cloth Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Dynamic Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. MicroPoly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. ZModeler Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. NanoMesh Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6. iMage3D Gif and iMage3D PNG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. Other Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

INSTALLATION UPGRADING & ACTIVATION . . 13

I System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
II Installation and Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
III Upgrading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
IV Auto Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1. Auto Update In Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
V Un-installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
VI Support Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
VII Backward Compatibility of ZBrush Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CLOTH SIMULATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
I How Cloth Simulation Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
II Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
III Cloth Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
IV Making Your Own Cloth Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
V Dynamics Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Simulation Iterations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Firmness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
On Masked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
On Brushed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Fade Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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 ZBrush 2021 - Table of Contents

Self Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Floor Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Allow Shrink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Allow Expand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Gravity Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Liquify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Set Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Inflate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Inflate Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Deflate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Deflate Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Expand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Contract Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CollisionVolume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Recalc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Inflate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Run Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Max Simulation Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
VI Cloth Simulation Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Sim_Gravity01.zpr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Sim_PlaneInRing.zpr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Sim_HeadCover.zpr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

DYNAMIC THICKNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
I How Dynamic Thickness Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
II Dynamic Thickness functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Post SubDiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Smoothness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

MICROPOLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
I How MicroPoly Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
II Creating Your Own MicroPoly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
III MicroPoly Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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ZBrush 2021 - Table of Contents

MicroPoly On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
MicroPoly thumbnail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Next/Previous arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Fit 45
Weld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Align . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Rot Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Rot X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

ZMODELER ADDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
I Edge >>Extrude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
II Re-Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
III Extrude >> Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Extend Surrounding Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Regular Extrude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Free Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Planar Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Perpendicular Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Free Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Extend Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Parallel Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Taper Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Single Row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Num Rows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Row Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Free Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Snap To Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Smart Attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Normal Attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
No Attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Force Symmetrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Don’t Force Symmetrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
V Edge >> Inset >> Equidistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
VI Inset >> Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Center And Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Border Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Center Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Inset Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Inset Each Poly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

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 ZBrush 2021 - Table of Contents

Equidistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
No Size Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Default Size Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Custom Size Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Default Equidistant Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Custom Equidistant Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
VII Point >> Move >> Snap to Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
VIII Polygon >> Camera Perpendicular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
IX Camera Perpendicular >> Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Recenter View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Do Note Recenter View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
X Alt selection in ZModeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
XI Working with Subdivisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

NANOMESH EDIT MESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

I How NanoMesh Edit Mesh works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

IMAGE3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Loading and Saving iMage3D files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

OTHER ADDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
I New File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
II Tool >> Geometry >> UnWeldAll

This will unweld all the polygons in the mesh. Running the Cloth Simulation in the
Dynamics Palette can create some really cool effects. Give it a try! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

III Stroke >>Jitter & Stroke>>Brush Imperfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

IV Gizmo3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
V GoZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
VI New Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Enhance Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Create Instance Subtool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

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ZBrush 2021 - Table of Contents

Edit Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Delete Unselected Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
VII Other Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

THANK YOU! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

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 ZBrush 2021 - Installation and Activation

INSTALLATION
UPGRADING &
ACTIVATION

All the steps you need to install or upgrade ZBrush, as well as to leverage its activation system.

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ZBrush 2021 - Installation and Activation

This is the useful information that you will need to know when installing and up-
grading ZBrush® on your computer. This chapter also describes the activation and de-
activation process. Understanding how the activation system works will help you avoid
difficulties should you upgrade your computer, reinstall your operating system, etc.

I System Requirements

Recommended:

• Operating System: Windows Vista or newer. Mac OS X 10.7 or newer. (32-bits

or 64-bits for either platform.)
• CPU: Pentium D or newer (or equivalent such as AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer)
with optional multithreading or hyperthreading capabilities.
• 6 GB recommended.
• Disk Space: 750 MB for ZBrush, plus 16 GB for the scratch disk.
• Pen tablet: Wacom or Wacom compatible.
Notes:
The scratch disk may be a different drive from where ZBrush is installed.
Having ZBrush and its scratch disk running on an SSD drive will result in improved perfor-
mance.

Minimum System Requirements:

• Operating System: Windows Vista or newer. Mac OS X 10.7 or newer. (32-bits

or 64-bits for either platform.)
• CPU: P4 or AMD Opteron or Athlon64 Processor. (Must have SSE2 -- Stream-
ing SIMD Extensions 2. All CPU’s from 2006 or later support SSE2.)
• RAM: 1024 MB (2048 MB required for working with multi-million-poly models).
• Disk Space: 750 MB for ZBrush, plus 8 GB for the scratch disk.
• Monitor: 1280x1024 monitor resolution set to 32-bits or Millions of Colors.

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 ZBrush 2021 - Installation and Activation

II Installation and Activation

ZBrush installation is based on an installer application, which is similar on both Win-

dows and Mac OSX operating systems.

After downloading the ZBrush installer you can run it to be guided through the activa-
tion process.

For all the information about the process of the installation and activation, please
read the “Install_and_activate_ZBrush.pdf” located in the ZBrush documentation fold-
er or available to download at our Download Center: http://zbru.sh/docs or visit our online
documentation website; http://zbru.sh/onlinedocs

It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you make a backup copy of the installer after
you have downloaded it. Download links are valid for two downloads or seven days,
whichever comes first. Our Support staff is happy to renew your download link at any
time but we also know from experience that people often need to reinstall on an evening
or weekend when there is nobody available to assist you.

Special notes for Mac users:

1. The download is a Disk Image (DMG) file which mounts to be like any other disk
on your computer. In some cases, a Finder window does not automatically open
after mounting the DMG. If that happens, you will find it within your Devices list.
Opening that will then allow you to run the installer itself.
2. Upon running the installer you may receive a message to the effect that it is from
an unknown publisher. In this case you will need to disable Gatekeeper before
you will be able to run the installer. Apple explains how to do this here: http://
support.apple.com/en-us/HT202491

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ZBrush 2021 - Installation and Activation

III Upgrading

Depending on your current ZBrush version and what you need to upgrade to, there
are two upgrade paths available:

• Using a full installer to perform a “clean” install of a fresh new copy of ZBrush.
This does not require any earlier version to already be on your computer.
• Using an upgrader (downloaded from our Download Center or through the Auto
Upgrader system) which will duplicate your current ZBrush folder and then up-
grade the copy without affecting your current installation.

The full installer takes longer to download, but is greatly preferred. Using it avoids
any possible permissions issues. Also, if there are any problems with your current
ZBrush installation (even those you might not be aware of), an update will copy those
problems to the new installation! The full installer avoids that possibility. You will still be
able to manually copy any desired files from the old installation to the new one.

If you do wish to use the update process instead of the full installer, please read the
Auto Update chapter of this section.

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