I have heard, that the new rendering engine inside of zbrush does quite well. However where the heck can your learn how to use it. I have been looking for threads, just have not found too many. I normally render in maxwell, however to get a quick render for a customer sent out, I think I could use zbrush for this purpose. I understand I have to make my custom materials in photoshop in order to get my polished gold look. Just a little bounce light. I just do not understand the lighting setups. Can someone point me in the right direction or help me with rendering.
You can start with ZBrush 4 - Best Preview Render. You can also look in the ZBrush4_whats_new.pdf in your ZBrush 4.0\Documentation folder starting on page 115.
I can’t recall seeing any official Pixologic tuts of the rendering. That would be nice to have. I have though seen a number of the ZBC community members post their experiences using the renderer. They are almost always regarding rendering skin effectivly though but may help. Good luck.
Here are a few:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?p=763475#post763475
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=95227
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=92983&page=1&pp=15
Thank you for feedback
For rendering metal you might like to look at the Matcap library:
http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/downloadcenter/library/
Matcap materials have their lighting baked in so you don’t need to set up lights, simply hit BPR and you’re away.