upgrade from Zbrush 4R7 to Zbrush 5

[facelessmindz]

hello i just have purchase for a license of Zbrush 4r7
i read that ( see the screen below ) from the what’s news and i asking a lot of question , like if it was the proper time to purchase for Zbrush .

accordingly to the documentation, it mean that R7 is the latest version before Zbrush 5, but people who had purchase for Zb4 has received a very long support with amazing updates.

Zb4 was released the 08 july 2010 ( more than 5 years of free updates for all licensees and i know that some user licensee of the version 3.5 was authorized to upgrade on Zb4 for free)

So my question is simple, the investment is heavy for me as poor hobbyist, and if all this mean that i will not being able to grab the next version for free, i would like to refund, but this is really not what i want

Cordially
Nicolas

Attachments

[dillster]

From one “poor hobbyist” to another: Moderator Aurick has posted more than once that no decision has been taken as to if the upgrade to ZBrush 5 will be free or not. It’s as simple as that.

[MentalFrog]

So my question is simple, the investment is heavy for me as poor hobbyist, and if all this mean that i will not being able to grab the next version for free, i would like to refund, but this is really not what i want

If the investment is too heavy then why did you make the purchase? Don’t base current decisions on unknown future. Pixologic has kept saying upgrades won’t always be free. Even though that’s been the case so far don’t expect it in future versions and definitely don’t make a purchase expecting it.

Also I think you’re looking at it the wrong way. Zbrush is a tool. You shouldn’t be asking yourself if the upgrade is free or not. You should be asking yourself if the tool as it stands now is worth the current cost. If it is then make the purchase. If it’s not then don’t. A potential free upgrade should not even be asked unless the details of that upgrade are known. In other words right now we don’t even know what Zbrush 5 is going to offer in addition to the tools in version 4. Why put so much weight into something completely unknown? You’re making the decision now, not later. Base that decision on the current version and what it has to offer right now. It would be different if they announced version 5 and some of its details then it might be worth waiting.

So in short; The question isn’t if the upgrade to v5 going to be free but does the current version offer enough value for its price. That’s up to you to decide. It’s not wrong to decide that it isn’t. Zbrush isn’t for everyone and there are great options available out there some very cheap or even free, it’s a great time for 3d even for a hobbyist.

[facelessmindz]

Hi Dilster, thx for the reply, i looked for any similar question that mine but i didn’t found anything, yet.
The only reference i came across, is quite old now (2011)
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?163328-ZBrush-5-license-Answered&highlight=ZBrush+5

It would be nice if now pixologic decide about that question ^^
but the time to ask for a refund is quite limited, i can’t to wait, and still don’t know what i will doing

Hi MentalFrog, i understand your point of view, but its different here, pixologic clearly announce R7 to be the latest version of the v4 cycle, usually you don’t know before to buy if there will be some updates or not, but i can already consider that all the bugs on the current R7 i had purchased will never being resolved. that’s sounds rude man
I Still own a commercial license of 3dcoat, i come to Zbrush, i wish to pay a license for a very long time, at this period i get a nice money entry and i wanted to pay for something i always wanted ’ this include the way pixologic has piloted their business and because of the free updates.

And so because of all this,

Zmodeler and 64bit support was the top reason for the one i get a licence
When it comes to start modeling from scratch, Zbrush has a better toolset that 3dcoat has for Scultping, I might continue 3dc for Retopology purpose, i already switch to Substance painter for all the texture stuffs.
So i get Zbrush purely because i wasn’t happy with 3DCoat sculpting toolset.

All current ZBrush license holders are entitled to a free upgrade to ZBrush 4.0 Win/Mac, regardless of when they purchased ZBrush. If you currently have ZBrush 3.5 (PC) or 3.2 (Mac) you will be sent your upgrade instructions beginning now!

Mean that people who pay their license 6/7 years ago still have a support and receives free upgrades.
I must confess that i had forgotten to read the small 3 number that refer to the footer of the page of Zb4r7, and didn’t understand that the x64 version was a developer preview before i read the “what’s news” PDF.

So 6/7 years of support for 3.0 licensees holders, who surely payed only 595 or 695$ instead of 795$ because before Zbrush 4 the price was not the same that the current one, and one my side, than i would never receive one update ?
This is what make me change my mind, but there is no other choice.

MentalFrog, and it s not like i would have the choice between vast choice of sculpting software, there is Zbrush and zbrush and zbrush, nothing else

Thx you for your reply, guys

Nicolas

[MealeaYing]

No matter what they decide to do with version 5 you have an EXCELLENT program.
Granted version 5 may be more excellent, but 4R7 is absolutely amazing and regardless of what happens with V.5 you still have something great.
Dont worry, it should be a while before its out anyway, take that time to learn everything you can about this version, it will help later.

[MentalFrog]

Hi MentalFrog, i understand your point of view, but its different here, pixologic clearly announce R7 to be the latest version of the v4 cycle, usually you don’t know before to buy if there will be some updates or not, but i can already consider that all the bugs on the current R7 i had purchased will never being resolved. that’s sounds rude man

R7 is the last cycle of v4. That is true. However Pixologic isn’t finished with R7. They’ve already put out a patch for OSX version to fix a major issue and they’re currently working on a bigger patch for R7 to fix a lot of reported bugs. They have stated they hope to have it completed by the end of this month (which is this weekend). 4R6 also had a patch it was called 4R6P2.

All current ZBrush license holders are entitled to a free upgrade to ZBrush 4.0 Win/Mac, regardless of when they purchased ZBrush. If you currently have ZBrush 3.5 (PC) or 3.2 (Mac) you will be sent your upgrade instructions beginning now!

Mean that people who pay their license 6/7 years ago still have a support and receives free upgrades.
I must confess that i had forgotten to read the small 3 number that refer to the footer of the page of Zb4r7, and didn’t understand that the x64 version was a developer preview before i read the “what’s news” PDF.

So 6/7 years of support for 3.0 licensees holders, who surely payed only 595 or 695$ instead of 795$ because before Zbrush 4 the price was not the same that the current one, and one my side, than i would never receive one update ?
This is what make me change my mind, but there is no other choice.

What other software company has made an offer like this? I can’t think of any. My point is don’t purchase Zbrush expecting not to pay for the next upgrade. They’ve stated it won’t always be a free upgrade. No other software that I know of offers that kind of upgrading (excluding obvious free open source).

MentalFrog, and it s not like i would have the choice between vast choice of sculpting software, there is Zbrush and zbrush and zbrush, nothing else

Mudbox, Blender, and Sculptris. I’m sure there are others I don’t know about. Zbrush may or may not be the best but it’s not the only option. I’ve seen some great stuff come from other tools besides Zbrush.

The first two questions that need to be answered are “What do I want/need to do?” and “What is my budget?”. After that you start looking at your options. Sometimes your budget won’t allow what you want/need to do. It happens, especially for a hobbyist. Whatever you decide it’s not wrong. Just don’t lose focus and remember these are just tools. It’s the artwork that matters.

[facelessmindz]

I would like to thank both of you MentalFrog and MealeaYing, first for the optimist purpose you are both mentioning, i can only agree 1000% for that.
and yes because it give me back the mood i was in just after the purchase, and just before that stupid question pop up of my brain, and turn my experience into that bad trip ;p
SO yes thank I will be more confident in what we could hope in the next future with this fabulous team that make Zbrush and that is always capable to surprise the whole community every time they had released a new version of the beast.
I get in touch with the support, asked for the exact same questions that here, and I can’t to say much as the discussion is considered as confidential, but they would take in consideration the fact that i have purchased the license at the very last update.
So everything is fine

But, I have some more questions, maybe someone could shed with the lights on these ones :

Q1. The zbrush Download page says the download will expire the 5 march, this mean i must to contact the submit a ticket to the support if i must to download the installer again after the 5 march ?

Q2. If I want to test out some function of zbrush in R6 because i experiment some bug with the R7, is that possible to download previous version of Zbrush ?

Q3. I wish to install Zbrush onto my desktop, as it already done, but also on my Windows pc tablet ( asus ep121), tell me if i had correctly understand how we are authorized to use Zbrush with two computers.

a) I can have R7 installed on both desktop and tablet but cannot run zbrush on the two devices at the same time. right ?
b) now imagine Zb5 is released and i want to install it an authorize it with R7 installed on both desktop and tablet, do i will exceed the number of authorization ?

Friendly
Nicolas

[Richard_Marklew]

Q1. The zbrush Download page says the download will expire the 5 march, this mean i must to contact the submit a ticket to the support if i must to download the installer again after the 5 march ?
If you need to download the installer later just raise a ticket to get a download link or download now and don’t delete the installer off your pc

Q2. If I want to test out some function of zbrush in R6 because i experiment some bug with the R7, is that possible to download previous version of Zbrush ?
The installer is for ZBrush R7. There aren’t download links for older versions

Q3. I wish to install Zbrush onto my desktop, as it already done, but also on my Windows pc tablet ( asus ep121), tell me if i had correctly understand how we are authorized to use Zbrush with two computers.
You can install on two machines

a) I can have R7 installed on both desktop and tablet but cannot run zbrush on the two devices at the same time. right ?
You can only use one machine at a time

b) now imagine Zb5 is released and i want to install it an authorize it with R7 installed on both desktop and tablet, do i will exceed the number of authorization ?
Who knows, ZB5 I’d expect to be more than 12 months away given previous updates. You may need a new serial no. with that update. In the past you may keep the older versions still working after you install the new version. It will tell you when ZB5 is released, something not worth considering at this point

[facelessmindz]

Merci Richard