Battle of Software 2021: Sculptris vs ZBrush

Posted By Lucie Gaget on Jan 11, 2019 | 0 comments

Need a 3D modeling software for a sculpting project but don’t know which one you should choose? ZBrush and Sculptris are two great 3D programs for sculpting purposes, and we decided to do a little battle of software between these two.

Let’s see what are the advantages and disadvantages of these two programs! Sculptris vs ZBrush: Which one is the best for you in 2020?

Sculpting software

Who needs 3D sculpting software?

Professional artists, experienced designers or beginners: more and more people find themselves experimenting with the potential of digital art. The fascinating thing about 3D modeling is that it can let everyone express themselves and give birth to the imaginary characters you want to create!

Sculpting software are programs offering some special tools allowing actions similar to working on a real-life model made out of clay. What are these specific actions? Digital sculpting allows pushing, pulling, smoothing, grabbing or pinching, all of these actions are included in these 3D sculpting programs.

These 3D modeling programs are particularly useful for graphic designers, games and CG creators (Computer Graphics). The sculpting modeling technique is particularly convenient if you need a really detailed 3D model for cinema or video-games. It is possible to reach photorealistic and hyper realistic results thanks to sculpting programs!

Among all the sculpting software available on the market, we chose to talk to you about two of them: ZBrush vs Sculptris, let’s see what could fit your project.

Sculptris

Sculptris is a free 3D program developed by Pixologic. It is a great 3D modeling software, which allows you to learn how to use some basic sculpting tools. It still offers great editing tools, for an easier creative expression.

To learn more about it, check out our tutorial to learn how to prepare your 3D model for 3D printing using Sculptris.

ZBrush

It is a software developed by the American company Pixologic and combines 3D modeling, texturing and painting. It is a really popular program, using a “3D pixels” technology. How does it work? Each pixel, which is called “pixol”, contains information on depth, orientation, material and color value, making ZBrush one of the most user-friendly software for modeling and texturing.  

Watch the video below if you want to see what ZBrush looks like:

Sculptris vs ZBrush

Experimented users or beginners?

Sculptris is a free and easy to use software. If you need to create a prototype, and don’t need to have a highly detailed project, it will do the job quite perfectly. And, if you don’t really have previous 3D modeling experience, Sculptris is a good and intuitive way to learn.

Sculptris and ZBrush are connected, but Sculptris is more adapted to beginners. This system means you can learn how to use sculpting software with Sculptris and then finish it with ZBrush to go a little bit further with the 3D technology and create more complex models. However, Sculptris can be a really great introduction!

ZBrush is a really complex and professional tool, you can’t use it with no previous 3D modeling experience.

Advanced tool?

Sculptris is not as advanced as ZBrush, but sculpting tools offered by this program are still of a high quality and better than sculpting tools offered by more regular 3D modeling software. If you need to sketch a quick concept, with simple but efficient tools: choose Sculptris!

ZBrush is a really complete software, mainly allowing you to focus on fine details and organic modeling. If you need an advanced program, ZBrush will be the perfect choice for you. Other software like 3D Coat, 4D Cinema or Mudbox are a little bit similar to this one.

ZBrush lets the user sculpt an object in detail with great customizable and powerful 3D brushes. Zbrush is quite complex and addressed to experienced users. It offers a lot of freedom while designing due to its advanced features. If you need to work on high poly models, ZBrush will be the perfect solution for you

One of the major disadvantages of this software is that it is quite expensive, while Sculptris is free, but it offers more powerful tools than Sculptris.

We hope that this blog post helped you make your choice between these two great programs to give life to your next project!

If you want to read our previous battles of software, here they are: Fusion 360 vs SolidWorks, SketchUp vs Blender and Blender vs Maya! Is there a battle of software you want us to write? Share your ideas with us in the comments!

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