Pixelogic has announce two new plugins for ZBrush, Decimation Master and 3D Print Exporter.  Decimation Master is, just like it sounds, a tool for decimating the number of polygons in a high-resolution model while preserving the visual detail.  From the examples, the results are impressive with no change in detail at a reduction down to 10% of the original complexity.  3D Print Exporter adds direct STL export to ZBrush for stereolithography machines, and VRML format with color-support for color model printers.  The picture above is an example of such an export, going from a ZBrush Model to a physical printed version. (That’s the Sideshow Collectibles Dagger Maquette).

Both plugins are free for ZBrush 3.1 users.  Windows versions are available now, and Mac versions will be available within 30 days.  Read inside for the full press release and example images.

Pixologic introduces Decimation Master and 3D Print Exporter for high resolution mesh export and 3D Printing

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 27, 2009 – Pixologic Inc., makers of the award winning sculpting, texturing, and 2.5D painting application ZBrush, today announced the release of two new plug-ins which will extend the capabilities for export and manipulation of high resolution meshes; Decimation Master and 3D Print Exporter.

Decimation Master is the perfect solution for optimizing the polygon counts of models with minimal loss of visual quality. This goes hand in hand with 3D Print Exporter, which opens the world of rapid prototyping and 3D Printing to all ZBrush artists.

Decimation Master

Decimation Master allows the artist to drastically reduce the number of polygons in a high-resolution 3D model while preserving its visual appearance. The purpose of such a plug-in is to offer many new possibilities for ZBrush artists:

· Reducing mesh resolution to a level that standard 3D applications can easily handle while preserving high-resolution detail created in ZBrush.

· Optimization for characters and assets for games.

· Producing highly detailed and optimized renders without the need of normal maps or displacement maps.

· Optimizing models for 3D printing or rapid prototyping purposes.

Decimation Master not only significantly lowers poly counts while preserving high resolution detail, but also supports advanced operations like;

· Preprocessing which allows for quick decimation at any percentage.

· Decimation across all visible subtools.

· Masking to limit decimation in localized areas to preserve even more detail.

· Preserves mesh UVs.

· Preserves poly painting information.

“The Decimation Master plug-in for ZBrush not only helped speed up production time, its results were of a consistently higher final output quality. The ability to mask areas and preserve resolution after decimation is nothing short of incredible!”

Brandon Fayette – Lead Artist, Bad Robot Productions

“I’ve really enjoyed working with the Pixologic team during the development of Decimation Master. The results are very clean, and the plug-in makes the process of getting models from ZBrush back into 3ds Max as painless as possible. I love the ability to process all SubTools at once, and then dump them all out into a single .obj file. Decimation Master is now an integral part of our pipeline because it saves a lot of time, and allows us to process an insane amount of detail at a fraction of the original poly count.”

Shane Caudle, Technical Art Director, Epic Games

“I have been decimating everything today and taking it all into Mental Ray for renders, HOLY CRAP!!!

What a time saver!!! The masking rocks as well! I will most likely be using it this week for some 3D prints. I have only scratched the surface but this is going to be one of my favorites!!!”

Scott Patton – Lead Character Designer, Legacy Effects

“If ZBrush is a rock factory, Decimation Master is the catapult: 2.000.000 points down to 100.000 without noticeable difference… You really have to press the wireframe button to believe it!”

“It was definitively the missing plug-in in our previous production pipeline for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter; using Decimation Master now greatly improves quality and efficiency for our next games.”

Vincent Delassus – Art Technical Director, Ubisoft Paris

“This works beautifully – the on-the-fly ability to adjust quality level works great and the resulting fidelity preservation is unbelievable! The Decimation Master is better than any reduction tool we’ve seen available with regard to details and speed; it grants the ability to efficiently work with any level of mesh density with precise control over quality.”

Matt Vogt – Artist, Offload Studios Inc.

“This plug-in is essential for rendering or printing in 3D. With this tool you can easily achieve the 250 MB file size requirement of 3D printers. Decimation Master makes it possible to freely work on your models with over 15 or even 20 million polygons for high resolution detailing, than transform the model to a medium or low resolution while retaining the same best-resolution details! In other words, you can convert 20 million polygons to 2 million. Decimation Master is an amazing tool!”

Alonso Varela – Green Apple Workshop

“The Decimator is allowing us to work much more efficiently with ZBrush tools that have insanely high poly counts! The detail that we are able to maintain in the 3D printing process will yield some of the most amazing tactual 3d sculpts ever seen!”

Bill Henderson – Creative Director – Offload Studios Inc.

More information on Decimation Master can be found at ZBrush Central:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=71265

3D Print Exporter

3D Print Exporter adds to ZBrush a direct path to the 3D printing world by adding the famous STL format (ASCII and Binary) which can be opened by all packages dedicated to the printing process.

Naturally, it is possible to set the size of the 3D model (ZTool) and all its sub-models (SubTools) in either inches or millimeters. Additionally, you can set the size for just the visible SubTools, allowing you to work with partial files.

On top of that, the VRML format with vertex color support has been added, to improve compatibility with ZCorp’s series of printers or other printers that can do 3D printing in, full color.

“The new Decimation Master and 3D Print Exporter tools have filled the weakest link in my workflow from creation to fabrication. You could spend many thousands of dollars and not get a better decimator or translator.”
T.S. Wittelsbach – House of Wittelsbach – Jeweler

“The 3D Print Exporter continues to save my life on a daily basis. The quality I’m able to get out of ZBrush as a usable file that my other programs can handle has made me a happy camper. You have just opened up a new world for me!”
Adam Ross – Idol Workshop

“Finally! – a direct export from ZBrush to print format! This tool will help decrease the time it takes to get a ZBrush sculpture ready for 3d print production, and open up the services of most 3D Printing Service Bureaus.” Bill Henderson – Creative Director – Offload Studios Inc.

“Going from the final design to rapid prototyping ready parts has been a timely production within itself… That has now been eliminated with Decimation Master and the 3D Printer Exporter plugin for ZBrush. The ability to go directly from ZBrush to a optimized scaled prototype part, eliminating any other software in between, is priceless. Once again Pixologic turns the technical to art.” Jason Lopes – Senior Systems Engineer – Legacy Effects

More information on 3DPrint Exporter at Zbrush Central:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=71266

Pricing and Availability
Decimation master and 3D Print Exporter are now available as free plug-ins for ZBrush 3.1 Windows to all registered ZBrush users. The Macintosh versions of the plug-ins will be available for ZBrush 3.12B within 30 days.

ZBrush retails for USD $595.00 and can be purchased and downloaded online at Pixologic’s e-store. ZBrush is also available from Pixologic-authorized resellers for both Windows and Mac platforms.

About ZBrush
ZBrush is an integrated modeling, texturing, and illustration environment. ZBrush’s innovative set of real-time sculpting, texturing, and deformation tools is used in major film studios and game companies worldwide. Its instant feedback and real-time response makes it the most natural feeling digital sculpting tool available today. As a stand-alone application, ZBrush offers tremendous flexibility and appeals to a wide audience.

About Pixologic
Founded in 1997, Pixologic Incorporated develops and markets innovative software tools for the film and video, games, graphic design and illustration markets. ZBrush is a graphic application aimed at simplifying the science behind generating computer graphics. ZBrush appeals to a wide audience by providing empowering tools that give users intuitive and visual control over the digital images they create. By providing a unique synthesis of 2D and 3D capabilities in a single stand-alone tool, ZBrush collapses economic and ease-of-use barriers to creating stunning images. For additional information about Pixologic, visit www.pixologic.com.

Pixologic is privately owned and is located in California with offices in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Press contact: [email protected]
Web: www.pixologic.com – www.pixologic.eu
ZBrushCentral (Community): www.ZBruhCentral.com