ZBrush Summit 2018

Tomas and I were down in Los Angeles last weekend for the ZBrush Summit which was hosted at the Gnomon Workshop. It was great to see all of the new features coming out in the new version of ZBrush and also a real joy to get to see the inside of Gnomon Workshop. The student work was mind blowing. 

For those of you who are just finding us, ZBrush is the 3D software package we use to design our earrings. The software is primarily used by the special effects and game industries to create digital assets. Tomas was the first person to get a jewelry model out of ZBrush and  has been pioneer in adapting this powerful software package to create objects for production via 3D print. 

Most of the jewelry industry uses CAD based software packages that allow a designer to create a 3D object. The interface of a CAD based program is all about manipulating a slider or entering number values into the program or making selections from a drop down menu. There are very few freehand options to directly manipulate the object. Organic shapes and flowing curves are hard to create.

ZBrush works in an entirely different way. You are literally sculpting the object in a similar manner to carving wax or clay. The object is manipulated by touching the screen with a pressure sensitive stylus. The process is truly driven by the hand skill of the person holding the stylus. 

As someone with a background in manufacturing, I am continually blown away by the difference ZBrush makes in developing product. With ZBrush, the artist's touch is perfectly integrated back into the production process. We don't need to rely on a technician to reinterpret our designs. Instead we begin the production process with the casting the model we have hand sculpted and perfected.

I couldn't ask for a better way to work.