With the democratization of technology and performance improvements, 3D scanning has become a new tool in numerous production environments. However, scans are often incomplete and have many defects which need to be corrected on both a geometry and texture level. It's at this stage that ZBrush comes in to effectively and quickly clean these various artifacts. It can fill holes and add any missing parts in an intuitive way.

ZBrush has terrific versatility and can also smoothly handle millions of triangles on a standard computer. Through ZRemesher and other features it can also easily convert these triangles into the quadrangles that many applications such as animation require. If you've seen The Avengers, you've seen this in action as scan data of Mark Ruffalo was used in ZBrush to literally transform Bruce Banner into the Hulk.

For these reasons, ZBrush has become the tool of choice for people who work with scan data. Whether you are a freelancer or work in a studio, ZBrush processes your scans with great ease. Further, its intuitive sculpting tools allow you accomplish more than merely optimizing your models; you are free to be truly creative.

Many artists are already using ZBrush to create high quality figurines for studios while others are starting a business in this trendsetting industry. With ZBrush, they have the perfect tool in their hands for production and print-ready optimization of their models. All the big names in the toys and figurines industry are using ZBrush: Hasbro, Gentle Giant Studios, Kotobukiya or Mattel to name a few.

Other industries are also being deeply modified by the capabilities of 3D printing. One example of this is Special Effects where Iron Man’s armor and the combat suits of Jaeger pilots in Pacific Rim were initially 3D “sketched” using ZBrush and then printed by Legacy Effects. ZBrush and 3D printing combine to give artists the opportunity to go from concept to real-world model in just a few days rather than the several weeks that have previously been needed for traditional fabrication methods.

Have you just bought your own printer? If so, you will find that ZBrush is its best friend, opening the door to creative areas that you might never have even considered: pieces of art, everyday objects, toys, utilities, etc.

If you are working with 3D scans, the different Smooth brushes will unify the scanned surfaces. DynaMesh will close any holes or help restore missing parts. Projection tools will provide the best solution to transfer information from a scan to an optimized model. Only ZBrush gives you the freedom to fully modify scans to your liking and iteratively use that data on your model!

As for 3D printing, ZBrush covers both ends of the process. Its many tools for creation and modification give everything you need to make fantastic models. From there you can prep and optimize the figure for printing by cutting it into parts, adding keys and joints as well as hollowing it out to use less material -- all of which is accomplished with the various DynaMesh features. Finally, with Decimation Master and 3D Print Exporter you can reduce the density of your mesh and then export it as STL or VRML with real-world units and sizes already defined.