KeyShot for ZBrush

About the KeyShot for ZBrush Software

The KeyShot for ZBrush edition is a dedicated version of KeyShot that works only with ZBrush. This version is equivalent to KeyShot HD in terms of features except that it can only open KeyShot’s native .bip files and of course, connect to ZBrush. It is not pos­sible to use other file formats to import data, although one could load such models into ZBrush and then use KeyShot to render via the Bridge.

This edition has no restrictions on render resolution.

All versions of KeyShot starting with KeyShot 5 natively support the Bridge, which mean that if you are already an owner of a KeyShot license you will be able to use it with­out needing to buy the special edition of KeyShot for ZBrush. In that case you will only need to purchase the Bridge plugin, adding it to ZBrush to enable connection between both applications.

The purpose of the KeyShot for ZBrush version is to make KeyShot more readily priced for hobbyists. To that end, a bundle is also available with special pricing when you buy both KeyShot for ZBrush and the KeyShot Bridge together. You of course are not required to purchase the KeyShot for ZBrush edition and could instead opt to buy one of the other editions in order to have expanded import capabilities.

KeyShot Hardware Specifications

KeyShot will run on both Windows and Mac OSX operating systems. Like ZBrush, it is a CPU driven software which means that it doesn’t need an expensive high end graphic card to give great renders. KeyShot will work on most computers, from laptops to high end workstations. If your computer can execute ZBrush, then it will be able to execute KeyShot.

Because KeyShot performs real-time renders, the model render is constantly up­dated to refine and optimize the quality of the image. For this reason, the processor is always used at its maximum potential. Both processor speed and number of cores have an impact on performance. As a rule, more cores will be of greater benefit than faster individual core speed. (This holds true for ZBrush as well.) An easy – if generic – way to compare CPU’s for both ZBrush and KeyShot is to multiply each CPU’s speed by the number of cores that it has. Doing this for each CPU will give you values that you can compare, with the higher number being the better choice. In this way, a dual core pro­cessor at 4 GHz (comparison value of 8) is inferior to a quad core processor at 3 GHz (comparison value of 12) even though the dual core CPU is the faster chip.

Both ZBrush and KeyShot also rely heavily on memory. If your computer has a limited amount of memory, running both applications at the same time will produce de­graded performance due to the memory that is needed. It is advised to have at least 8 GB of memory to be able to run both programs at the same time. To give you an estimation of the memory needed, with 16 GB of RAM you can manipulate between 100 and 200 million polygons. Of course, to push that many polygons in ZBrush you would need to be using the 64-bit version of ZBrush.)

 KeyShot licensing

KeyShot licensing works in a different way to ZBrush. You can have up to three installations of KeyShot for ZBrush but only one activated at a time. If you need to move your license, you can deactivate the license under the Help menu (PC) or KeyShot menu (Mac). Please make a note of your serial code, and then enter the information including serial code when activating KeyShot on the new machine.

You only need to do this once. KeyShot will remember the information you entered so you can simply deactive on one machine, and activate on another with a single button push. You can activate/deactivate in this way any number of times.