The newest version of ZBrush claims to support vector displacement maps, which I'd assumed meant they could be used like alphas are for sculpting, similar to how they're used in Mudbox:

mudbox_ear.mp4 - YouTube

However, looking in to them, it seems that they're essentially useless in ZBrush for anything but exports for rendering? Is this right?

Does it? I was under the impression Pixo won't do anything about VD until ZB5.

I'm not sure how the bakes are in that regard, but ZB in-itself, last I checked, didn't have any VD implementation like Mudbox does.

Yep, it does. But they only seem to be half-implemented:

http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index....placement_Maps

Do people actually use VD as a sculpting tool in Mudbox (not for rendering)?
Seems like such a hassle to create VD maps, don't really see what the point is, and it seems much more logical to go towards voxel sculpting instead (which Zbrush tries to do with Dynamesh).

But yeah, back on topic, I looked around and didn't find anything to actually use VD maps as you would in Mudbox in the latest Zbrush.

They're for exporting and rendering as far as I can tell.

When it comes to using them like that ear video, the insert brushes seem to be the way to go in ZB.

Originally Posted by Bal

Do people actually use VD as a sculpting tool in Mudbox (not for rendering)?
Seems like such a hassle to create VD maps, don't really see what the point is, and it seems much more logical to go towards voxel sculpting instead (which Zbrush tries to do with Dynamesh).

But yeah, back on topic, I looked around and didn't find anything to actually use VD maps as you would in Mudbox in the latest Zbrush.

i use them for sculpting in some cases. if you need/want to make 3d brushes then vector displacement solves a lot of problems. you can capture pinching and undercuts. that makes the result much closer to what you want. you don't need to do any cleanup in creases for instance because you can bake the pinching in the brush.

i think the ear example was just to show you how versatile the techniques is not so much a real world scenario in most cases.