When ZBrush first came out, I thought, “Uh-oh, Nomad will have a hard time keeping up.” But after using both extensively, Nomad stands out as the clear winner for me.
I should mention that I’ve been an expert ZBrush user since its inception. I know the software inside and out, and I’ve used it extensively for professional work.
So, why do I love Nomad, and why can’t I completely let go of ZBrush? Pixologic has always been one of my favorite developers because their updates consistently felt like they were made by artists, for artists.
There was no corporate or business fluff—just tools that worked. However, since Maxon’s takeover, things have changed.
Now, with Nomad, I’ve found an incredibly intuitive and simple tool that’s a joy to use. While ZBrush for iPad has a better UI than the desktop version, its workflow is still more complex compared to Nomad’s. And while results matter most, workflow matters too—especially when it comes to staying in a creative flow state.
Art is about self-expression, and achieving that requires being in a flow state. The more menus, technical obstacles, or dependencies on external hardware like keyboards, the harder it is to stay in that state. ZBrush, while powerful, demands navigating a maze of menus that can disrupt that flow.
One area where Nomad shines is PBR (Physically Based Rendering). It’s baffling to me that ZBrush still doesn’t have this feature—it could be due to technical limitations in its architecture. With Nomad, I can model, auto-retopologize, UV texture, and render—all in one app. That level of creative freedom is so close to perfect.
That said, ZBrush still has its strengths. I often use it for its polish feature, carving and other cool brushes. The mask by AO and cavity is also superior . Features like voxelizing, decimation, and auto-retopology are more robust in ZBrush, so I occasionally switch back and forth. Thankfully, on iOS, sharing files between apps feels just as seamless as using something like GoZ on desktop.
However, when using Zbrush and Nomad together, Nomad crashes often, likely due to memory limitations, so frequent saving is a must.
Nomad is the clear winner for me. It offers a balance of simplicity, power, and creative freedom that’s hard to beat. Can’t wait to see what is ahead.