ZBrush 4 R2 Set Ato Improve Preview Rendering

Pixologic attended SIGGRAPH 2011 with news of Release 2, the upcoming version of ZBrush 4,
and hosted demos by artists from film and games studios including Sony, EA, Digital Domain,
Image Engine and Framestore.

The Best Preview Render, or BPR Renderer, in the next version has been updated to a 32-bits floating-point HDR pipeline, capable of rendering high quality images while improving on materials, lights and environment mapping.
Release 2 also has a new LightCap/MatCap designer. LightCap, or Light-Capture, is similar to MatCap, Material-Capture, but is applied directly to the environment, not to a particular material. You will be able to incorporate your sculpture into an HDR background by using R2's ability to apply shadow to the background plate as well as auto-generate LightCaps to simulate the environment lights and reflections.
Both LightCaps and MatCaps, can be utilized by the real-time preview renderer, which means you will be able to use 'fancy' lights, backdrop and materials while sculpting your mesh. The changes give more control when coordinating scene and 3D model lighting together in 3D environments. The placement of 3D models into plates appears to be more accurate, and new modelling capabilities give more control over your mesh among other improvements.
More information regarding ZBrush 4R2 new features and full descriptions will be available at a later date. Representatives said that ZBrush 4R2 will be released on both Windows and Macintosh platforms for the public for purchase and download on 20 September 2011. ZBrush 4R2 will also be a free upgrade for current registered ZBrush users. www.pixologic.com