Autodesk 3ds Max vs ZBrush

Autodesk 3ds Max is Windows desktop software for 3D modeling and animation. It is aimed at 3D generalists, modelers, animators, and look development artists working on game development, film and television production, and design visualization. Modeling tools include Smart Extrude, high-quality Booleans, and ReForm retopology. CAT and Biped provide rigging and character-animation setups. A built-in renderer and Arnold integration support rendering, while 3D print export handles output for physical production. Integrated OpenUSD support is intended to improve collaboration. Scripting and plugins such as tyFlow, thinkingParticles, and ForestPack extend the application. Flow Retopology moves mesh operations to the cloud, and Flow Studio can launch inside 3ds Max to send footage-derived elements through USD. It runs on Microsoft Windows 10 and 11. A free 30-day trial is available; paid subscriptions are $255 a month, $2,010 a year, or $6,025 a year billed every three years.

ZBrush is a 3D sculpting and modeling application with desktop and iPad offerings. Its listed tools include sculpting, parametric modeling, animation, rendering and 3D print export. Desktop is listed for Windows and macOS, while a separate supported-platform list also includes Linux. The desktop plan includes ZBrush for iPad and advanced sculpting, modeling, rendering and export tools. Rendering is described as hybrid, with GPU and animation rendering and denoising. Listed workload areas include CPU and GPU rendering, ray tracing, shader execution and geometry processing. Other listed capabilities include rotoscoping, 3D camera tracking, custom test profiles and CLI or automation support. The listed result export formats are none documented, and results are not saved as a file. Headquarters are listed as both Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Friedrichsdorf, Germany; the maker is listed as founded in 1986.