Pixologic update: Zbrush 4R2b introduced.

In October Pixologic announced Zbrush 4 R2, an improved and upgraded version of their 3D sculpting software Zbrush 4, featuring new tools like DynaMesh, Mesh Insert, Curve Mode and Clay Polish, before moving on to a major new release. Yesterday however, Pixologic introduced another early upgrade to their flagship software: Zbrush 4 R2b.

Pixologic states that Z4R2 has been put to the test by ZBrush users on many different system configurations and workflows and that they found some ‘rough corners’ which they would like to polish. Therefore, they released an update patch allowing you to take full advantage of the powerful features in Z4R2 now, without having to wait until Z5 is released.
This version again brings new features like FiberMesh to create true 3D fibers, fur and hair which may be sculpted, painted, UV mapped and even exported to other applications.

Here's a complete list of all the new cool stuff:

• FiberMesh to create real 3d fiber, fur and hair geometry with export capabilities.
• New set of dedicated FiberMesh "Groom" brushes and corresponding Brush settings.
• MicroMesh support to render fibers or single polygons as separate 3D objects.
• New set of BPR filters and operators to greatly improve your final ZBrush renders
• BPR Global Shadow and Ambient Occlusion settings simplifying shadow management.
• New Cavity Mixer: define different material shaders based on the mesh cavities.
• Improved small details creation through Alpha and Mask. Alphas may be placed using TransPose.
• Surface Smoothness feature detects mesh curvature for Mask creation.
• New global deformation with Transpose Curve deformation and UnClip.
• Improved Mask operations with Shrink and Extend.
• Topology editing additions: Group Mask and Edgeloop Mask Border.
• New JPEG Exporter with Crop, Preview and adjustment settings.

Pixologic also has information about the two new plugins 'NoiseMaker' and 'QRemesher', which they are developing in collaboration with Verold so head over to ZBC for more details and videos.