The December Maxon One update is here, and there are some big updates across ZBrush, Cinema 4D, Redshift and Red Giant (see our guides to the best 3D modelling software and the best animation software).
Most notable for 3D artists is a batch of updates for ZBrush – both the desktop and iPad versions of the sculpting software. Both editions have a new Retopology Brush and Smooth Retopology Brush, long-requested features offering more control for creating clean, low-poly versions of any sculpt optimised for animation and real-time engines like Unreal Engine 5
Meanwhile, ZBrush for iPad is now a 3D photogrammetry tool. Users can scan and capture real-life objects from multiple angles directly in the software using the iPad camera.
ZBrush for iPad now has a 'capture' button below the 'New Sculpt' button. This allows us to capture any object on the fly and start generating a point cloud.
Maxon recommends taking at least 100 pictures to generate a mesh with the picture data as a texture map as a base to sculpt on.
While the demo above shows the tool used on trees, it should be interesting to see how it does capturing bodies and faces too. Maxon includes a demo on a jacket in a video on its website. You'll need an iPad with PadOS 17 or later, an A14 Bionic chip or later and LiDAR scan.
With the latest update, ZBrush for iPad is becoming a more complete tool for professional production work as well as casual sculpting. While it still lacks some desktop features, it now has exclusive tools of its own, while offering the ability to sculpt anywhere.
Other updates in ZBrush 2026.1 include a new Quick Search feature to eliminate the hassle of navigating complex menus, plus improvements to image exporting and importing, such as new large file export, multiple file import and auto-save.
A restructured folder system now standardises both versions of ZBrush with other 3D applications, making it easier to move from one ZBrush version to another, transfer customisations, and align with industry and educational standards.
Elsewhere in the Maxon One suite of apps, the December update gives Cinema 4D Advanced Distributions to allow more complex setups in MoGraph that can be brought to life with Effectors and Fields.
Liquid Flow expands on Cinema 4D’s unified simulation framework with GPU-accelerated controls for adding fluid simulations, and Cineware has been updated to run more smoothly with Unreal Engine, allowing motion graphics to be transferred quickly for interactive playback, with improved support for lighting and re-imports.
You can learn more on the Maxon website, where there's a flash sale running on subscriptions for another day.
