Pixologic has released an update to ZBrush 4R2 so you don’t have to wait until R5 to get some of these amazing new features.  ZBrush 4R2b is pretty revolutionary and is well worth the free downloadable update.

But that’s not all! ZBrush4 R2b also includes exciting new features that are designed to push your artwork to ever greater heights! FiberMesh to create true 3D fibers, fur and hair which may be sculpted, painted, UV mapped and even exported to other applications.

• New set of dedicated FiberMesh “Groom” brushes and corresponding Brush settings.
• MicroMesh support to render fibers or single polygons as another 3D object.
• New set of BPR filters and operators to greatly improve your final ZBrush renders.
• BPR Global Shadow and Ambient Occlusion settings which simplify shadow management.
• New Cavity Mixer which to 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.
• Numerous improvements such as storing shadow information based on the camera point of view, preview of mesh Extraction, Auto Adjust Mode for perspective… and a lot more.

For anyone who already has ZBrush 4R2 installed, an Updater is available now in the Pixologic Download Center. Please carefully read the instructions that are provided with the Updater.