So earlier this week I made the mistake of downloading the trial of something called Keyshot. Here’s the deal…when you model something in ZBrush, or any basic CAD program, it doesn’t look like a photo. If you watch those home shows on HGTV, they’ll show a CAD drawing of the home, but it’s not until later that they show the fancy, more-realistic view. That’s an extra step that can take a lot of time and some expensive hardware and software. And that’s how movie studios get realistic animated creates…they’re all RENDERED, adding some photo-realism.

(click to enlarge) Using Nanomesh in ZBrush as a test to make a pavé ring…

I had heard that ZBrush has a partner in crime when it comes to making that photorealistic stuff…but I also heard it was almost $1800! For “real” jewelers who sell expensive jewelry, they probably don’t bat an eye at that price. But for someone making casual lifestyle jewelry, that’s almost as much as a 3D printer.

I knew the need was there, though, so I started researching while working on my ZBrush course. I tried Blender, which is free, but OMG…it made my head hurt. Maybe Keyshot was more user-friendly? (Hint: It’s almost a religious debate among CAD folks…) Might as well know something about it. That was a mistake…I’m hooked. Do I really ever have to physically make jewelry again? This CAD thing is SO MUCH CLEANER! I’ll just look at my stuff on the screen and imagine I made it. But I guess that’s cheating future archeologists!

So here’s the interesting part. That cute little start to a bracelet above? It’s not real. I modeled it in ZBrush and rendered it in Keyshot. It does not exist in a physical form. How will we know what to believe anymore??

Anyway, I realized that I got the price wrong, and that there is a version specifically for users of ZBrush that’s $200, then there’s something called the ZBrush to Keyshot Bridge that costs another $149. At least I’m hoping that’s what it costs. I MUST have this. Forget designer shoes!

And it’s super late…like 2:47 a.m. on a Saturday, but I couldn’t stop rendering things…anything I could get my hands on. So I thought you might enjoy seeing the process of making a flower charm. It will be in my upcoming ZBrush course.

making some petals

I started out with a virtual “ball” of silver, then pulled out some petal shapes. You can see that they look pretty rough.

smoothing it out

Here I refine the shape a little more.

adding some details

Here I thicken the outer edge of the petals. This will enhance the design once a darkening “patina” is added.

carving our more details

Here I start hollowing out the petals.

adding a bezel

I “append” a new shape. The “Ring3D” is the perfect shape to make a little stepped bezel.

stretching the bezel

I used the “Extend” function under the Gizmo 3D to stretch the bezel vertically.

cutting the ledge

Here I am using another cylinder as a cutter to make a little “shelf” for the stone to sit on. I colored the cutter red…

see the shelf?

It’s a little hard because of the darkening, but there is a little shelf that can be used for a domed stone or a faceted stone. You can still see the flower under the shelf.

cutting through the flower

In the next step, I use another cylinder that’s just the diameter of the inside of the ring to cut through the back of the flower to let light in. It also allows cleaning of the stone.