ZBrushCentral

How to add "Activate Symmetry" to UI

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I’ve been trying to add the Activate Symmetry button and the active points count to my custom UI with no success. Whenever you reload ZBrush, you lose either Activate Symmetry, or Active Points. I can get one at a time, but I can’t seem to get both to work at the same time. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Will

#2

Hey Will, I’m having the same problem even without the active points in my UI. Activate sym, X, Y, Z, R and Radial Count all are missing when ZB starts. They came back once after entering edit mode but after shutting down and opening ZB back up, they have not returned. Quite odd actually.
Hope someone comes up with at least a why…

Ryan

#3

I did trial and error for an hour, and finally got Symmetry working in my UI. By itself. But unfortunately after that many attempts, I can’t remember how I did it. What I was really shooting for was having both at the same time, so I just kept trying different things. Symmetry is what I’m left with, so at least I can tell you that it is possible! :slight_smile:

Will

#4

  1. Launch zbrush
  2. Add the active points button to your custom UI
  3. Save the UI.

This must be executed BEFORE you load any 3D mesh.

#5

Well, how about if I’m trying to add the symmetry buttons to my custom UI but they don’t exist until AFTER I load a mesh? they are just not there unless there is an active mesh. Not sure if this was always the case or if it started after I started changing the UI. :frowning:

#6

It seems to work if you follow Suport’s instructions, save the UI, then load your tool, put symmetry where you want it, and save it again. I have both working, and it has survived several restarts. Finally.

Thanks Support!!

#7

Just to clarify hardbottle’s answer (I had same problem with UI elements that were only present when a tool was selected). Go ahead and load a tool, set up your UI customizations, THEN drop the tool and select a 2d tool, such as the simple brush. I also clear my document (Ctrl-N) just in case, but probably not necessary. Now you can save your custom UI and the elements should be there when you come back, although they might be grayed out until you load another tool.

#8

Perhaps I’m not understanding your goal here, but since the X hotkey acts as a toggle for Activate Symmetry, why have that big button continuously taking up real-estate on the UI?

Sven

#9

Ehh, still not working for me. As soon as I select the 2d tool my newly placed symm buttons disappear. Now if I save the config at this point, every time I reselect a 3d tool, the missing buttons reappear. This is true even if I initialize ZB. BUT, if I close ZB and then reopen it, the buttons are gone no matter what I do and have to re enable customization and place the there again.

I think I may start over from the default UI and see what happens. :frowning:

#10

I was wondering when someone would ask that :slight_smile: I use ZB mostly on a tablet PC and would just like quicker access to these buttons on screen. Not a huge deal but I just don’t get why they wont stay put! I could also make a new profile for the external pad I use while sculpting but I’d rather have them on screen. I have a nice little place for them out of the way too… :slight_smile:

#11

Ah! Of course.

Sven

EDIT:

Ryan, see if this works for you: a little button “sym” that toggles Symmetry on and off. Unzip ToggleSymmetry.zsc into your Startup/Zplugs folder after which you’ll find the button under Svengali in the ZScripts menu. Drag it into your UI. It traps and warns you if not in edit mode.

#12

Sven, this works great! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Of course, Now that you’ve whet my appetite for the impossible I would love to see the other symm buttons included but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right? :slight_smile:
Thanks again for the great work! :+1: :+1:

#13

It’s a beautiful thing…Thank Svengali !

#14

OK, in this zip I’ve added four more toggle buttons for X,Y,Z and R.

The radial slider turned out to be problematic so this is all you get… :smiley:

Sven

#15

Now, that’s fantastic!! I don’t know what else to say other than thank you for taking the time to do this!!! I’m sure many will benefit from these buttons. Have a great weekend! :slight_smile:

EDIT They work great by the way! :smiley:

#16

ok, I’ve been trying to set up custom menus for better work-flow yesterday and ran into the same problem. Any menu items not available at the start of zbrush (e.g. anything specific to a 3D polymesh or the symmetry options) was completely missing from my custom menus and the “shelves”. I am sure this is because the default active tool when Zbrush loads is the Simple Brush (which is 2.5D).
But then I realised that there may be a very simple solution, and it worked! :slight_smile:

the solution
all you need to do is reload your UI when you have a 3D tool active. and that’s all :slight_smile: . So after you created your nice UI and closed Zbrush:

  1. Open Zbrush
  2. Pick primitive, make polymesh3d / or load your custom tool
  3. Click on Preferences > Config > Restore Custom UI
    Presto! all your UI elements are there were you left them

alternatively:

  1. save a separate UI file via Preferences > Config > Save UI
  2. Reload Zbrush
  3. Pick primitive, make polymesh3d / or load your custom tool
  4. load UI via Preferences > Config > Load UI

I’m hoping this will work for you if you had this problem