ZBrushCentral

Navigation and 2.5 D bull****

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I’m coming from sculptris and not bad at sculpting at all but I want to be able to retopo my sculpts and put textures on them get more clean meshes. What I’m looking for is a nice pipeline and Sculptris - Z brush - Photoshop seems to be the best option. I have already mastered the sculpting, I could make a realistic human in sculptris right now, it wouldn’t have nice topology or any textures that is why I want to understand z brush. So far I get how to import models and how the whole 2.5D thing works, I also understand how to retopo the model using z remesher.

Some problems that annoy me to the point at which I have started to look for alternatives, mudbox seems even more of a mess so about these z brush problems.

  1. Navigating around the model. (Z brush uses this 2.5D **** so according to online tutorials if you want to zoom onto the model you should scale the model up, this is stupid and it annoys me a lot is there any way to make it so you can navigate like you do in sculptris. Hold shift and press down the button on the tablet pen to scroll zoom by holding down ctrl and rotate just by holding down the tablet button? This would feel MUCH nicer than the crippling having to scale up the model and stuff, I can’t use this software if there is really no way to change how you navigate through it. When I rotate the model and just drag the cursor to the side while pressing down on empty space it doesn’t even seem to rotate in that direction but on an angle so I got to try to align the model again, very very clunky, save me someone.

  2. When you retopo the model you loose a lot of detail from the original sculpt, coming from Sculptris I’m used to just sculpt away but in Z brush there is once again a lot of stuff you got to do before you can start adding details to the models, to my understanding you got to subdivide the model under geometry and that’s all good since we’re only gonna add wrinkles and fine skin texture and stuff, sculptris has done all the sculpting that matters, but z brush is better at fine detail. Problem is that the only sculpting tools that you need, clay, crease, smooth, grab and scale are hid in a cluster**** of brushes and just opening it up gives discourages me from even continuing, sculptris had all the brushes in the top corner easy to change in between but in z brush you got to first find them, I have found the clay tool but I can’t seem to find grab or crease. I found some brush that looked like the crease brush but when I clicked it I apparently made the brush I had selected already, clay brush into the crease brush, very annoying since I now don’t know how to go back to my clay brush or how to turn off crease. Everytime I select anything there is always some window that stars piling up with everything I have used, like the object view seems to save everything I select or import and it’s so damn messy I don’t want to see all this stuff I just want to add detail to the damn model, is there some way to hide all this stuff I don’t need or want to see, some way to erase or hide all the brushes I don’t need or want? I guess what I’m asking you is if there is some preset I can download that makes the z brush interface and hot keys more like sculptris so I can go ahead and add detail without being distracted or slowed down by a lot of unnecessary features, Michelangelo used a chisel and some paper to polish his statues!

  3. Adding detail to the model by using a skin texture, what brush would I select as to not add a layer of clay for example and then the texture on top of that, only the texture?

I need to solve these problems before I can start adding detail to a sculpt from sculptris after that it’s time to paint textures and create normal maps but I haven’t looked at tutorials for that yet so I have yet to be frustrated with it. The above I have looked up but been so frustrated with that I ask you if there is some way to change it so it works better.

Ps: Also that 2.5D mode should be considered a bug to not be able to move the model around after you’ve edited it is a bad bad bug. That reminds me, there is no good way to clean up the tool history window is there, you need that if you ever accidentally exit edit mode, all your recent tools will be displayed there, how nice except you can’t scroll through the tool and when it grows it takes up a lot of space and is distracting, is the little R button for clearing it, is there some way to turn it off?

#2

You need to read the Docs and check out some of the zclassroom videos to learn the basics.

is there any way to make it so you can navigate like you do in sculptris. Hold shift and press down the button on the tablet pen to scroll zoom by holding down ctrl and rotate just by holding down the tablet button? This would feel MUCH nicer than the crippling having to scale up the model and stuff, I can’t use this software if there is really no way to change how you navigate through it. When I rotate the model and just drag the cursor to the side while pressing down on empty space it doesn’t even seem to rotate in that direction but on an angle so I got to try to align the model again, very very clunky, save me someone.

You don’t need to scale the model to zoom.

To zoom: Alt-Click in blank area, let go of alt, drag to zoom

  • key and - keys also zoom.

To align, hold shift while rotating to snap to top, front, etc

Problem is that the only sculpting tools that you need, clay, crease, smooth, grab and scale are hid in a cluster**** of brushes and just opening it up gives discourages me from even continuing

You can save your favorite brushes in a custom UI.

You can also easily jump to brushes by typing B, then the first letter of the brush. To jump to clay brush type b then c…

Recently used brushes also show up in Quick Pick (when you click on the brush)

001.jpg

#3

Yes a custom UI and a way to change the hot keys for navigating is probably what I’m looking for, is there some UI I can download somewhere that would remove all the stuff that a MICHELANGELO wouldn’t need. Not comparing myself to him just saying this program is BADLY made. :wink: Oh and tutorials yes I have looked at a few, but I already know how to use almost all 3d tools there are to use in any 3d program. They are just at different places in every single program, I can uv map, sculpt, animate and render, but I’m not willing to learn how to do it in a program that has a badly setup UI. So I don’t really need any tutorials I just need to bring the tools out from the mess of stuff that is cluttered all over the z brush screen. So is there some script or UI I can download that would.

  1. Make the navigating more intuitive like sculptris.
  2. A custom UI that would put the main brushes mentioned in the first post to the left of the screen and just have a list of the modifiers and tools to the right of the screen. Try to hide and put aside all the 2.5D stuff and the history list that clutters up space on the screen. A clean, professional and slick UI, for example if I select a new brush I wouldn’t want to have a big button appear to the right of the screen that I could click to select that brush again.

There is absolutely no point in spending weeks to learn a UI that it’s possible to change, if you’ve learned how to ignore all the **** ups of z brush then good for you but I’m not going to do it I know how to do all this stuff I just want to be able to find it and do it without having to learn a bunch of stuff that nobody possibly would need. All Z brush has going for itself is being able to handle massive amounts of detail, the z remesher and the texture paint tools. Something Sculptris and other program do very poorly, I did try mari but that is even more of a mess, jesus christ.

Anyway where is the UI and the shortcut scripts please. :slight_smile:

EDIT: Ok I figured out how to do the UI myself just the shortcuts for navigating the 3d space, some way to change them?

#4

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?183019-quot-Middle-Button-quot-Plug-in-for-ZBrush-4R6

#5

Oh and tutorials yes I have looked at a few, but I already know how to use almost all 3d tools there are to use in any 3d program.[…]

There is absolutely no point in spending weeks to learn a UI that it’s possible to change, if you’ve learned how to ignore all the **** ups of z brush then good for you but I’m not going to do it I know how to do all this stuff I just want to be able to find it and do it without having to learn a bunch of stuff that nobody possibly would need. All Z brush has going for itself is being able to handle massive amounts of detail, the z remesher and the texture paint tools.

I think you underestimate the amount of use some people get out of things like IMM and repeating pattern brushes, detail projection, Decimation Master, poly slicing, clip brushes, UV master, Dynamesh, topology, panel loops, Normal and displacement export, shadowbox, etc. But that’s fine. Not everyone’s work output requires the full use of ZB’s features.

However, your level of expertise is noted, and I won’t insult you by offering my assistance in the future should you have a problem on these boards with any of ZB’s many unnecessary features.

#6

I agree 100% and the same goes for me.

#7

Thanks a lot for that that plugin, almost made my day but I can’t zoom in using the ctrl key because I mask with the ctrl key, how would I change that? Oh and did I insult your favorite ui guys, deal with it because I won’t and I’m happy it’s possible to change it.

#8

Dude, there’s much to read and understand. I posted a UI, have at it. Lots of scripts out there as well.

#9

Hmm I have almost figured it out, something I have noticed is that when you rotate you’re not rotating around a point in space but rotating the 3d object and the grid. Is it possible to rotate around a point in space instead of rotating the entire model? Seems to be the same when you’re zooming in, you’re not zooming in on a spot but instead scaling the model up?

EDIT: Hmm this isn’t a big deal though, thanks a lot for that plugin finally it’s possible to use z brush almost as well as sculptris, very nice.

#10

Is it possible to rotate around a point in space instead of rotating the entire model? Seems to be the same when you’re zooming in, you’re not zooming in on a spot but instead scaling the model up?

You’re not translating a camera around a virtual 3d world, you’re manipulating a model on top of a canvas very similar to photoshop. In the traditional mindset it’s like working on a sculpture that you can hold and move around with one hand while working on it with the other. With Transform: Local Transforms on, it will use the most recent editing point of the model as the pivot making it quick to focus on an area to get a good view of whatever you’re working on. If it is off then it will rotate around the model’s true center instead.

Zbrush is an excellent tool for any artist, whether they’re just budding or are some renaissance reincarnate. There are a lot of options and modifiers, but that’s because there’s no easy way to emulate the complex ways that a hand movement could effect a physical tool. Instead of trying to memorize physical positions of buttons it would be more practical to understand why certain buttons are particularly placed in the nicely sorted palettes and subpalettes that they are. This way you will be able to quickly and easily find whatever option you’re looking for regardless of which UI layout you’re using. Then you can go about creating a UI that brings forth only the brushes and options that you need for your particular workflow. You may not have need of certain features for the work you do, while someone who uses zbrush to paint seamless textures.

Have fun sculpting.

#11

Ps: Also that 2.5D mode should be considered a bug to not be able to move the model around after you’ve edited it is a bad bad bug.

It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. You just have to understand how it works (and no it’s not that difficult). It’s actually a great feature that some use (I use it quite a bit for certain projects).

Not comparing myself to him just saying this program is BADLY made.

It’s actually very well made. You just have to learn how it works. I prefer Zbrushes system more than the traditional 3D methods. I find it flows much quicker. And I didn’t start with Zbrush I come from Maya, Max, Blender, and yes even Sculptris. I find Zbrush is much smoother.

Oh and tutorials yes I have looked at a few, but I already know how to use almost all 3d tools there are to use in any 3d program. They are just at different places in every single program, I can uv map, sculpt, animate and render, but I’m not willing to learn how to do it in a program that has a badly setup UI.

Wrong. This is your biggest problem. You refuse to even watch the basic videos for a new program. You really need to watch the basics. It should answer all the questions and problems you’re currently having. Even going from Maya to Max you’d be much better off watching some basic videos, and those are more similar to each other than Zbrush. So no you’re very wrong on this part. If you refuse to spend a little time watching some basic videos then you’re going to spend a lot of time with frustration and running into walls you really could have easily avoided.

There is absolutely no point in spending weeks to learn a UI that it’s possible to change, if you’ve learned how to ignore all the **** ups of z brush then good for you but I’m not going to do it I know how to do all this stuff I just want to be able to find it and do it without having to learn a bunch of stuff that nobody possibly would need. All Z brush has going for itself is being able to handle massive amounts of detail, the z remesher and the texture paint tools. Something Sculptris and other program do very poorly, I did try mari but that is even more of a mess, jesus christ.

Oh and did I insult your favorite ui guys, deal with it because I won’t and I’m happy it’s possible to change it.

Your attitude is more bull**** than any problems and issues with Zbrush that you’re having.

I had a co-worker who is a great sculptor. They started out with Sculptris, it was their first digital sculpting program (they come from traditional clay sculpting). They loved it. I tried to get them to use Zbrush, and they refused. That was fine as they could still work in Sculptris. However any time they would come to me with problems or changes I would do it in Zbrush, while they watched. It didn’t take long for them to realize that Zbrush has much better control and a greater range of tools available. They decided to sit down and learn Zbrush. It was difficult and frustrating for them (especially since they’re not good with computers at all). Now they only use Zbrush and refuse to use Sculptris. So if they can learn Zbrush from a non technical and Sculptris background then you can too. They also considered it inferior, but if you ask them today they’ll say it’s a much better and quicker tool than Sculptris.

You’ll get what you put into it. You can make all the ridiculous claims you want, but it’s not us who are losing out, it’s you. If you want the benefits of Zbrush then put in the effort. A change of attitude and a couple of hours of watching some basic videos will get you more in return than being close-minded and stubborn.

#12

I started with trueSpace in 1998 :wink:
You would have a great deal more understanding if you would read.
Lots to read… http://docs.pixologic.com/getting-started/basic-concepts/

#13

I’m working on this anatomy study and recently I have been working in sculptris switching between objects easily with a simple click. Having discovered dynamesh I do realise z brush is better and you an skip sculptris all together. However because of the 2.5 D bull**** I got to use polygroups, here is what I got when I imported remeshed and auto polygrouped the skeleton.
http://i.imgur.com/UhYRBfM.png
Simple question, how would I switch between the polygroups or even easily divide them or merge them, there is no polygon selection mode like in modeling programs like blender etc so how is it done?

Is there a list where I can see all my polygroups, maybe a list where i can select what polygroup I want to work on, everything seems so hidden. I would like to have each bone be a polygroup so you can work on them individually but it’d be nice to be able to still be able to see the other bones while working so they aren’t hidden, so you can check how they relate to the other bones.

EDIT: Also because the ribs are so close to eachother when I enter dynamesh the bones merge. I guess it’s some smooth feature, how would I keep the border as it is like when you remesh and you hit the keep border button?

#14

Is there a list where I can see all my polygroups, maybe a list where i can select what polygroup I want to work on, everything seems so hidden. I would like to have…

:mad: It is what it is. Learn to drive, please read the docs.
I can not help you if you will not help yourself.

EDIT: Have you read the docs(how much of them)? Many of your questions have already been covered on these forums already., the answers are a search away. Most of the time. I understand why you wish to use Dynamesh but it has limits. Various methods can be used to create a mesh object in ZBrush. Learn them one at a time. Zspheres >adaptive skin>select it from tools> sculpt away on that instead. View PolyFrame to see groups.

#15

Yeah those 30 min tutorials, what you’re looking for often takes 5 sec of the tutorial. Sometimes it’s just faster to ask for where stuff is. :cool:

#16

Simple question, how would I switch between the polygroups or even easily divide them or merge them, there is no polygon selection mode like in modeling programs like blender etc so how is it done?

Ctrl+Shift+Click to select and isolate a polygroup. You can also turn polygroup masking on if you’d rather not hide the entire model while working. Otherwise I would recommend using subtools instead of polygroups. This way you can:


  • have two types of ordered lists (using the subtool palette, or hitting n)
  • rename, order, or merge subtools however you like
  • easily divide and work on each subtool independently

Having them as separate subtools might also help you with your dynamesh problem, as you’d be able to use a higher resolution without having to worry about the rest of the skeleton’s bones and size.

#17

You need to update your version of ZBrush to the latest version (4R6 P2). Just press “Check new updates” in the Zplugin>Auto Update sub-palette.

#18

Yeah those 30 min tutorials, what you’re looking for often takes 5 sec of the tutorial. Sometimes it’s just faster to ask for where stuff is.

It might be faster if you didn’t wade into a troubleshooting board attended largely by community members volunteering their knowledge and immediately alienate everyone except for the people who actually make the program, and probably didn’t even notice your rant. And then continue to display an utter unwillingness to learn any of this knowledge for yourself.

That said, even though I find your posting consistently unpleasant and uninformed, I’m going to help you because it’s to Zbrush’s benefit that I do so, and therefore in my own interests.

  1. Re: Polygroups and subtools.

There are two main ways of isolating different parts of a model. The mesh can be divided into subtools which can only be worked on individually, or polygroups within a subtool that can be worked on individually or all at once. To select an individual subtool, either select it from the list or Shift-Alt click on that mesh portion in the viewport.

Polygroups can be assigned by hiding/unhiding polygons with the selection marquee or lasso, masking, visibility inversion, a combination of those, or any of the many options for establishing grouping in the Polygroup menu. Once assigned, polygroups can be instantly hidden or masked. In order to best work with and assign polygroups, you will need to familiarize yourself with a number of shortcuts related to visibility and masking in the links below that will become second nature once you commit them to muscle memory:

http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/3d-modeling/modeling-basics/mesh-visibility/

http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/3d-modeling/modeling-basics/masking/

http://docs.pixologic.com/reference-guide/tool/polymesh/polygroups/

  1. Re: Dynamesh

In order to capture fine detail like adjacent fingers, you will have to increase the dynamesh resolution. The finer the detail, the greater the resolution will be required. As Dynamesh works best with meshes of medium to medium-high resolution, some detail will simply be too fine for Dynamesh to capture. In this case use Zremesher instead which is much more faithful to raw form at lower resolution, subdivide, and project hi res detail onto it.

Please study the following:

http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/3d-modeling/topology/zremesher/transferring-detail/

http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/3d-modeling/modeling-basics/creating-meshes/dynamesh/

http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/3d-modeling/topology/zremesher/

#19

That’s useful Spydel, so subtools work a bit like how different objects work in sculptris and the polygroups are like predefined masked regions of a model. I’ll have a look at those links, to find out how to turn every bone into a subtool.

#20

If each bone is its own polygroup, then you can split them automatically into separate subtools using the “Groups Split” option in the Subtool>Split menu. The “auto groups” function in the Tool>Polygroup menu will automatically group all non-contiguous (separate, unwelded) meshes in an active subtool into separate polygroups.

http://docs.pixologic.com/reference-guide/tool/polymesh/subtool/

However, keep in mind that subtools can only be edited individually. So if you have objects that may need to be sculpted or edited simultaneously in relation to each other, they should be kept in the same subtool as separate polygroups.

Once you’ve committed the various context sensitive shift-ctrl visibility shortcuts to muscle memory, polygroups are very easy to work with.