Pixologic Release: Alpha & Texture Loaders (PC & Mac)

aurick · July 4, 2019, 5:30am

[attach=21534]ATLThumb.jpg[/attach]

           Drawing his inspiration from the [Gnomon Alpha Browser](http://showthread.php?t=27566) released some time back, marcus_civis wrote these two plugins to enable you to browse and load images from your own library of alphas and textures.

           
            :large_orange_diamond: Quick access thumbnails of all your Alphas and Textures
            :large_orange_diamond: Uses your own folder and file names
            :large_orange_diamond: Up to 250 images per tab - 2,500 images in all for each loader
            :large_orange_diamond: Search for files by name
            :large_orange_diamond: Add files to 'Favorites' tab for batch loading by hotkey.

[attach=21537]grab02.jpg[/attach]

As the loaders use your folder and file names, you can organize your library in a way that is meaningful to you, speeding your workflow. Tabs can be cleared at any time, so that new ‘project’ folders can be added as necessary. Files can be quickly loaded or selected as Favorites for batch loading at the start of a ZBrush session.

<b>This plugin is now available for ZBrush 3.1 PC and ZBrush 3.12 Mac.  </b>

You can get it from the Download Center.

INSTALLATION:
UNZIP the zip file to your ZStartup\ZPlugs folder (…\ZBrush2\ZStartUp\ZPlugs).
You may need to create the ZPlugs folder if you have a new installation of ZBrush.

           To install only one plugin: delete the .zsc file and data folder for the plugin you don't wish to install.

Restart ZBrush. You will find two new buttons: a “LoadAlphas” button in a new subpalette “Alpha Library” in the Alpha palette, and a “Load Txtrs” button in a new subpalette “Texture Library” in the Texture palette. You can Ctrl+drag the buttons to where you want on your interface and store the setting (Ctrl+Shift+I).

           For full instructions download the [<u>LoaderInstructions_PDF zip</u>](http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/attachment.php?attachmentid=21536).

Many thanks to spaz8 and Lemonnado for help with testing; special thanks also to aminuts and Svengali for testing and for some valuable suggestions.[color=Orange]
[color=Orange]Note: when adding alphas/textures to the loader, creating of thumbnails is memory intensive. Loading many images at one time may result in ZBrush popup info failing to display. Restarting ZBrush will correct this.

Watch the Movie Below to understand how Alpha & Texture Loader works:

[[attach=114512]AlphaTextureLoader.jpg[/attach]](http://download.pixologic01.com/PluginsMovies/AlphaTextureLoader.mov.zip)
          
          
 We hope you find the Alpha & Texture Loaders useful.
     
          
          
          ![AlphaTextureLoaderSmallicon.jpg|100x76](upload://yNqLhnHjOrrmMrjWKwaIJQWqBWY.jpeg)

SNARK · July 3, 2019, 6:22pm

Hi.

First, this is a great utility. Thanks so much for making it available. I know it was not easy to produce. Thanks.

I notice that the interface seems to have a limit of ‘10’ Directories (or ‘Tabs’). Is this true? Or is there a way to have more than ‘10’ top-bar directories (or ‘Tabs’)?

Because, … if this is true … and I am restricted to only ‘10’ tabs, … that drastically affects how I organize my alphas & textures.

Thanks!

~S.~

STVGRV · July 4, 2019, 8:01am

Please see image
Once I select the alpha, this dialog box pops up. Any suggestions are appreciated.

PS
Notice the missing Matcap and Brush Control icons once this happens

Thanks
Stv

KumarMhatre · July 3, 2019, 6:28pm

how about material loader incorporated in this one would be awesome

where in one can preview lots of material and organize them by customising

you are a magician

Maxsunset · July 3, 2019, 6:28pm

Does anyone know if there’s a zscript out there to load a library of tools much in the same way that the alpha and texture loaders work for alphas and textures? It would be awesome for random greeble parts to kit-bash together as subtools on a model or for use with projection master.

system · July 4, 2019, 8:01pm

Here’s the lowdown.

I go to load in the alphas, shift click the first 20 or so (just to be safe and what not) and hit the ‘do it live’ button to load the alphas in. I see the alphas briefly appear in the default alpha box and I think it loads to the Plugin, so I go and check and here’s what I keep getting:

Attachments

Picture 1.png

marcus_civis · July 3, 2019, 6:32pm

10001110101,

Are all the alphas you are trying to load grayscale PSDs?

system · July 3, 2019, 6:32pm

They are all grayscale alphas. In psd format.

marcus_civis · July 3, 2019, 6:32pm

OK, thanks. Can you tell me if all the alphas you selected were loaded into the alpha palette? I’ll try and sort this out for you.

system · July 3, 2019, 6:34pm

Okay.

Heres all possible human user debug info:

all alphas are in the zStartup folder.
they load up at start.
only can Import one at a time…
maybe i should move them over…

marcus_civis · July 4, 2019, 8:02pm

10001110101,

If you have alphas in the ZStartup/Alphas folder then there is no need to use the Alpha Loader plugin. Any alphas in that folder will be loaded automatically by ZBrush and you can select them by pressing the large Alpha thumbnail (at the top of the Alpha palette or to the left of the standard UI setup). The alphas will appear under User Alphas at the top of the popup. Just click one to select it. (See the image). It’s important not to have too many alphas stored in the ZStartup/Alphas folder, otherwise ZBrush’d performance will be affected.

The Alpha/Texture loaders are designed for alphas or textures stored elsewhere on your system.

Attachments

system · July 3, 2019, 6:34pm

I see.
How do I add many files at once then to your library? It seems to just add one at a time.

marcus_civis · July 3, 2019, 6:34pm

Pressing Add and then Shift+selecting more than one file in the file select dialog should do it. If this still doesn’t work for you when you’ve updated to 3.12B then let me know. I’ll try and release an update to solve the problem.

marcus_civis · July 3, 2019, 6:38pm

Please note that there is a new version of the Alpha Texture Loaders for ZBrushOSX 3.12B available from the Download Center. This version has a new thumbnail generating routine which is faster and will correct the errors experienced by some users.

SpaceMan · July 3, 2019, 7:18pm

Can someone tell me where the files when loaded are located at. I looked in the zplugs folder found the the folder went through them and only found the thumbs. I read the pdf instructions file.

TIA

marcus_civis · July 3, 2019, 7:18pm

SpaceMan,

I’m not sure what you mean. The actual image files remain wherever they are stored on your hard drive (with the loader tab title showing the folder name). When adding images to the loaders, the images are loaded so that the thumbnails can be created but the actual images are not moved or copied.

HTH,

SpaceMan · July 3, 2019, 7:18pm

marcus_civis thanks - you answered my question - the loader links to the image file.

system · July 3, 2019, 7:39pm

Marcus, I (like many before me) just want to say thank you for making such a great tool available to this community. We all appreciate it a lot.

I very much like this plugin.

I am curious though if there is a forthcoming update for it 3.5? Plugins don’t work with different versions if I am correct?

If it does work with 3.5, please let me know.

Thanks again!

marcus_civis · July 3, 2019, 7:39pm

Celorfilmarr,

Many thanks for your comments.
Yes, these are being updated for 3.5. In the meantime it’s best not to install plugins for earlier versions as you will get problems.

Cheers,

system · July 3, 2019, 7:39pm

I figured as much, but didn’t want to risk too much experimentation.

Thanks for the clarification, I’ll keep an eye out for that!