beginningzblog模板

ZBrush4R7What'sNewGuideZBRUSHWelcomeWelcometotheWhat'sNewdocumentationforZBrush4R7.
WhilemuchofZBrush4R7isverysimilartootherreleasesintheversion4series,therearequiteafewnewfeaturestohelpmakeyourZBrushingevenmoreproductiveandcreative.
WehopethattheinformationyoufindherehelpsyouunderstandthedifferencesbetweenthisreleaseandpreviousversionsofZBrush.
Thisdocumentonlycoverswhat'snewinversion4R7.
TolearnmoreaboutthefeaturesintroducedinpreviousreleasesofZBrush4,weinviteyoutoreadtheotherZBrush4What'sNewGuides,locatedinyourZBrushinstallation'sDocumentationfolder.
You'reinvitedtovisitourZClassroomforahugedatabaseoffreehighqualitymoviesexplainingallthemainfeaturesofZBrush.
HereyouwillalsofindtheArtistsSpotlight,wherefamous3DArtistsexplainhowtheyuseZBrush,helpinginspireyoutocreatelikethepros.
Don'tforgettosubscribeforfreetoourZBrushCentralcommunitywithover250,000memberstodiscovertips,viewartists'creations,locateusefulhelpforallthingsrelatedtoZBrushorpostyourworks-in-progress!
WeencourageyoutoregularlyvisitourZBrushBlogaswellasoursocialmediaoutletswhereyouwillfindallthenewsrelatedtotheZBrushuniverse,fromthemostrecentInterviewtonewpluginsorgalleryadditions.
ZClassRoomPortal:http://www.
pixologic.
com/zclassroom/ArtistSpotlight:http://www.
pixologic.
com/zclassroom/artistspotlight/ZBrushCentral:http://www.
zbrushcentral.
com/ZBlog:http://www.
pixologic.
com/blog/Pixologic.
com:http://www.
pixologic.
comPixologicSocialMedia:Facebook-Google+-Twitter-PinterestThePixologicTeam2015Pixologic,Inc.
Allrightsreserved,PixologicandthePixologiclogo,ZBrush,andtheZBrushlogoareregisteredtrademarksofPixologic,Inc.
Allothertrademarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.
MacOSX&WindowsversionofZBrushInsteadoftheWindowsCtrlkey,theMacintoshusestheCommand(Apple)Key.
ThisdocumentationwillalwaysrefertousingtheCtrlkeyname,althoughitmaysometimeslistbothasCtrl/Command.
WhentheCtrlkeyismentionedanywhereinthedocumenta-tionaMacintoshuserwillwanttousetheCommandkeyinstead.
ThesameistruefortheWindowsEnterkey,whichtheMacintoshcallsReturn.
WhenseeingtheEnterkeymentionedanywhereinthisdocumentation,aMacuserwillwanttousetheReturnkeyinstead.
TheClose/Quit,Hide,MinimizeandMaximizebuttonsarelocatedonthetoprightinWindowsandatthetopleftonMacOSX.
ZBrushDocumentationGuide-version1.
00ThisdocumentationhasbeenwrittenbyThomasRoussel,PaulGaboury,JosephDrustandMatthewYetterForalldocumentationquestionsandinquiries,pleasecontactusatdocumentation@pixologic.
com.
AboutZBrush4R7ZBrush4R7isthefinaliterationwithintheZBrush4seriesbeforewemovetoZBrush5.
0.
Aswithourpreviouspointreleases,itdoesn'tsimplymakeafewminorchangesbutratherispackedwithmajoradditions.
Infact,4R7isoneofthemostextensivereleasessinceZBrush4cameout.
WithZBrush4R7,youwilladdanothersetoftoolstoyourarsenal,expandingyourartisticfreedomandcreativity.
Inparticular:ArrayMesh,NanoMeshandZModelerwithQMesh.
Allofthesefeaturesareusefulthroughoutthecreativeprocess,frominitialcre-ationofyourmodeltobeautifyingyourartwork.
TheyallowyoutostaywithinZBrushformoreofyourworkflow,doingthingsthatwereeitherimpracticalorevenoutrightimpos-sibletoaccomplishbeforenow.
Beyonditsfeatureset,thecoreofZBrushisbeingreworkedand4R7willbethefirstversionofZBrushthatisreleasedwithoptional64-bitsupport.
*Thiswillallowyoutofullyharnessyourmachine'scomputingpower,notonlyallowingforhigherpolygoncountsbutalsomakingitpossibleforyoutheartisttocreatemoreartinlesstime!
1.
ZModelerWithZBrush4R7comestheZModelerbrush.
Thissmartpolygonalmodelingsys-temisdesignedtosimplifyyourcreationprocess.
Quicklyanddynamicallycreatenewshapes,doingsomoreeasilythaneverbeforepossible:fusepolygons,deletefullblocksofgeometry,connectpartswithadvancedpaths,andrepeatyouractionswithasingleclick!
WiththeZModelerbrush,ZBrushtakesaquantumleapbeyondtheorganicsthatitisalreadyrelieduponfor.
Youcanrefinetheshapeofyourmodelinreal-timetorevo-lutionizehowyoucreatehardsurfacemodels,architecturalstructuresorhighlydetailedenvironments.
Thepossibilitiesareendless.
2.
InstancesandDetailsWiththenewNanoMeshandArrayMeshfeatures,youastheartistcanbringmorecomplexityanddetailtoyourworkwhilestillmaintainingalowpolygoncount.
BothNa-noMeshandArrayMmeshwillallowformultipleinstancesofanyobjecttobecreatedandthenadjustedinamatterofseconds.
3.
RenderwithCompleteDetails-SurfaceNoiseWithZBrush4R7theBPRRendersystemwillnowrenderallSurfaceNoiseasdis-placement,deformingthemeshtomatchtheattributesofanyprocedurallycreatednoise.
Itislikehavingadisplacementmapwithoutneedingtoactuallycreatethemap.
Seeextremelydetailedresultsatrendertimeregardlessofpolygoncount.
4.
ZBrushToKeyShotWiththeZBrushtoKeyshotBridgeyoucanseamlesslyconnectZBrushwithKey-Shot5toproducehyper-realisticandhighqualityimages.
Ifyoudon'talreadyownKey-Shot5orifitspriceissimplyoutofyourreach,a"specialedition"KeyShotforZBrushisalsoavailable*.
TheKeyShottoZBrushBridgechangesyourBestPreviewRender(BPR)buttontoinsteadsendyourmodelstoKeyShotwithasingleclick.
Allassociateddatatransfersautomatically,includingmaterials,displacedgeometries,proceduralnoise,PolyPaintortextures--andofcoursethenewNanoMeshandArrayMesh.
IfZBrushcandisplayit,KeyShotcanrenderit!
*TheKeyShotforZBrusheditionisbasedonKeyShotHDfunctionalityexceptfortwopoints:ItcanonlycommunicatewithZBrush(noimportingfromotherpackages)andtherearenorestric-tionsonrenderingsize.
LuxionnormallysellsKeyShotHDforUSD995buttheintroductorypricetobundleoftheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgetogetherwithKeyshotforZBrushisonlyUSD249.
Aftertheintroductoryperiod,theregularpricewillstillbeaterrificvalueatUSD349.
5.
64-BitSupportPushtheboundariesofyourimaginationwiththeZBrush4R764-bitPreviewEdi-tion*.
ZBrushcannowtapallavailablecomputermemoryandprocessingpowerformoredetails,evenmorecomplexmodelsandfasteroperations.
*TheofficialreleaseofZBrush4R7isanative32-bitapplication.
Wearealsoprovidingana-tive64-bitbuildasaDeveloperPreview.
This64-bitapplicationhasbeentestedandshouldworkflawlessly,butsincethe64-bitconversionisamajoroverhaulofthecoreprogramming,official64-bitsupportwillnotbeavailableuntilthereleaseofZBrush5.
Version4R7willbethefinal32-bitreleaseofZBrush.
6.
ZRemesher2.
0Retopologizinghasneverbeenasartist-friendlyaswithZRemesher2.
0.
Withasingleclick,youcanautomaticallyproduceorganicorhardsurfacetopologywithoutspi-rals.
Ifone-clicktopologyisn'ttherightanswerforeverysituation,youcanintuitivelytakecontrolofthere-topologyprocesswithcurvestoassistindeterminingpolygonflow.
7.
FBXImport/ExportTocontinueimprovingitsintegrationwiththeartist'spipeline,ZBrush4R7introducesanewfreeplugin:FBXImportExport.
Thissupportstexture,normalanddisplacementmaps,blendshapes,smoothingbasedonnormalsandmuchmore!
8.
OtherEnhancementsandAdditionsAswithpastupdates,ZBrush4R7doesn'tstopatmajorfeatures.
Italsoincludesnumerousotheradditionswhichwillimproveyourproductivityandcreativity.
Afeware:ReplayLastcannowbereappliedtoanyportionofthemodel.
BackgroundimagesappliedwiththeGridsystemcannowbeprojectedontoyourmodelforapaintedguideinyournewestcreations.
StartanysculptwiththenewpolygonalCube,SphereandCylinderprimitives.
AutomaticallycentertheTransPoselineonanyunmasked,partiallyvisibleorsymmetricalpieceofgeometrywithoneclick.
CopyandPastebetweenTools,SubToolsandevenProjects.
Andwholelotmore!
WelookforwardtoseeingyourZBrush4R7creationsandcommentsonouruserforum:ZBrushCentral.
com!
TABLEOFCONTENTZBRUSH4R7WHAT'SNEWGUIDE11.
ZModeler42.
InstancesandDetails43.
RenderwithCompleteDetails-SurfaceNoise54.
ZBrushToKeyShot55.
64-BitSupport56.
ZRemesher2.
067.
FBXImport/Export68.
OtherEnhancementsandAdditions6INSTALLATION20UPGRADING&20ACTIVATION20ISystemRequirements21IIInstallationandActivation22IIIUpgrading23IVAutoUpdate241.
AutoUpdateInAction242.
AutoUpdateWithinZBrush25VSummaryoftheActivationProcess26VIDeactivation29VIIActivationTroubleshooting30VIIIUn-installation32IXSupportRegistration33XBackwardCompatibilityofZBrushFiles34ZMODELER35IIntroductiontotheZModeler371.
Context-BasedActions:Points,Edges,PolygonsandCurves382.
Restrictions38IITheZModelerBrush:ActionsandTargets40IIIOptionsandModifiers41IVEdgeSelectorWidget421.
HighlightingaPoint:422.
HighlightinganEdge:423.
HighlightingaPolygon:42VTheDoNothingAction43VIWorkingWithPolyGroups441.
PropagationofPolyGroups442.
TemporaryPolyGroup443.
ChangingofPolyGroupsDuringanAction454.
CopyinganExistingPolyGroup45VIIReplaytheAction46VIIIZModelerandMasking47IXPointActions48Bridge48Crease48Delete49DoNothing49Extrude49MakeCurve49Mask50Move50QMesh50Slide51Split51Stitch52TransPose52XEdgeActions53Align53Bevel54Bridge54CloseHole55Collapse57Crease57Delete57DoNothing57Extrude57Insert58Inset59Mask59Move60MoveAutoRadius60MoveBrushRadius60MoveInfiniteRadius60PolyGroup61QMesh61Scale62Slide62Spin62Split62Stitch(Hole)63Swivel63TransPose63Unweld64XIPolygonActions65AddtoCurve65Bevel65Bridge66Crease67Delete68DoNothing68Equalize68Extrude68Inflate69InsertNanoMesh69InsertPoint69InsertPolyloops70Inset70Mask71MeshtoBrush71Move71Polygroup72QMesh72Scale74Spherize74Spin74SpinEdges75Split75TransPose75Unweld75ZModelerModifiers76Bevel77Delete77XIIIZModelerBrushTargets781.
EdgeLoopVersusPolyLoop792.
PointTargets80ByBrushRadius80Point(s)80TwoPoints80InfiniteDepth81InfiniteX,YorZ81InfiniteXYZ81Ring813.
EdgeTargets82Edge82EdgeLoopComplete82EdgeLoopPartial82MultipleEdgeLoop82SingleEdgeLoop82EdgeStrip83PolyLoop83TwoEdges83PolyGroupIsland83Hole84ConcaveHole84ConvexHole84TwoHoles844.
PolygonTargets86ASinglePoly(Polygon)86AllPolygons86AllQuads(Quadrangles)86AllTriangles86Behind87Behind&Polygroup87BrushRadius87ConnectedPolys(Polygons)87CurvedIsland87FacingFrontAll88FacingFrontIsland88Flat&PolyGroup88FlatBorder88FlatInner88FlatIsland89Infront89Infront&Polygroup89Island89Poly(Polygon)89PolyCorners(PolygonCorners)90PolyGroupAll90PolygroupBorder90PolygroupInner90PolygroupIsland90Polyloop91Polyloop&Flat91Polyloop&Polygroup91TwoPolys(TwoPolygons)915.
CurveTargets92AllCurves92Curves92QUICKMESH93IQuickMeshFunctions95QCube95QSphere95QCylX,YandZ(QuickCylinder)95X,YandZRes(Resolution)96DYNAMICSUBDIVISION97IDynamicSubdivisionBlendedwithClassicSubdivision99IIDynamicSubdivisionWorkflow100IIIDynamicSubdivisionHotKeys101IVDynamicSubdivisionandSavedProjects/Tools102VPriorityOrderofthedifferentDynamicSubdivisionsliders.
.
.
.
102VIDynamicSubdivisionFunctions103Dynamic103Apply103QGrid(QuickGrid)104QGridCoverage104QGridConstant105QGridBevel105QGridChamfer105FlatSubdivision105SmoothSubdivision106NANOMESH107INanoMeshComponents1091.
ThePlacementMesh1092.
TheInstancedGeometry(Nanos)1093.
TheNanoMeshBrush110IINanoMeshDemonstration111IIIWorkingwithMultuipleNanoMeshes1121.
MultipleNanoMeshes1122.
PolygonswithMultipleNanoMeshes112IVNanoMeshFunctions1131.
Mainsettings113NanoMeshSelector113NanoMeshOn113HideOthers113ArrayMeshPresets133OpenandSave133ArrayMesh133TransPose134LockPosition,LockSize134SwitchXY,SwitchXZ,SwitchYZ134TransformStage134AppendNew135InsertNew135Reset135Delete135Copy,Past135Repeat136Chain136Smooth136AligntoPath136AligntoAxis136PatternStart,PatternLength,PatternOn,PatternOff137XMirror,YMirror,ZMirror137Offset137Scale138Rotate138Pivot138X,Y,ZAmountandX,Y,ZProfile139ConverttoNanoMesh139Extrude139Close139Angle140KEYSHOTFORZBRUSH141IAbouttheKeyShotforZBrushSoftware143IIInstallingandActivating144IIIDeactivatingtheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgePlugin146IVSupportedandNon-SupportedZBrushDataTypes1481.
GeometryandMeshes1482.
Color,TexturesandMaterials1483.
EnvironmentalData1494.
Settings149VBasicWorkflowfromZBrushtoKeyShot1501.
ChangingtheRenderingEngine1502.
SettingtheBridgeOptions1503.
SendingDatafromZBrushtoKeyShot1504.
GoingBackfromKeyShottoZBrush151VIWorkingwithZBrushData1521.
MaterialPriority1522.
MultipleMaterialsinAction1533.
WorkingwithTextureandPolyPaint1534.
WorkingwithSurfaceNoise154VIIZBrushtoKeyShotBridgeOptions155KeyShot155MaxFaces155AutoMergeMode155GroupByMaterials156SendDocumentColor156ZREMESHER2.
0157IZRemesherandHardSurfaces1591.
MeshDensity1592.
WorkwithPolyGroups1593.
Usecurves159IISpiralsintheRetopology161IIIZRemesherfunctions162KeepGroups162FBXEXPORTIMPORTPLUGIN163IGeneral1641.
Featuressupportedforexport1642.
Featuressupportedforimport1643.
FBXversionssupported1644.
Texturemapfileformatssupported1655.
StepByStep-Exporting1656.
StepByStep-Importing166IIFBXImportExportFunctions167Selected,Visible,All167FBX2014167bin(Binary),ascii167Layers167Tris167MayaYUp–Axissystemsselector168EmbedMaps168SNormals(SmoothNormals)168TGA–Imageformatselector16816BitTIF–Displacementmapsimageformatselector168Export168Import169169OTHERADDITIONS170I64-bitSupport171IISurfaceNoise171IIIDisplacementRendering171IVReplayLast/AllRelative172VProjectionofGridBackgroundImages173VIFBXImport/Export173VIICopyandPaste1741.
Copy/PasteFunctions174CopyTool,PasteTool174SubToolCopy,Paste174GeometryCopy,PasteAppend,PasteReplace175FunctionsCopy,Paste(NanoMesh,ArrayMesh)175VIIIInsertMeshandUV's176IXBevelingCreasedEdges176XPolygonDrawSize176XIGridDivide177XIIMiscAdditions177THANKYOU!
178INSTALLATIONUPGRADING&ACTIVATIONAllthestepsyouneedtoinstallorupgradeZBrush,aswellastoleverageitsactivationsystem.
Thisistheusefulinformationthatyouwillneedtoknowwheninstallingandup-gradingZBrushonyourcomputer.
Thischapteralsodescribestheactivationandde-activationprocess.
Understandinghowtheactivationsystemworkswillhelpyouavoiddifficultiesshouldyouupgradeyourcomputer,reinstallyouroperatingsystem,etc.
ISystemRequirementsRecommended:OperatingSystem:WindowsVistaornewer.
MacOSX10.
7ornewer.
(32-bitsor64-bitsforeitherplatform.
)CPU:PentiumDornewer(orequivalentsuchasAMDAthlon64X2ornewer)withoptionalmultithreadingorhyperthreadingcapabilities.
6GBrecommended.
DiskSpace:750MBforZBrush,plus16GBforthescratchdisk.
Pentablet:WacomorWacomcompatible.
Notes:ThescratchdiskmaybeadifferentdrivefromwhereZBrushisinstalled.
HavingZBrushanditsscratchdiskrunningonanSSDdrivewillresultinimprovedperfor-mance.
MinimumSystemRequirements:OperatingSystem:WindowsVistaornewer.
MacOSX10.
7ornewer.
(32-bitsor64-bitsforeitherplatform.
)CPU:P4orAMDOpteronorAthlon64Processor.
(MusthaveSSE2--Stream-ingSIMDExtensions2.
AllCPU'sfrom2006orlatersupportSSE2.
)RAM:1024MB(2048MBrequiredforworkingwithmulti-million-polymodels).
DiskSpace:750MBforZBrush,plus8GBforthescratchdisk.
Monitor:1280x1024monitorresolutionsetto32-bitsorMillionsofColors.
IIInstallationandActivationZBrushinstallationisbasedonaninstallerapplication,whichissimilaronbothWin-dowsandMacOSXoperatingsystems.
AfterdownloadingtheZBrushinstalleryoucanrunittobeguidedthroughtheactiva-tionprocess.
Foralltheinformationabouttheprocessoftheinstallationandactivation,pleasereadthe"Install_and_activate_ZBrush.
pdf"locatedintheZBrushdocumentationfold-eroravailabletodownloadatourDownloadCenter:http://zbru.
sh/docsorvisitouronlinedocumentationwebsite;http://zbru.
sh/onlinedocsItisHIGHLYRECOMMENDEDthatyoumakeabackupcopyoftheinstallerafteryouhavedownloadedit.
Downloadlinksarevalidfortwodownloadsorsevendays,whichevercomesfirst.
OurSupportstaffishappytorenewyourdownloadlinkatanytimebutwealsoknowfromexperiencethatpeopleoftenneedtoreinstallonaneveningorweekendwhenthereisnobodyavailabletoassistyou.
SpecialnotesforMacusers:1.
ThedownloadisaDiskImage(DMG)filewhichmountstobelikeanyotherdiskonyourcomputer.
Insomecases,aFinderwindowdoesnotautomaticallyopenaftermountingtheDMG.
Ifthathappens,youwillfinditwithinyourDeviceslist.
Openingthatwillthenallowyoutoruntheinstalleritself.
2.
Uponrunningtheinstalleryoumayreceiveamessagetotheeffectthatitisfromanunknownpublisher.
InthiscaseyouwillneedtodisableGatekeeperbeforeyouwillbeabletoruntheinstaller.
Appleexplainshowtodothishere:http://support.
apple.
com/en-us/HT202491IIIUpgradingDependingonyourcurrentZBrushversionandwhatyouneedtoupgradeto,therearetwoupgradepathsavailable:Usingafullinstallertoperforma"clean"installofafreshnewcopyofZBrush.
Thisdoesnotrequireanyearlierversiontoalreadybeonyourcomputer.
Usinganupgrader(downloadedfromourDownloadCenterorthroughtheAutoUpgradersystem)whichwillduplicateyourcurrentZBrushfolderandthenup-gradethecopywithoutaffectingyourcurrentinstallation.
Thefullinstallertakeslongertodownload,butisgreatlypreferred.
Usingitavoidsanypossiblepermissionsissues.
Also,ifthereareanyproblemswithyourcurrentZBrushinstallation(eventhoseyoumightnotbeawareof),anupdatewillcopythoseproblemstothenewinstallation!
Thefullinstalleravoidsthatpossibility.
Youwillstillbeabletomanuallycopyanydesiredfilesfromtheoldinstallationtothenewone.
Ifyoudowishtousetheupdateprocessinsteadofthefullinstaller,pleasereadtheAutoUpdatechapterofthissection.
IVAutoUpdateZBrushincludesanAutoUpdatesystemwhichcancheckwiththePixologicserv-ersatyourrequesttoseeifanewupdateisavailable.
Thiswillsupportavarietyofupdates:AnyupgradesZBrushitself,thereleaseofanewplugin,changestoexistingplugins,GoZupgrades,documentationchanges,etc.
Thisprocessisinitiatedmanuallyandisvoluntary.
Itisrecommendedthatyourunitfromtimetotimetoseeifanewupdateisavailable.
1.
AutoUpdateInActionTheAutoUpdateisaseparateapplicationnamedZUpgrader.
exe(.
appforMacus-ers),locatedattherootofyourZBrushfolder.
Thisprogramcanbeexecutedbyitselfandwhenyouwishtocheckforanewup-dateorupgrade.
MakesurethatZBrushisclosed,thensimplydouble-clickZUpgradertorunit.
Aninstaller-likewindowwillopen.
Fromthere,simplyfollowthestepstocheckforanyavailableupdates.
Theapplicationwilltellyouwhetherornotsomethingisavailablefordownload.
Ifnoupdateisavailable,thesoftwarewillautomaticallyquit.
Ifanupdateisavailable,thesoftwarewillstartthedownload.
Whentheup-datehasfinisheddownloading,itwillbelaunchedautomaticallyandguideyouthroughtheinstallation.
AutoUpdateinaction.
TheupdateinstallerissimilartotheZBrushfullinstallprocess.
Justfollowthestepstoinstallthenewcomponents.
TheAutoUpdaterwillautomaticallyplaceallfilesintheirproperlocations.
WheninstallationisfinishedtheupdaterwillcloseandyoucanlaunchZBrushtoenjoythenewfeaturesorchanges.
Youwillalsofindtheupdate'sinstallerasanewprogramintherootofyourZBrushfolder.
Youcankeepitforfutureuseorsimplydeleteit.
Werecommendthatyoukeepthemostrecentupdateanddeleteanyolderones.
Note:EachnewupdatewillincludeallitemssincethemostrecentZBrushversionrelease.
Thismeansthatifyou'vejustinstalledZBrushyouwillnotneedtodownloadmultipleupdates–asingledownloadwillbeallthat'snecessarytobringyourinstallationuptodate.
2.
AutoUpdateWithinZBrushTheAutoUpdateprocesscanbeexecutedfromwithinZBrushviatheAutoUpdatepluginlocatedintheZPluginpalette.
TheAutoUpdatebuttonintheZPluginpalette.
Whencheckingforanupdate,ZBrushwillnotifyyouwhetherornotanewupdateisavailable.
YouwillthenhavethechoiceofcontinuingtouseZBrushorquittingZBrushtoruntheAutoUpdateasdescribedinthesectionabove.
Anupdateisavailable.
ContinueworkingandupdatelaterorquitZBrushtoinstallimmediately.
Notes:ItisnotpossibletorunZBrushwhileupdating.
Insomecases,theAutoUpdatebuttonwillnotlaunchthecheck.
Inthatcase,simplyexitZBrushandrunZUpgraderasexplainedintheprevioussection.
VSummaryoftheActivationProcessFornewinstallationsofZBrush(andsomeupgrades)thisstepmustbecompletedinordertorunZBrushsuccessfully.
Thesingle-userZBrushlicenseallowsyoutohaveZBrushactivatedontwoofyourcomputers,providedthatbothcopiesarenotactuallyusedatthesametime.
Forex-ampleitmaybeactivatedonaworkstationandalaptop.
PleasekeepinmindthatonlyonecopyofZBrushshouldberunatanygiventime.
Volumelicensesallowonlythenumberofactivationsforwhichseatshavebeenpurchased.
Floatinglicensesdonotuseactivationandcanignorethissection.
Forallinformationabouttheactivationprocess,pleasereadthe"Install_and_ac-tivate_ZBrush.
pdf"locatedintheZBrushdocumentationfolder.
ItisalsoavailablefordownloadatourDownloadCenter:http://zbru.
sh/docsorbyvisitingouronlinedocumen-tationwebsite;http://zbru.
sh/onlinedocsZBrushactivationwindow.
LaunchZBrush.
Fromthesplashscreen,selectyourdesiredactivationmethod.
Ifyourcomputerisconnectedtotheinternet(orcanbetemporarilyconnect-ed),useWebActivation.
Thisactivationmethodisfasterandmoreaccurate.
AfterZBrushhasdisplayedtheEndUserLicenseAgreementwindow,yourwebbrowserwillbeopenedtoapagethatrequestsyourserialnumber,theemailaddressassociatedwithyouraccount,andadescriptionthatyoucanusetoidentifythiscomputer(shouldyoueverneedtoseealistofyouractivations.
)Uponsubmittingthisformyouwillbegivenanactivationcode.
Clickthebuttontoselectthecode,thenpressCtrl+C(Windows)orCmd+C(Mac)tocopyit.
SwitchbacktoZBrushandclickthebuttonto"EnterActivationCode".
Anewwindowwillopenwitharedtextline.
ClickinthatlineandpressCtrl+V(Windows)orCmd+V(Mac)topastetheactivationcode.
NowpressEnter/Returntocompleteactivation.
TheWebactivationformOrIfyourcomputercannotbeconnectedtotheinternet,usePhoneActivation.
PLEASENOTETHATDURINGTHEWEEKFOLLOWINGTHERELEASEOFANEWVERSIONOFZBRURH,HIGHCALLVOLUMEMAYMAKEITVERYDIFFICULTTOREACHSUPPORTFORPHONEACTIVATION.
AfterZBrushhasdisplayedtheEndUserLicenseAgreementwindow,anewscreenwillopenwithyourrequestcodeandaphonenumbertocall.
Pleasehaveyourserialnumberreadybeforecalling!
Whenyoucallyouwillbeaskedforyourserialnumber,requestcode,emailad-dressanddesiredcomputerdescription.
Anactivationcodewillbecreatedandsenttotheemailaddressonrecordforyouraccount.
Ifyoucannotconvenientlycheckyouremail,thephonerepresen-tativewillbeabletoreadthe32-letteractivationcodetoyou.
ToenteryouractivationcodeintoZBrush,clicktheoptionto"EnterActivationCode".
Clickintheredtextlinewithinthewindowthatwillopen,typeyouractivationcodeandpressEnter/Returntocompleteyouractivation.
OrInsteadofcalling,youmayfollowthestepsabovebutwritedowntherequestcodethatZBrushgivesyou.
YoumaythenshutdownZBrush.
FromanycomputerthathasinternetaccessyoucansubmitaSupportticketathttps://support.
pixologic.
com.
Inyourticket,providethefollowinginformation:TherequestcodefromZBrush,yourserialnumber,youremailaddress,andyourdesiredcomputerdescription.
YoushouldreceivearesponsetoyourSupportticketwithinonebusinessday(oftenwithinoneortwohours)containingyouractivationcode.
Atthatpoint,launchZBrushandchoosetheoptionto"EnterActivationCode".
Note:DonotstartanewPhoneActivationClickintheredtextlinewithinthewindowthatwillopen,typeyouractivationcodeandpressEnter/Returntocompleteyouractivation.
Onceactivated,ZBrushwillstartimmediately.
VIDeactivationIfyouplantomoveZBrushtoanewcomputerorifyouaregoingtoreinstallyouroperatingsystem,youcanmakeeverythingeasierbyfirstdeactivatingyourcurrentin-stallationofthesoftware.
Todothis,launchZBrushandgototheZplugin>>Deactivationmenu.
Therearetwooptions:WebDeactivationandManualDeactivationTheDeactivationpluginintheZPluginmenu.
Deactivationprocess:Ifyourcomputerhasinternetconnection,useWebDeactivation.
Thiswilllaunchyourbrowsertoapagethatasksfortheemailaddressassociatedwithyourac-count.
SubmitthatformandthenclicktheconfirmationbuttontoinstantlycompleteyourdeactivationofZBrush.
orIfyourcomputercannotbeconnectedtotheinternet,youwillneedtouseManualDeactivation.
Inthiscaseyouwillbegivenadeactivationcode.
HAVESOMETHINGHANDYTOWRITETHISCODEDOWN–itcan'tbecopiedandpasted,andattemptingtodosowillcauseitswindowtopermanentlyclose.
Youmayeithercallthenumberonthescreentodeactivatebyphone(onlyavailableduringnormalbusinesshoursof9:00amto5:00pmPacificTime,MondaythroughFriday)oryoumaysubmitaSupportticketathttps://support.
pixologic.
com.
Pleasenotethatbyeithermethodyouwillalsobere-quiredtoprovidetheemailaddressthatisassociatedwiththeaccount.
Note:Oncedeactivationhasbeenstarted,itisnotpossibletostopit.
Themomentyouconfirmyourdesireddeactivationmethod,ZBrushwillshutitselfdownandwillnotbeabletoberestartedwithoutanewactivation.
However,thedeactivationwillnotbecreditedbacktoyourserialnumberuntilyouhavesubmittedtheWebDeactivationformorcontactedSupportwithyourmanualdeac-tivationcode.
VIIActivationTroubleshooting"ActivationFailed"afterenteringactivationcode:Disableantivirussoftware.
SuchprogramscanpreventZBrushfromwritingitslicenseinformationsuccessfully.
Iftheywereperfectandnevermademis-takes,theywouldn'tgiveyouawaytodisablethem!
Makesureyouarenottryingtouseyourserialnumberasanactivationcode.
Serialnumbersare16charactersinlength,withbothlettersandnum-bers.
Activationcodesarelongerandhaveallletters.
YouwillneverenteryourserialnumberdirectlyintoZBrush.
ItisalwaysusedviaWeborPhoneactiva-tiontocreateanactivationcode.
Makesureyouarenottryingtouseanoutdatedactivationcode.
AnytimeyouinstallZBrushyoumustbeginwithanewWeborPhoneactivationtocreateanewactivationcode.
Codesfrompreviousactivationscannotbereused.
Makesurethatyoursystemclockissettothecorrectdate,includingyear.
Ifthedateiswrong,activationwillfail.
Aftercorrectingthedateyouwillneedtostarttheactivationprocessoverfromthebeginning.
Makesurethatyouareloggedintothecomputerasanadministratorwhenin-stallingandactivatingZBrush.
Afterithasbeenactivateditmayberunbyanyuseronthatcomputer,buttheinitialinstallationandactivationmustbedoneunderanadminaccount.
(WindowsUsers)Right-clickthedesktopshortcutforZBrush(ortheZBrush.
exeinyourZBrushfolder)andchoose"RunasAdministrator"fromthecontextmenu.
ThislaunchesZBrushwithelevatedpermissionswhichhelpresolvemostactivationissues.
Simplybeingloggedintothecomputerunderanadmin-istratoraccountdoesnotautomaticallyelevatetheprogramsyouruntoadmin-istrator-levelpermission.
Afterchoosing"RunasAdministrator"youshouldseeapop-upmessagefromWindowsaskingifitisokaytoproceed.
Ifyoudonotseethismessage,gototheWindowsControlPanel's"UserAccountControlSettings"sectiontoensurethatitssliderissettothedefaultsettingof"AlwaysNotify".
Withouttheuseraccountcontrolpop-up,Windowsdoesn'tactuallygiveadministrator-levelpermissiontothedesiredprogram,eventhoughyouspecifi-callychosethe"RunasAdministrator"option!
(MacUsers)IfyoulaunchZBrushandimmediatelyreceiveanerrormessage(suchasavirtualmemoryerror)thatmustberesolvedbeforeactivationcanbedonesuccessfully.
Thiserroristypicallycausedbypermissions.
Formosten-vironments,simplygetinfoontheZBrushfolder.
UnlockpermissionsandthenassignRead&Writepermissiontothe"Everyone"usergroup.
Next,clickthegeariconunderneaththeuserslistandchoosetheoptionto"ApplytoEnclosedItems".
WhentheprocesscompletesyoushouldbeabletolaunchZBrushwithoutanerrormessageandmaythenproceedtoactivation.
Iftheabovetroubleshootingitemsdonotresolveyourissue,pleasecontactPixolog-icSupportforassistance.
Makesuretostatefromthebeginningthatyouhavealreadytriedactivationanditfailed.
PhoneactivationusesthesamesystemasWebactivation,soifWebactivationfailedyouwillhavethesameproblemwithPhone.
Weneedtore-solvetheissueratherthanjusttryingunderadifferentmethod.
VIIIUn-installationThisprocesscompletelyremovesZBrushfromyourcomputer.
Un-installationprocess:1.
IntheZPluginmenu,chooseWebDeactivationandproceedwithlicensede-activationasexplainedabove.
Ifyoudonotdeactivatepriortoun-installation,theun-installedmachinewillcontinuetocountagainstyourserialnumberandpotentiallypreventyoufromreactivating!
2.
OnWindows,usetheWindowsControlPaneluninstallutilityandfollowthesteps.
OnMacOSX,simplymovetheApplications/ZBrushfolderandtheUs-ers/Public/PixologicfoldertotheTrash.
3.
Duringtheun-installprocess,dependingontheVersionofZBrushyouareus-ing,theUninstallermayaskyouifyouwanttokeepyourGoZfiles.
Alwaysanswer"Yes"ifyouareremovinganolderversionofZBrushafterhavingup-graded.
Ifyouanswer"No",GoZwon'tworkanymorebecausemostofitscom-ponentswillbedeletedbytheun-installprocess.
4.
Aftertheun-installerhasfinished,checkthelocationwhereZBrushhadbeeninstalled.
Therewilloftenbeextrafileswhichremain.
Youcandeletethosefold-ersifyoudonotintendtouseZBrushonthiscomputeragain.
Note:WiththeexceptionofGoZandthevariousfilesintheZBrushDatashared/publicfolder,ZBrushdoesn'twritefilesoutsideitsowndirectory.
IXSupportRegistrationItisrequiredtohaveacurrentSupportaccountathttp://support.
pixologic.
cominordertoreceivetechnicalsupportforZBrush.
Thisaccountisfree.
IfyourpurchasewasofZBrush4R5orearlier,youwon'thaveaSupportaccountun-lessyouspecificallycreatedoneyourself!
HavingactivatedanearlierversionofZBrushisnotthesameashavingaregisteredSupportaccount.
TheSupportsystemisaninde-pendentplatform.
Itdoesnotuseanyexistinglog-insthatyoumighthaveforZBrushCen-tral,CleverbridgeoranyotherZBrush-relatedsites.
Note:PurchasesofZBrush4R6andlaterrequiredhavingaSupportaccounttobeabletocompletethepurchaseorgetyourserialnumber.
IfyourfirstversionwasZBrush4R6orlater,youwillhaveaSupportaccountalreadyandcanskipthissection.
IfyouhavenotalreadyregisteredontheSupportsite:1.
Gotohttps://support.
pixologic.
com.
2.
ClicktheRegistericon.
3.
EnteryouremailaddressandwhateverpasswordyouwouldliketousefortheSupportsite.
Thesewillbecomeyourlogininfoforthefuture.
4.
Fillinyoursysteminformation.
Weneedthisinfoinordertorespondtoyoursupportrequestsmoreefficiently.
5.
AlsoprovideyourZBrush4xserialnumberforyourcopyofZBrush.
Thisinfor-mationidentifiesyouassomeonewhohasactuallypurchasedaZBrushlicense.
(IfyouhaveupgradedfromanearlierversionofZBrush4,yourserialnumberwillremainunchanged.
AllversionsofZBrush4xusethesameserialnumber.
)6.
Afteryousubmittheformyouwillreceiveaconfirmationemailattheaddressyouusedtoregister.
Followtheinstructionsinthatemailtocompleteyourreg-istration.
IfyouhavealreadyregisteredontheSupportsite:Youdonotneedtochangeanyinformation.
Atanytime,youcangotohttps://support.
pixologic.
comtoviewyourpastticketsorcreateanewone.
XBackwardCompatibilityofZBrushFilesZBrushfilesarenotbackwardcompatible,whichmeansthatyourfilescreatedwiththemostrecentversionofZBrushwon'tbecompatiblewithanyolderversion.
Forexample,ifyouhaveafilethatyou'dbeenworkingonwithZBrush4R3andthensaveitusingZBrush4R7,youwillnolongerbeabletoopenitinversion4R3.
DifferentversionsofZBrushcanbeusedtogetherwithGoZduetothefactthatitsmaincomponentshaveremainedthesame,butit'snotpossibletoworkonthesameprojectbetweenmultipleversionsofZBrushatthesametime.
OnceafilehasbeencreatedorsavedinanewerversionofZBrush,itwillnotbeabletobeopenedbyanyearlierversion.
GoZcannotgetaroundthisrestriction.
Itcanbeusedtoopenfilesfromearlierver-sionsofZBrushbutitcannotbeusedtosendfilestoanearlierversion.
TheonlywaytogetafileintoanearlierversionofZBrushthanitwaslastsavedinisthroughtheOBJformat.
ZMODELERSubdivisionSurfaceModelinginZBrushTheZModelerisanewbrushcontainingasetofpolygonalmodelingfunctionsthatwillallowyoutoquicklygenerateawidevarietyofshapes--fromenvironmentalassetstopartsforyournextIMMbrush.
Thisnewbrushisforextremelylowresolutionmodel-ingandwillgiveyouthecontroltobuildjustaboutanybasemeshorobjectwithasfewpolygonsaspossible.
Withitsuniquesnappingabilityyouwillalsonowfinditeveneasierthanevertocreateholes,addedgeloops,ormaybeevencreateyourveryownrobot.
Theworkflowisquitesimpleandisbasedontwomainprinciples:TargetsandAc-tions.
TheZModelerbrushhasasetofSmartTargets,suchasa"SinglePolygon","Poly-Group,"or"PolyGroupBorder.
"TheseTargetsremovetheneedtomanuallyperformselectionsbeforeperformingamodelingAction.
TheZModelerBrushcontainsmostofthecommonfunctionsfoundin3D-modelingpackagesbutalsohasafewsmarteronesliketheQMeshAction.
Notonlydoesthisof-feryoutheabilitytoextrudebutalsotofusetheextrusionwithanyadjacentorcrossedpolygons.
TheQMeshActionalsoallowsyoutoquicklyremoveblocksofpolygons,movepiecesofgeometryorextractpartsofyourmeshtocreatenewpolygonalislands.
YouwillfindthatQMeshwillbecomeyourprimarypolyAction.
TheZModelerbrushcontainsthousandsofActionandTargetcombinations,puttingastonishingpowerbehindsomethingthatissoeasytolearnanduse.
Withjustalittlepractice,ZModelerandQMeshwillundoubtedlybecomeanewfavoriteinyourarsenalforcreatinglowresgeometryassetsinZBrush.
IIntroductiontotheZModelerToaccesstheZModelertoolset,youneedtofirstselecttheZModelerbrushintheBrushpalette(orpop-up).
YoucandothisquicklybytypingtheletterBonyourkeyboard,followedthenZthenM.
(YoucanalsoassignahotkeytotheZModelerbrush.
)TheZModelerfunctionsarecontrolledviaadedicatedpop-upwindow.
Youcanac-cessthismenuintwodifferentways.
Hoveroverthe3Dmodelbefore:Pressingthespacebar(advised)iRight-clickingNote:Right-clickingorpressingthespacebarwhilethecursorisoveremptycanvasoranon-selectedSubToolwilltriggerthedefaultpop-upmenuwithitssliders/selectors.
ThePoint,EdgeandPolygonpop-upwindowsoftheZModeler.
Noticethedifferentssections,especiallyforthePolygon,withontoptheActions,thentheTargets,followedbytheOptionsandthentheModifiers.
TheZModelerpopupiscomposedof4areas.
Someoftheseareonlyvisiblewhenspecificitemsareselected.
Action:Thisiswhereyouselectthefunctiontobeperformedonthe3DModel.
Target:ThistellsZModelerhowtointerpretyourclickonthemodelwhenapply-inganAction.
Forexample,doyouwishtoaffectasinglepolygonoranentireflatsurfaceOptions:ParameterswhichchangehowtheTargetorActionbehaves.
NotalltheTargetsorActionshaveoptions.
Modifiers:Operatorswhichalterinteractionwhiledoingtheoperation.
NotalltheTargetsorActionshavemodifiers.
Note:OptionsandModifiersareverysimilar.
Theyhavebeensplitmainlytomaketheoperationseasiertounderstand.
AnexampleistheBridgeActionwhichhasdifferentpresetsofcurvesfortheoptions(likecircle,curveorsmallroundedcorners).
Modifiersthenrefinethistodefineiftheshapecreationisinteractiveorpredefinedwithparameters(whichcanbeset).
SelectanActionandaTarget,thenadjustanyoptionsormodifiersasnecessary.
NowclickonthemodeltoperformtheAction.
EachActionisperformedbyclickingonapoint,edgeorpolygontobegintheActionandthendraggingcontinueit.
DependingontheAction,youwillgetdifferentresultsbydraggingthemouseleft/rightorup/down.
TheZModelerbrushalsohasaReplayfunctionallowsyoutoapplyaduplicateAc-tionwithasingleclick.
PleaserefertotheReplaytheActionchapterformoreinformation.
BecauseZModelerisabrushratherthanaspecialmodeyouatanytimeswitchbetweenitandothersculptingfeatures.
Asapolygon-basedbrush,itiscompatiblewithallthePolyMesh3Dcompatiblefeatures.
1.
Context-BasedActions:Points,Edges,PolygonsandCurvesTheZModelersetofActionsarecontext-sensitive.
Whenpositioningyourcursoroverapoint,edge,polygonorcompatiblecurve,specificZModelerActionswillbeacces-sible.
ThecontentoftheZModelermenuwillalsodifferdependingonwhatyourcursorishoveringover.
ItisveryimportanttohighlightspecifictopologyelementstohaveaccesstotheAc-tionsthatcanbeperformedonit.
SomeActionsmayhavesimilarfunctionsforpoints,edgesandpolygonsbuttheirbehaviorcanbetotallydifferent.
Asanexample,theEdgeBridgeActioncancreateverypowerfulconnectionsbetweentwoopeningswhilethePointBridgewillcreateanedgebetweentwoclickedpoints.
PleaserefertothechaptersexplainingActionstolearnthesevariousfunctions.
2.
RestrictionsZModeleronlyworkswithPolyMesh3Dobjects.
Youneedtoconvertyourprimitives(viaMakePolymesh3D)orZSpheres(viaUnifiedSkinorAdaptiveSkin)toPolyMesh3DbeforeusingtheZModeler.
IfyouareusingZModeleronanexistingmodel,youalsoneedtoconsideritspoly-goncount.
ZModelerworksinadifferentwayfromotherbrushesinthatit'snotdesignedformodelswithmillionsofpolygons.
Itisdesignedspecificallyfordirecteditingdowntotheindividualpolygon.
ZModelerismeantoworkonmodelswhichhavenosubdivisionlevels.
Itispossibletoworkonamodelwithsubdivisions,butyouwillneedtousetheTool>>Geometry>>FreezeSubdivisionLevelsfirstordeletetheotherlevels.
Toallowyoutoseehowyourmodelwillappearwithmoresubdivisionlevels,usetheDynamicSubdivisionsystem.
ThissystemwasspecificallydesignedtoworkwiththeZModelerbrush,providingreal-timehighresolutiondisplaywhileyouworkdirectlyonthebaselevel.
PleaserefertotheDynamicSubdivisionchapterformoreinformation.
ZModeleronlyfunctionswithquadranglesandtriangles;itdoesnotsupportn-gons.
WhenanActionwouldcreatetopologywithpossiblen-gons,ZBrushautomaticallycre-atesextraedgestoproducetopologywithonlyquadsandtris.
IITheZModelerBrush:ActionsandTargetsTheZModelerbrushisawholemodelinguniversebyitself.
ItcontainsavastarrayoffunctionsthatcanbeappliedtomultipleTargets,resultinginhundredsofcombinationsofmodelingpossibilitieswithinZBrush.
Tomaketheprocesseasiertounderstandandnotcreatearestrictedsetoftools,theZModelerfunctionsaresplitintotwodifferentelements:theActionandtheTarget.
TheActionisthefunctionitself,suchasExtrudeMove,BridgeorSplit.
TheTargetistheelementtowhichtheActionwillbeapplied.
Thiscanbeindi-vidualpoints,edgesorpolygonaswellassmartcompoundselectionssuchasborders,PolyGroups,edgeloopsandmore.
TakingthePolyMoveActionasanexample:TheActioncontainsTargetssuchasMovePoly,MoveAllMesh,MoveBrushRadius,MoveCurvedIsland,MoveFlatIsland,MoveIsland,MovePolyGroupAll,MovePolyGroupIsland,etc.
(Moremayalsobeaddedinthefuture.
)ThesameMoveActionwhenappliedtopointsoredgesisassociatedwithdifferentTargets,offeringevenmoretoolsforyourmodelingprocess.
Itisuptoyoutodefinethetoolyouneedforyourmodelingatthemomentbycom-biningthedesiredActionwiththebestTarget.
TodisplaythelistofActionsandTargets,youmusthavetheZModelerbrushse-lectedandhoveroverapoint,edge,orpolygonofaPolymesh3Dmodel.
Byright-clickingorpressingthespacebar,theZModelercontextpop-upmenuwillappear,displayingActionswithTargetsbeneaththem.
ThedisplayedActionsandTargetwilldependuponexactlywhatthecursorishover-ingover,withdifferentitemsbeingshowforpoints,edgesorpolygons.
Ifyouarelookingforafunctionthatyoucan'tfind,itmaybebecauseyouwerenothoveringoverthecor-rectpartofthemeshbeforeopeningtheZModelerpop-upmenu.
IIIOptionsandModifiersInassociationwiththeActionsandTargetsthereareadditionaloptionsandmodifiersabletobeappliedtotheselectedAction.
NotallActionshaveoptionsand/ormodifiers.
Also,theselectionofaspecificTargetcanenableordisablewhatisavailable.
AgoodexampleistheBridgeActionforpolygons.
IthastwoTargets:ConnectedPolysandTwoPolys.
WhenselectingConnectedPolys,theZModelercontextmenudisplaystwonewsectionsjustbelowtheTarget.
Thefirstoftheseisalistofoptionsandbelowthat,alistofmodifiers.
NowifyouswitchtheTargettoTwoPolys,thepreviousoptionsandmodifiersforConnectedPolysdisappearandtheareawheretheyhadbeenwillbeblank.
ThisisbecauseTwoPolysisverystraightforwardandhasnoneedforaddi-tionalsettings.
ForeachAction,thecorrespondingoptionsandmodifierswillbeexplainedintheirdedicatedsectionsofthisdocumentation.
Thedefaultsettingsfortheoptionsandmodifiersarealwaysdisplayedfirst.
Ifyouneedtoresettheoptionsand/ormodifiers,simplyselecttheleft-mostoneineachline.
IVEdgeSelectorWidgetSomeActionsrequiredirectionalinformationtoguideZBrushtoresultsyouarelook-ingfor.
Whenhoveringoverthepolygonsorpointsofyourmodelyouwillnoticevisualwidgetsthatrepresentdirectionalinformation.
ZBrush'sselectionsystemhasapriorityorder:Eachtimethatanelementishigh-lighted,ZBrushconsidersitspositionrelativetothesurroundinggeometry.
Whenhigh-lightingavertex,ZBrushalsolooksattheadjacentedgesandfaceswhiledoinganycalculations.
SomeTargets(likePolyloopwhenusedforaPolyAction)relydetectionoftheadjacentedgestodetermineinwhichdirectiontheActionwillfunction.
TheEdgeSelectorWidgetsimplymakesthis"sub-elementdetection"visible.
1.
HighlightingaPoint:AnorangelineextendingfromthepointindicatesthedirectionoftheActionopera-tion.
Alongwiththispoint,someActionswillalsolookatthefacethatishighlightedwhenhoveringoverthepoint.
IftheselectedActionneedsdirectionalinformationitwillrefertothesetwowidgets.
Simplymovethecursoraroundthepointtochangethedirectionofthewidgetandthus,theAction.
2.
HighlightinganEdge:Thereisnoindicationofdirectionneededwhenworkingwithedgesastheedgebyitselfgivesthedirection.
However,hoveringoveranedgewillhighlightfacesaswell.
SomeActionsalsousetheedge'smidpointtodeterminetheirdirection.
3.
HighlightingaPolygon:Anorangelinelocatedbetweenthehighlightedpolygon'scenterandedgeclosesttothecursorindicatesthedirectionoftheActionoperation.
Movingaroundthepolywillchangewhichedgethislinepointsto.
VTheDoNothingActionEachpoint,edge,polygonandcurvemenuhasaDoNothingAction.
ThisActionpreventsuseofitsassociatedelementwhenhoveringoverthemesh.
ThisishelpfulifyouwanttoonlypreformcertainActionsbyblockingmis-clicks.
Forexample,ifyouenabletheDoNothingactionforpointsthenclickingonapointwillresultintheActionbeingappliedtotheassociatededgesinstead.
IfyoualsoenableDoNothingforedgesthenyouwillonlybeabletoaffectpolygonsevenifyouclickonapointoredgebymistake.
VIWorkingWithPolyGroupsPolyGroups(whicharegroupsofpolygonsidentifiedbyaspecificcolor)areanes-sentialpartofthecreationprocesswithZModeler.
ZModelerhasanextendedtoolsetoffunctionstocreateandmanipulatePolyGroups,suchasusingthemasaTargetsothatanActionwillaffectallpolygonsbelongingtothesamePolyGroup,nomatterwheretheyappearinthemesh.
PolyGroupscanalsobemodifiedintheintheTool>>Polygroupssub-palette.
1.
PropagationofPolyGroupsThecurrentPolyGroupremainthesameuntilyoudecidetoassignanewPolyGroupafteranAction.
SeveralTargetsspecificallyusethePolyGroupswhilemostActionswilleithercreateorpropagatePolyGroups.
Dependingonyourneeds,youcanusethePoly-GroupActiontocreatenewPolyGroupsbeforeapplyinganotherAction.
Anexampleofthis:UsingtheExtrusionActionwillmaintaintheexistingPolyGroupforthetoppartoftheextrusionwhilecreatinganewPolyGroupforthesides.
ContinuingthisActionelsewhereonthemodelwillcontinueproduceidenticalPolyGroupsunlessyouinstructZBrushotherwise.
2.
TemporaryPolyGroupWhenmodelingtheremaybetimeswhennospecificTargetfitstheselectionyouarelookingfor.
OrperhapsyoumaysimplywanttoextendanexistingTargetwithextrapolygonsfromanotherlocation.
Forthispurpose,ZModelerhasanintegratedTempo-raryPolyGroupwhichisalwaysdisplayedaswhite.
ToapplytheTemporaryPolyGroup,youmustbeworkingwithapolygonAction.
Ifso,simplyAlt+clickthedesiredpolygons.
ThesepolygonswillturnwhitetoindicatethattheyarepartoftheTemporaryPolyGroup.
YoucanalsoclickanddragtopaintthisTem-poraryPolyGroup.
Alt+clickingawhitepolygonwillremoveitfromtheTemporaryPolyGroupselection.
YouarefreetocontinueeditingthisTemporaryPolyGroupuntilyouexecuteanAc-tion.
TheTemporaryPolyGroupalwaysaddstothecurrentTarget.
Asanexample,ifyouareselectinganExtrudeActionwithaPolyloopTargetandcreateaTemporaryPolyGroupoutofpolygonsnotbelongingtothepolyloopyouarelookingfor,theActionwillextrudeboththepolyloopitselfandanypolygonsbelongingtotheTemporaryPolyGroup.
3.
ChangingofPolyGroupsDuringanActionWhileeditingyourmodel,itmayhappenthatyouwouldneedadifferentPolyGroupfromwhatisbeingcreatedbytheAction.
WhilestillapplyingtheAction,simplytaptheAltkeyoncetochangethePolyGrouptoanotherone.
TheactualcolorofaPolyGroupisirrelevanttoanyActionsorTargetsbutsometimesPolyGroupcolorsmightbetoosimilarforyoutobeabletoeasilytellthegroupsapart.
Ifyoudon'tlikethecolorthatZBrushgivesyou,tapAltagainandrepeatuntilyoufindsomethingthatyou'resatisfiedwith.
NotallActionspermityoutouseAlttochangethePolyGroupcolor.
ThisisbecausetheyusetheAltkeyasamodifier.
Note:BecarefultonottaptheAltkeyuntilafteryouhavestartedexecutingtheAction.
OtherwiseyoucouldendupchangingtheTargetinsteadorevenaddpolygonstotheTemporaryPolyGroup.
4.
CopyinganExistingPolyGroupTheTemporaryPolyGroupisusefulforone-offselectionsbutyouwillsometimeswanttokeepcomingbacktothesameTargetedpolygons.
Inthiscase,youcanapplyanexistingPolyGrouptoanotherlocation.
WiththePolyGroupAction,itispossibletopickaPolyGroupidentifierandcolor,thencopyandstoreitforthenextAction.
Todothis,followthesesteps:1.
SelectthePolyGroupAction2.
SelecttheASinglePolyTarget3.
HoveroverapolygonbelongingtothedesiredPolyGroup.
4.
Whileclickingandholdingonthispolygon,press(ortap)theShiftkey.
ZBrushwillcopytheclickedpolygon'sPolyGroup.
Releasetheclick.
5.
NowclickonanotherpolygontopastethePolyGroup.
Youcandothisonmultiplelocations.
TryitalsowithotherTargets,likePolylooptoapplythesamestripsofPolyGroupsonmultiplepolygons.
VIIReplaytheActionBecausesomepolygonalmodelingActionsarerepetitivebynature,theZModelerbrushstoresallsettingsandvaluesusedinyourlastAction.
YoucanthensimplyclickonceonanotherpartofthemodelorchooseanotherTargettoinstantlyreproducethatlastoperation.
Duringthemodelingsession,eachActionstoresalltheparametersorsettings,el-evationandvalues.
YoucanperformanAction,switchtoanotherActiontoperformitsoperation,thenswitchbacktothepreviousoneandwithasingleclickreplaythesameoperation.
TheReplayLastActionfeatureworksforallZModelerActions.
Todemonstrate:1.
Onasimpleplane,usethePolygonExtrudeonasinglefacetoextrudeacol-umn.
2.
Clickotherpolygonsonthegridtocreateadditionalcolumnsatthoselocations.
Theywillallhavethesameelevation.
3.
NowchoosethePolygonDeleteActionanddeletethetoppolygonfromeachcolumn.
4.
SelecttheEdgeBridgeActionwiththeTwoHolesmodifier.
Clickonafirsthole,thenclickanddragonasecondholetoproduceabridewithaspecificelevationandtessellation.
5.
Toreproducethissamebridgewiththesamesettings,justclicktheholesatthetopofanothercoupleofcolumns.
6.
SelectPolygonExtrudeagainandclickanotherpolygononthegrid.
Youwillgetacolumnthatisidenticaltothefirstonesyoucreated,eventhoughyouuseddifferentActionsandadjustedtheirsettingssincecreatingthefirstcolumns.
VIIIZModelerandMaskingLikeallotherZBrushfunctions,theZModelerbrushisaffectedbyanymasksonyourmodel.
Additionally,youcantemporarilychangetothecurrentMaskbrushbyusingthestandardhotkey.
(Ctrl)ThedefaultmaskingbehaviorwillpreventActionsfromaffectingthemaskedpoints,edgesand/orpolygons.
AMaskingActionisavailableintheZModelerbrushtoproducequickmasksbasedonTargetedpoints,edgesand/orpolygons.
OncemaskedusingtheseActions,themodelcanbemanipulatedwithTransPoseforaccuratetransformation.
ThereisalsoaTransPoseActionthatmaskstheentiremodelexceptwhereTar-geted,thenautomaticallyswitchestoTransPosemode.
Whenworkingwithamask,keepinmindthatitsrepresentationisbasedonthepointsofthetopology(justlikeColorizePolyPainting).
Withverylowresolutionmodelsitcanbedifficulttovisualizethemask.
AllthemaskingfunctionsfoundintheTool>>Maskingsub-paletteworkwithZMod-eler.
IXPointActionsInthissectionwewillcoverthedifferentActionsthatcanbeappliedtothepointsofamodel.
ToaccessthepointmenuwhenusingtheZModelerbrush,hoveroverapointandright-clickthemouseorpressspacebar.
SomeActionsoperateinaspecificdirection.
Inthiscase,payattentiontotheEdgeIndicatorsothatyoucancontrolhowtheActionwillbeapplied.
Targetsaredescribedinlatersectionsofthisdocumentation.
BridgeTheBridgeActionconnectstwoselectedpointsandestablishesanedgebetweenthem.
Toperformthisoperation,thetwopointsmustsharethesamepolygon.
SinceZBrushisbasedontrianglesandquadsthePointBridgefunctioncannotbeusedtocre-ateanedgeorsetofedgeswhichconnecttwodistantpoints.
ThedifferentTargetsassociatedwiththeBridgeActiondefinehowthispointActionwillbeappliedtothemodel.
TheRingTargetconnectstheclickedpointtoallthepointsofthesharedpolygonsitisattachedto,whiletheTwoPointsTargetconnectstwopointsbyclickingtheminsuccession.
Modifiers(onlywithRingTarget)CreaseRing,DoNotCrease:OpttoapplycreasingtotheedgescreatedbytheBridgeAction.
RegroupRing,DoNotRegroup:OpttochangethecreatededgestoanewPolyGroup.
CreaseTheCreaseActionappliesedgecreasingtotheedgesconnectedtotheclickedpointAlternativeOperationsAlt+click:Uncreaseanalreadycreasededgeandviceversa.
DeleteTheDeleteActionremovestheclickedpoint,creatingaholeinthemodel.
Byde-fault,ZBrushcreatestrianglesaroundthedeletedpoint,deletinghalfofthem.
DoNothingTheDoNothingActionisanemptyAction.
Whenthisisactiveitwillpreventthepos-sibilityofaccidentallyperformingaPointActionwhileusingtheZModelerBrush.
IfyouknowthatyouonlywanttousePolyorEdgeActions,havingthisactiveandhoveringoverapointwillinsteadresultinaPolyAction.
ExtrudeTheExtrudeActioncreatesanextrusionfromthetargetedpointbyclickinganddragging.
ThisActionwillcreateapyramidalshapeperpendiculartotheextrudedpoint.
ThepositionofthecursoraroundthepointdefineswhichoftheconnectededgeswillbetransformedduringtheextrudeAction.
Toseethis,moveyourcursorslightlyaroundthepoint;youshouldnoticethehighlightedconnectedpolyschangetoshowthedirectionoftheextrusion.
TheextrudedpolygonswillreceivetwoPolyGroups:Onefortheextrudedfaceandanotherforthepolygonsconnectedtotheextrusion.
PerformingadditionalextrusionswillkeepthesamePolyGroupsuntilanothertypeofActionisperformed.
AlternativeOperationsCtrl:StoptheextrusionprocessandswitchtoaMoveAction.
Shift:Movethepointalongitsnormal.
Alt:ChangethePolyGroupoftheextrudedpart.
MakeCurveTheMakeCurveActioncreatesacurvepoint-by-point,correspondingtothepointsclickedonthe3Dmesh.
ThiscreatedcurvecanbeusedbyotherBrushes,suchastheCurveTubebrushorZRemesherGuidesbrush.
ItcanalsobeusedbyZModeler'sCurveActions.
MaskTheMaskActionappliesamasktotheclickedpoint(orcorrespondingauto-mask-ing),preventingthatpointfrombeingmanipulateduntilthemaskhasbeencleared.
Clickingonmultiplepointsispossibleandwillletyouprotectmultiplepointsasneeded.
MoveTheMoveActionletsyoufreelymovetheselectedpointrelativetothescreen'sworkingplane.
AlternativeOperationsShift:ConstrainstheMoveActionalongtheclosestX,YorZworkingplane.
ItisimportanttomoveyourcameratoanalignedanglebeforeusingtheShiftmodifierwithaMoveAction.
QMeshTheQMeshActioncreatesanextrusionoftargetedpointbyclickinganddragging.
ThisActionwillproduceapyramidalshapeperpendiculartotheextrudedpoint.
ThepositionofthecursoraroundthepointwilldefinewhichoftheconnectededgesaretobetransformedduringtheQMeshAction.
Toseethis,moveyourcursorslightlyaroundthepoint;youshouldnoticethehighlightedconnectedpolyschangetoshowthedirectionoftheQMeshextrusion.
Bydefault,theQMeshoperationisexactlythesameastheExtrudePointAction,exceptthat:Thecreatedmeshwillattempttofusewiththeadjacentpolygons,includingmergingwithanypolygonsthatarecrossedduringtheoperation.
Thecreatedmeshcanbecompletelydeletedwhenperforminganextrusionthatcrossesanexistingpolygonthatisconnectedtotheextrudedpolygons.
DrawSizeimpactsthedetectionofthefusingoperation:AsmallDrawSizegener-atesastrongerfusionattractionwhilealargerDrawSizegeneratesalowerfusionat-traction.
OptionsFull,Half,QuarterStep:DefinethenumberofstepsthattheQMeshextrusionwillhavebetweentheclickedpointsandthemaximumheight,whenit'sconnectedtoanadjacentpolygon.
Thesemodifiershavenoeffectwhentheextrudedpointisnotabletofusewithadjacentpolygons.
AlternativeOperationsCtrl:StoptheextrusionprocessandswitchtoaMoveAction.
Alt:ChangethePolyGroupoftheextrudedpart.
SlideTheSlideActionshiftstheclickedpointalongthepathofitsconnectededges.
Note:TheEdgeSelectorwidgetindicationshavenoimpactonaSlideoperation.
Thepointwillfreelymovealongallconnectededges.
SplitTheSplitActioncreatesacircleshapewithitscenterontheclickedpointposition.
ThisActionisveryhandywhencreatingtube-likeshapesstartingfromexistinggeometry.
PointTargetModifiersKeepQuadCenter,TriangulateCenter:Thismodifiertoggleswhethertoallowthegenerationoftriangleswhencreatingthesplitshape.
CreaseRing,DoNotCrease:Toggleswhethertoapplycreasingtothecreatededges.
RegroupRing,DoNotRegroup:ToggleswhethertogenerateanewPolyGroupforthecreatedpolygons.
RingTargetModifiersCreaseRing,DoNotCrease:Toggleswhethertocreasethecreatededges.
RegroupRing,DoNotRegroup:ToggleswhethertogenerateanewPolyGroupforthecreatedpolygons.
EqualizeRadius,DoNotEqualize:Toggleswhethertomodifythecreatedpointssothattheyfitacircle.
StitchTheStitchActionallowsyoutoweldadjacentpointsonyourmodeltogether.
Youmustfirstclickonepoint,thentheonetobeweldedtoit.
PointTargetModifierToEndPoint,ToMidPoint,ToStartpoint:Defineinwhichdirectionthepointswillbeweldedtogether:atthesecondpoint'sposition,atalocationexactlybe-tweenbothpoints,oratfirstpoint'sposition.
TransPoseTheTransPoseActionautomaticallymasksallpointsexcepttheclickedoneandswitchestoTransPosemode.
YouarethenabletoperformalltheusualTransPoseop-erationsontheclickedpoint.
PleasekeepinmindthatwhileusingTransPose,youarenolongerinEdit>>Drawmode.
ThismeansthattheZModelerbrushwillbedeselected.
TocontinueusingZMod-eler,returntoDrawmode.
Note:Don'tforgettoremoveyourmaskbeforeattemptingotheroperations.
XEdgeActionsThissectionexplainsthedifferentZModelerActionsthatcanbeappliedtotheedgesofamodel.
ToaccesstheEdgemenu,simplyhoveroveranedgeandeitherright-clickorpressthespacebar.
EdgeActionsmaygeneratedifferentresultsdependingonwhichTargetoptionischosen.
ThedescriptionsoftheTargetsareavailableinlaterchaptersofthisdocument.
AddtoCurveTheAddtoCurveActionwillgenerateacurvecorrespondingtotheselectedTarget.
ThecreatedcurvescanlaterbeusedwithCurveActionsorotherCurvebrushes.
Note:CurveActionsareonlyavailablewhenaCurveexistsonthemodel.
AlignTheAlignActionwilltakeaseriesofedgesincontinuousorderandunifiestheirposi-tionsbasedontheselectedmodifier.
BeforeusingtheActionyoumustestablishthefirstandlastedgesofthepolyloopyouwanttoaffect.
Afterclickingthelastedgeyouwillbeabletoaligntheedgesinvari-ouswayssuchasastraightlineorapartialcircle.
ModifiersBezierCurve,Spline,Circle,Arcs,ArcsandLine,RoundCorners,SmallRoundCorners,TightRoundCorners:Definetheshapeoftheedgesalignedbetweenthetwoclickedone.
OneLine:Producesaflattenedstripofpolygonsbetweenthetwoclickededges.
OptionsInteractive,SpecifiedCurvature:Definesthecurvatureofthealignment,eitherinteractivelyorthroughanumericalvalue.
AligntoNormal,Tangent:Defineshowthealignmentwillinitiallybecalculated,basedonsurfacenormal.
ThisoptionisnotusedwhentheOneLinemodifierisselected.
Overwrite,AdditivePosition:Definesifthecurvaturethatisgeneratedbythealignmentisreplacingtheexistingedgepositionorisaddedtotheexistingposi-tion,creatinganoffsetinthealignment.
Variable,ConstantWidth:BevelTheBevelActiongeneratesanewplanarsurfacealongtheedgescorrespondingtotheselectedTarget.
Thewidthofthebevelisdeterminedbyclickinganddragging.
ModifiersSingle,Two,Four,EightRow(s):Definethenumberofedgesinsertedinthebeveltopology.
Linear,Sharp,SoftEdge:Definetheshapeofthebevel.
Notonlyisthevisibleroundnessofthebevelaffectedbutalsothedistancebetweentheedges.
ThisallowsthebeveltolookcorrectwhenusingDynamicSubdivision.
BridgeTheBridgeActionconnectsoneormoreedgeswithpolygons.
ThisActionmakesitpossibleforyoutoconnecttwoedgesortwoedgeborderstogether.
WithEdgesTarget,theBridgeActionconnectstwoedgestogetherwithasinglepolygon.
WhenhoveringoverandedgewiththisActionselected,awidgetwith"Clickfirstedge"and"Clicksecondedge"willbevisible.
Uponclickingthesecondedge,thepolygonwillbecreated.
WhenusingtheBridgeTwoEdgesfunction,usecaution.
Itcanbeeasytocreateinvalidtopologybyclickingtwoedgeswhicharenotconnected.
Note:Becausepolygonsaresingle-sided,itcanbehardtoseetheiredgesfromcertainangles.
EnablingTool>>DisplayProperties>>Doublemakesthebordersofpolygonsmorevisible.
WithTwoHolesTarget,theBridgeActionconnectstheedgebordersoftwoholestogethertocreateatube-likeshapebetweenthem.
TheshapeoftheBridgecanbedras-ticallyimpactedbythedifferentoptionsandmodifiersexplainedbelow.
WhenhoveringoverandedgewiththisActionselected,awidgetwith"Clickfirstedge"and"Clicksecondedge"willbevisible.
ItisimportanttocontinueholdingthesecondclicktoenabletheinteractivepartofthisAction.
Thisallowsyoutoreshapethebridgeinaccordancewiththeselectedmodifiers.
Note:Becausepolygonsaresingle-sided,itcanbehardtoseetheiredgesfromcertainangles.
EnablingTool>>DisplayProperties>>Doublemakesthebordersofpolygonsmorevisible.
Modifiers(TwoHolesOnly)Whilecontinuingtoholdthesecondclick,draggingthemouseverticallyandhorizon-tallywillreshapethebridge.
Horizontalmovementincreasesordecreasesthecurvaturewhileverticalmovementcontrolstessellationofthespans.
PressingtheShiftKeywillsnaptotheoptimalcurvaturedependingonthemodifierthatisselected.
InteractiveCurvature,OptimalCurvature,HalfCurvature:Definethecurvatureofthebridge,allowingittobeinteractiveorautomaticallyoptimized.
InteractiveResolution,OptimalResolution,MinimumResolution:Definetheresolution(tessellation)ofthebridge,eitherinteractivelyorautomatically.
PolyGroupColumns,PolyGroupRows,PolyGroupFlat:defineshowthePoly-Groupsarecreatedalongthebridge.
PivotonHoleCenter,PivotonClickedEdge:Definesthepivotpointtodefinehowthecurvatureofthetubewillbecreated.
Clickingtwoedgesofalargerdis-tancewillgeneratealongercurve,whileclickingtwoedgesofshorterdistancewillgenerateashortercurve.
AutoAlignEdges,AlignClickedEdges:ThesearesimilartothePivotmodifiersanddefinewhichedgeswillbeusedwhenaligningtheedges.
Options(TwoHolesOnly)Circle,TheSpline,Arcs,ArcsandLine,RoundCorners,SmallRoundCorners,TightRoundCornersandStraightLines:Definetheshapeofthetubebetweenthetwoholes,baseduponanyActionmodifiers.
OneLine:Producesastraightbridgebetweenthetwoclickedholes.
AlternativeOperations(TwoHolesOnly)Shift:PressthismodifierwhiledoingaclickanddragtoautomaticallycreatetheshapeselectedintheBridgeoptions.
(Forexample,theCircletypeofbridgeproduceacleanpartialcircle.
)CloseHoleTheCloseHoleActionfillsopeningsinthemodel.
ThisprocesscontainstwoTargets.
CloseConcaveHolefillstheholeusingthesamealgorithmusedintheTool>>Geometry>>ModifyTopology>>CloseHolefunction.
Itsimplyclosestheholeoftheclickedopenedgeloop.
Note:Aholecanbefilledonlyifthetopologyallowsit.
WhenassociatedwiththeConvexTarget,theCloseHoleActionusesadifferental-gorithmtofillsthespace.
Theshapeofthisfillcanbedrasticallyimpactedbytheoptionsandmodifiersdescribedbelow.
Itisimportanttocontinueholdingtheclickafterselectingtheedgeofthehole.
Thisenablesinteractionforyoutoreshapethecreatedsurface.
Modifiers(ConvexHoleOnly)Whilecontinuingtoholdyourclickopenedgeloop,movingthecursorhorizontallyorverticallymodifiestheshapeofthesurfacebeingcreated.
Horizontalmovementchang-esthecurvatureandelevation.
Verticalmovmentaffectstheamountoftessellationthatisapplied.
ConvergetoCenter,ConvergetoEdge,ConvergetoPoint:Definehowtheshapeofthestructureiscreatedandwhichdirectionthecenterpointmovesinduringcreation.
Thedirectionofyourstrokealsodetermineswherethenewtopologyconvergesto.
InteractiveCurvature,OptimalCurvature,CurvatureValue:Definethecurvatureofthecreatedgeometrytobeeitherinteractiveorautomaticallyoptimized.
InteractiveResolution,OptimalResolution,ResolutionValue:Definetheresolu-tion(tessellation)ofthegeometry,withiteitherbeinginteractiveorautomati-callycontrolledbyZBrush.
NoTwist,360DegreesTwist,TwistValue:Definethebehaviorofthegeneratedgeometry.
Thisfunctioncanbeusedtogeneratehelix-shapedsurfaces.
PolyGroupcolumns,PolyGroupRows,PolyGroupFlat:DefinehowthePoly-Groupsarecreatedalongthebridge.
Options(ConvexHoleOnly)Circle,TheSpline,Arcs,ArcsandLine,RoundCorners,SmallRoundCorners,TightRoundCornersandStraightLines:Definetheshapeofthegeometryclos-ingthehole.
OneLine:Producesaflatholewithnoelevation.
Withthisoptionselected,onlytessellationcanbechanged.
AlternativeOperation(ConvexHoleOnly)Shift:PressthismodifierduringtheclickanddragtoletZBrushusetheoptimalshape.
CollapseTheCollapseActionwillremovetheselectededge,fusingtheconnectedverticestogether.
Whenusedwith:EdgeTarget:Theedgepointclosesttothecursorisfusedwiththesecondedgepoint.
HoleTarget:Alltheverticesalongtheboundaryoftheholemergetogetheratthecenterofthehole.
PolyLoop:Alltheverticesoftheloopclosesttotheclickededgearefusedwiththepolyloopthatisoppositetheclickededge.
CreaseTheCreaseActionappliesedgecreasingtotheTargetededges.
AlternativeOperationAlt:Uncreaseanalreadycreasededgeandviceversa.
DeleteTheDeleteActiondeletestheedge(s)correspondingtotheselectedTarget.
DoNothingTheDoNothingActionisanemptyAction.
Whenthisisactiveitwillpreventthepos-sibilityofaccidentallyperforminganEdgeActionbymistakewhileusingtheZModelerbrush.
IfyouknowthatyouonlywanttousePolyorPointActions,havingthisactiveandhoveringoverapointwilldefaulttoaPolyActioninstead.
ExtrudeTheExtrudeActionwillextrudeaselectededgeonamodel.
TheextrudeedgeAc-tioncreatesapolygonbetweentheclickededgeandtheoppositeedge.
WhenusingthisAction,triangleswillbecreatedontheextrudedpart.
ThepositionofthecursorwhenclickingontheTargetedgedefinesthedirectionoftheextrusion.
AlternativeOperationsCtrl:StoptheextrusionprocessandswitchtoanEdgeMoveAction.
Shift:Disconnectthepolygonsadjacenttotheextrusion.
Alt:ChangethePolyGroupoftheextrudedpart.
ModifiersStraight,Rotateto15Degrees,CustomRotation:Definethestepstheextrudededge.
Straightprovidesnoconstraintswhile15Degreesaddstepsof15de-grees.
Customrotationallowsyoutoaddacustomconstraintbythevaluesetinthisslider.
InsertTheInsertActioncreatesanedgeloopalongtheclickedringofedges.
TheinsertActionwillcontinueacrosstheentireedgeloop.
IfyouwanttheInsertededgetoonlybegeneratedthroughpartofanedgeloop,youcanuseamasktoprotecttheportionsofthemodelwhereyoudonotwanttheInsertededgetobegenerated.
TheInsertActionusestwoTargets:MultipleEdgeLoopsandSingleEdgeLoop.
IfusingtheMultipleEdgeLoopsTargetyouwillhaveaccesstomodifiersthathelpgenerateadvancedshapes.
ModifiersInteractiveResolution,SpecifiedResolution:Definethenumberofinsertededges.
Youcanmovethecursorupanddowninteractivelyorenteranumericalvalue.
SpecifiedResolution,InteractiveElevation:Definestheelevationoftheinsertededge(s).
WhensettoInteractiveElevation,movingthecursorleftandrightwillchangetheelevation.
Spline,Radial,Linear,Flat:Definetheshapeoftheelevation.
PerPolygonNormal,ClickedNormal,AverageNormals:DefinethedirectionoftheElevationmodifier.
AlternativeOperationsAlt:Removetheclickededgeloop.
Shift:WhenusedwiththeSingleEdgeLoopTarget,thiswillmovetheinsertededgeproportionallytothecursor.
InsetTheInsetActioninsertsanewpolygonwithintheselectedfaceorgroupoffaces.
Thedifferentmodifiersnotonlychangetheshapeoftheinsertedpolygon(s)butalsoallowforcontroloverhowthesenewpolysareconnectedtotheoriginalsurface.
ModifiersCenterandBorder,BorderOnly,CenterOnly:Definehowthenewpolygonsarecreated.
CenterandBorderwillcreateallthepolygons.
BorderOnlywillnotcreatethecenterpolygon.
CenterOnlywillcreatethecenterpolygon(s)withoutanyborderpolygons.
InsetEachPoly,InsetRegion:Definewhethertheinsertedpolygonsarecre-atedindividuallyorconnectedalltogetherasaregion.
AlternativeOperationsAlt:ChangethePolyGroupoftheinsertedpart.
Shift:Changetheshapeoftheinsertedpolygon(s)tobesquareratherthanmatchingtheoriginalpolygon.
MaskTheMaskActionappliesaprotectivemasktotheclickededge,preservingitfrommanipulationuntilthemaskhasbeencleared.
Itispossibletoclickonmultipleitems,maskingallofthemifneeded.
AlternativeOperationAlt:UnmasktheclickedTarget.
LiketheMaskAction;clickunprotectasmanyedgesasneeded.
MoveTheMoveActionletsyoufreelyrelocatetheselectededgerelativetothescreen'sworkingplane.
AlternativeOperationShift:ConstrainstheMoveActionalongtheclosestX,Y,orZworking(canvas)plane.
ItisimportanttoadjustyourcameraanglebeforeusingthismodifierwiththeMoveAction.
MoveAutoRadiusMoveInfiniteRadiusshiftsthewholeedgeloopbyslowingdecreasingthestrengthofthemove.
AlternativeOperationsAlt:Movestheedgesliketheywereinflated.
Shift:SlidesallTargetededgesalongtheadjacentpolygons.
MoveBrushRadiusMoveBrushRadiusmovestheedgesbasedontheDrawSize.
AlternativeOperationsAlt:Movestheedgesliketheywereinflated.
Shift:SlidesallTargetededgesalongtheadjacentpolygons.
MoveInfiniteRadiusMoveInfiniteRadiusshiftsthewholeedgeloopbasedondepthofthecameraview.
AlternativeOperationsAlt:Movestheedgesliketheywereinflated.
Shift:SlidesallTargetededgesalongtheadjacentpolygons.
PolyGroupThePolyGroupActionsetsanewPolyGroupfortheTargetededge.
ThemodifiersbelowdefinehowthesePolyGroupsarecreated.
ModifiersOverwrite,Additive:DefinehowthenewPolyGroupsarecreated.
OverwritewillapplyanewPolyGroupwiththefirstclickandreusesitforeachsubsequentclickwhiletheAdditivemodifierwillcreateadifferentPolyGroupwitheachclick.
Note:UnlikeotherActionswheretheAltkeycanchangethePolyGroup,thisoperationisn'tpos-sibleforthePolyGroupActionwhenOverwriteisactive.
YouneedtoswitchtotheAdditivemodifierinstead.
QMeshTheQMeshActioncreatesanextrusionoftheedgescorrespondingtotheselectedTarget.
Thisextrudededgecreatesapolygonbetweentheclickededgeandtheoppositeedge,creatingatriangleshapeonthesideoftheextrudedpart.
Bydefault,theQMeshoperationisexactlythesameasExtrudeEdge,exceptthat:Thecreatedmeshwillfusetotheadjacentpolygonswhenpossible.
Thecreatedmeshcanbecompletelydeletedwhenperforminganegativeextru-sion.
TheDrawSizehasimpactstheattractionofthefusingoperation:asmallDrawSizewilltriggerastrongfuseoperationwhilealargerDrawSizewillapplyweakerfusing.
ThepositionofthecursorwhenclickingontheTargetedgeaffectsthedirectionoftheextrusion.
ItisimportanttocarefullypositionyourcursorbeforeexecutingtheAction.
OptionsFull,Half,QuarterStep:DefinethenumberofstepsthattheQMeshextrusionwillhavebetweentheclickededgesanditsmaximumheight.
Theseoptionshavenoeffectwhentheextrudededgeisn'tincontactwithadjacentpolygons.
ModifiersStraight,Rotateto15Degrees,CustomRotateAngle:Definethevalueofthestepswhenextrudingtheedge.
Straightprovidesnoconstraintswhile15De-greesaddstepsof15degrees.
Thecustomrotationaddsacustomconstraintdeterminedbytheslidervalue.
NormalAttraction,WeakAttraction,NoAttraction:Definethesensitivityofthefusingdetection.
AlternativeOperationsCtrl:StopstheextrusionprocessandswitchestoaMoveAction.
Shift:Disconnectstheextrusion'sadjacentpolygons.
Alt:ChangesthePolyGroupoftheextrusion.
ScaleTheScaleActionresizestheTargetededges.
Whenscalingasingleedgeitstwopointswillbeaffected.
Whilescalingapolyloop,alargerpartofthemodelmaybescaleddependingitspath.
SlideTheSlideActionshiftstheTargetededgesalongtheirconnectedpolygons.
SpinTheSpinActionrotatestheclickededgecounter-clockwisearoundthetwoadjacentpolygons.
ThisActionisveryconvenientwhenyouwishtochangethemodel'stopology.
AlternativeOperationAlt:Producesaclockwisespin.
SplitTheSplitActioninsertsapointontheclickededgeandconnectsittoalladjacentedges.
DraggingthepointduringtheSplitActionallowsyoutomoveitalongtheedge.
AlternativeOperationAlt:Collapsetheedgebyweldingitstwopointstogetheratthelocationoftheoneclosesttotheclick.
Stitch(Hole)TheStitchActionclosestheedgesofahole,weldingthemtogether.
Sincethetwoclickededgesareweldedtogether,thealignmentoftheclickededgeswilldefinetheresultingtopology.
TheStitchActionproducesbetterresultswhentheholehasconstantanduniformtopology,suchaswithapolyloopshape.
SwivelTheSwivelActionrotatestheclickededgeoredgelooparoundthepolygon'sop-positeedge.
TheActionisperformedbyclickingtheedgeanddragging.
TransPoseTheTransPoseActionautomaticallymasksalledgesexcepttheclickededgeandswitchestoTransPoseMovemode.
Atthisstage,youcanperformalltheusualTrans-Poseoperations.
PleasekeepinmindthatwhileyouareinTransPose,youarenolongerinDrawmodeandsotheZModelerbrushwillnolongerbeactive.
Toswitchbacktoit,returntoDrawmode.
Note:Don'tforgettoclearyourmaskbeforeperformingotheroperations.
UnweldTheUnweldActiondisconnectstheclickededgescorrespondingtotheTargetandcreatescreasingontheborderedges.
ExtrudedpolygonsarecreatedtokeeptheoriginalshapevisuallyseparatewhenDynamicSubdivisionisenabled.
TheUnweldActiondoesn'tsplitthemodelinmultipleSubTools;itjustdisconnectsthetopology.
XIPolygonActionsYouwillfindbelowthedifferentActionsthatcanbeappliedtothepolygonsofamod-elusingtheZModelerbrush.
TheZModelerbrushiscontextsensitive.
ToaccessitsPolymenuyouneedtohoveroverapolygonbeforeright-clickingorpressingthespacebar.
SomeActionshavebehaviorsthatwillbetotallydifferentdependingontheselectedTarget.
AlsotakenoteoftheEdgeIndicatorwidgetwhenhoveringoverapolygon.
ThiswidgetprovidesimportantdirectionalinformationthatmaybeusedbytheselectedAc-tion.
ThedescriptionsoftheavailableTargetsarefoundaftertheActionssectionsofthisdocument.
AddtoCurveTheAddtoCurveActiongeneratescurvesalongtheedgesoftheTargetedpoly-gons.
ThecreatedcurvescanbeusedinlaterstageswiththeCurveActionsorvariousCurvebrushes.
Note:TheCurveactionsareonlyavailablewhenaCurveexistsonthemodel.
BevelTheBevelActionslicesofftheedgesofthecorrespondingTarget,creatingnewedgeswithangledplanesbetweenthem.
Thedimensionofthegeneratedbevelisdeter-minedinteractivelybydraggingyourstrokefollowingtheinitialclick.
ModifiersSingle,Two,Four,EightRow(s):Definethenumberofedgesinsertedinthebeveltopology.
Linear,Sharp,SoftEdge,EdgeSharpness:Definetheshapeofthebevel.
Notonlyisthevisibleroundnessofthebevelaffectedbutalsothedistancebetweentheedges,allowingforthebeveltolookcorrectwhenusingDynamicSubdivi-sion.
BridgeTheBridgeActioncreatesgeometrybetweentwopolygons.
TheBridgefunctioncangeneratedroundedsurfaceswhenusedwithconnectedpolys.
WiththeTwoPolysTarget,theBridgeActionconnectstheclickedpolygonsviaatube-likebridge.
WhenusingthisActionawidgetwillpromptyouto'Click1stPoly'then'Click2ndPoly.
'Withthe2ndclick,thebridgewillbecreated.
WhenusingthisActionandTarget;itcanbeeasytocreateabridgethatcrossesexistingpolygons,resultinginirregularundesiredtopology.
WiththeConnectedPolysTarget,theBridgeActionconnectstwoadjacentpolygonsandcreatesanewshape.
TheshapeoftheBridgeisdrasticallyimpactedbythedifferentoptionsandmodifiers.
TousetheTarget,hoveroverapolyandtakenoteoftheedgeindicator.
TheedgeindicatorwillpointtothedirectioninwhichtheBridgewillbecreated.
Modifiers(ConnectedPolys)Draggingverticallyandhorizontallywhileclickinganddraggingwillallowyoutody-namicallyreshapethebridge.
Horizontalmovementadjuststhecurvaturethatisappliedtothebridge.
Verticalmovementchangestheamountoftessellationthatisapplied.
OnlytheInteractivemodifierscanbydynamicallyupdated.
PressingtheShiftkeywhileclickinganddraggingwillinstructZBrushtoautomati-callygeneratetheoptimalshapeasspecifiedbythemodifierInteractiveCurvature,SpecifiedCurvature:Definethecurvatureofthebridge.
Thiscanbeinteractivelycontrolledorsetwithapredefinedvalue.
InteractiveResolution,SpecifiedResolution:Definetheresolution(numberoftessellations)ofthebridge.
Thiscanbeinteractivelycontrolledorsetwithapredefinedvalue.
AligntoTangent,Normal:Definethedirectioninwhichthebridgeiscomputed.
UsingNormalalignmentisgenerallypreferredwhentheadjacentpolygonshavealowanglebetweenthem.
Variable,ConstantWidth:Allowstherowsofthegeometrybeingcreatedtohaveavariationinwidth.
Thisismostnoticeablewhenonepolygon'sedgewidthnotsharedbybothpolygonfacesiswidercomparedtotheadjacentpoly-gonbeingbridged.
NonSymmetrical,Symmetrical:Maintainsanaveragewidthtotherowsofge-ometrybeingcreatedwhenbridgingbetweentwopolygonfaceswithvariableedgelengthsonthenonesharededgebetweenthetwopolygons.
PolygroupRows,Flat:DeterminewhatPolyGroupswillbecreatedforthenewtopology.
Triangle&QuadranglesSidesLoop,TriangleSides,QuadSides:Definethetopologyofthesideofthebridge.
Extraedgeloopscanbecreatedaroundthepivotedgeandthetopologycanamixoftrianglesand/orquadrangles.
Options(ConnectedPolys)TheBezier,Spline,Circle,Arcs,ArcsandLine,RoundCorners,SmallRondCorners,TightRoundCorners,andStraightLines:Definetheshapeofthege-ometrygeneratedbetweenthetwopolygons,basedupontheselectedmodi-fiers.
OneLine:Producesastraighttubebetweenthetwoclickedholes.
AlternativeOperations(ConnectedPolys)Shift:PressingthismodifierwhileperformingtheclickanddragallowsZBrushcreatetheoptimalshapebasedontheselectedmodifier.
CreaseTheCreaseActionappliesedgecreasingtotheTargetededges.
ModifiersAllSides,Long,ShortSides:Definewhichedgesofthepolygonswillhaveedgecreasingapplied.
AllFaces,PolygroupBorder,PolygroupInner:Definethebehaviorofthecreasededge,basedontheexistingPolyGroupsfortheselectedTarget.
Alltransitions,Shallow,SharpTransition:DefinethebehaviorofthecreasededgebasedonthetopologyofthemodelintheTargetedregion.
ShallowTran-sitionwillapplycreasingwheretherearelowanglesbetweeneachpolygon.
SharpTransitionwillapplycreasingonlyonedgeswhichformasharpanglebetweenpolygons.
All,Outer,InnerTargets:SpecifywhethertoapplycreasestoalledgeswithintheTargetarea,toboundariesonlyortoalledgesexceptboundaries.
All,Outer,InnerEdges:SpecifywhethertoapplycreasestoalledgeswithintheTargetareaoronlytothoseattheboundariesofanopening.
AlternativeOperationsAlt:Uncreasealreadycreasededgesandvice-versa.
Important:youmustpresstheAltkeyafterclickingontheTarget,withoutreleasingtheclick.
PressingtheAltkeybeforeclickingwillswitchtotheTemporaryPolyGroupselectionmode.
DeleteTheDeleteActionremovestheTargetedpolygons,creatingaholeinthemodel.
DoNothingTheDoNothingActionisanemptyaction.
Whenactive,preventsperforminganyPolyActions.
ThisisusefulwhenyouknowthatyouonlywanttousePointorEdgeAc-tions,lettingyouworkfasterbyeliminatingtheneedtobeaspreciseinyourclicks.
Whileactive,anyclickonapolygonwillbetreatedasanEdgeclickinstead.
EqualizeTheEqualizeActiontriestoslidetheTargetedgestounifytheirlengths,changingtheeffectedpolygonstosquares.
TheresultsgreatlydependontheexistingtopologyandthecomplexityoftheTarget.
Thisprocessmayneedtobeappliedmultipletimestoachievethedesiredeffect.
ExtrudeWiththeExtrudeAction,clickanddragtocreateanextrusionoftheTargetedpoly-gons.
AlternativeOperationsCtrl:StopstheextrusionprocessandswitchestoaMoveAction.
Shift:Disconnectstheextrusionfromitsadjacentpolygons.
Alt:ChangesthePolyGroupoftheextrudedpart.
ModifiersOneSidePoly,NoSidesPolys:Determinewhethersideswillbecreatedtocon-necttheextrudedpolygonswithadjacentpolygons.
StepbyBrush,StepSize:Edgeloopsgeneratedalongthelengthoftheextru-sionarebasedeitherontheDrawSizeoradefinedvalue.
FlipFacesTheFlipFacesActionchangesthesurfacenormalorientationoftheTargetpoly-gons.
Becarefulwhenusingthisoptionbecauseflippedfacescangeneratetheappear-anceofholesinthemesh.
Note:YoumaywishtoturnTool>>DisplayProperties>>Doubleontoensurethatyoudon'tmis-takeflippedfacesforholes.
InflateTheInflateActionappliesasphericaleffecttotheTargetpolygons,likethey'rethesurfaceofaballoonasit'sbeingblownup.
Modifiersdefinethedirectionofthedeforma-tionanditsshape.
ModifiersByFace,Edge,PointNormal:DefinethedirectionoftheInflatedeformation,basedonthenormaldirectionofthespecifiedelement.
IftheTargetpolygonsareaflatsurface,theFaceNormalmodifierwillproducesperpendicularmove-mentofthepolygonsbecauseallthenormalsaregoingthesamedirection.
InsertNanoMeshUsetheInsertNanoMeshActiontoinsertmeshesontheTargetedpolygons.
ThisisdoneusingaNanoMeshbrush–aspecialbrushthatisanInsertMeshorIMMbrushwhichhasthenbeenconvertedspecificallyforthisAction.
Aftertheactionhasbeenappliedtothesurface,theNanoMeshescanbefurthereditedthroughtheTool>>NanoMeshparametersandsettings.
TocreateanInsertNanoMeshbrushforthispurpose,youmustfirstloadorcreateanInsertMeshorInsertMultiMeshBrush(IMM)andthenclickBrush>>ConverttoNa-noMeshBrush.
PleaserefertotheNanoMeshdocumentationformoreinformation.
InsertPointTheInsertPointActioncreatesasinglepointinthemiddleoftheclickedpolygonandthenconnectsittothepointsofthepolygonthatit'sbeinginsertedinto.
ThisActionishandywhenwantingtoquicklydividefacesorfindtheexactmiddleofapolygon.
InsertPolyloopsTheInsertPolyloopsActioncreatessingleormultipleedgeloopsfollowingthetopol-ogyoftheTargetregion.
ThetopologyalongtheedgeoftheTargetregionmaybealteredtoconnecttheexistingpointstotheinsertededgeloops.
Ifyouwantextracontroloverpropagationoftheinsertededgeloop,useamasktoprotectanareaofthemodel.
Theedgeloopwillnotcrossmaskedpolygons.
ModifiersInteractiveSplit,EvenSplits,SpecifiedSplitsCount:Definethenumberofin-sertededges,eitherbyinteractivelymovingthecursorupanddownorbyenter-inganumericalvalue.
Loopsmode,GridMode,SunBurstMode:Definethepatternoftheinsertededgeloops.
SomepatternswillworkonlyonspecificTargets.
Forexample,GridModerequiresaflatislandwithnopolyloops.
AlternatePolygroup,SamePolygroup:ControlwhethertocreatenewPoly-Groupsfortheedgeloops.
InsetTheInsetActioninsertsoneormorepolygonswithintheTargetpolygonsandcon-nectedtothem.
Themodifierscanchangetheshapeoftheinsertedpolygonsaswellaswhetherornottheyareconnectedtotheoriginalpolygons.
ModifiersCenterandBorder,BorderOnly,CenterOnly:Definehowthenewpolygonsarecreated.
CenterandBorderwillgeneratetheinsetpolygonsplusanypolygonsthatareneededtoconnectthemtotheoriginaledges.
BorderOnlywillnotcre-atethecenterpolygon,whileCenterOnlywillnotcreateborderpolygons.
InsetEachPoly,InsetRegion:DefinewhethereverypolygonwithintheTargetreceivesitsowninsetoriftheTargetpolygonsaretreatedasanentireregionwithasharedinset.
(Thislatteroptioneffectivelyresultsinanedgeloop.
)AlternativeOperationsAlt:ChangethePolyGroupoftheinsertedpart.
Shift:Changetheshapeoftheinsertedpolygon(s)tobesquareratherthanproportionaltotheoriginalpolygon/region.
MaskTheMaskActionsimplymaskstheclickedpolygonorselectedTarget,preservingitfrommanipulationuntilthemaskiscleared.
Clickingonmultipleitemsispossible,lettingyouprotectasmanypolysasneeded.
MeshtoBrushTheMeshtoBrushActionconvertstheTargetgeometrytoaNanoMeshbrush,readyforapplyinglaterasaNanoMesh.
Note:ThisActioncanonlycreateNanoMeshbrushes.
TocreateanInsertMeshorIMMbrushyouwouldinsteadneedtouseTool>>Geometry>>ModifyTopology>>MeshfromBrushandthencreateyourdesiredbrush.
ModifiersAligntoMeshOrientation,AligntoClickedFaceNormal:Definetheorientationofthemeshwhenitisstoredwithinthebrush.
WhenworkingwiththeAligntoClickedFaceNormalmodifier,itisadvisedtoswitchtoorthogonalviewandcarefullyselectthecameraposition.
MoveTheMoveActionletsyoumanipulatetheTargetedpolygonsasspecifiedbythetwomodifiers.
Allpolygonsaremovedthesamedistance,withoutanyfalloffeffect,deformation,orsnapping.
Note:TransPosecanbealsousedwiththeMaskActiontodoasimilaroperation.
ModifiersAligntoNormal:SetstheTargettomovealongthenormaloftheclickedpolygon(perpendiculartothesurface).
AligntoAxis:SetstheTargettomovebasedonthenearestworldaxiswiththescreenworkingplane(userpointofview).
PolygroupThePolygroupActiongeneratesnewPolyGroupsfortheTargetedpolygons.
Be-causeZModelermakesextensiveuseofPolyGroupsforTargets,thisActioncanquicklybecomingoneofgo-toitemsforcreatingafasterworkflow.
ThisActionhasnoimpactonyourmesh'stopology;itonlychangestheexistingPolyGroup(s).
Don'tforgettorefertotheWorkingwithPolyGroupschapteroftheZModelerdocu-mentationformoreinformationabouthowtousePolyGroups,includinghowtoworkwithZModeler'sTemporaryPolyGroupfeature.
OptionsOneGroupID:CreatesauniquePolyGroup.
ThreeSides:CreatesdifferentPolyGroupsforeachworldworkingplane.
(X,Y,Z)SixSides:CreatesdifferentPolyGroupscorrespondingtoeachsideoftheworld'sworkingplanes.
(+X,-X,+Y,-Y,+Z,-Z)Topological:CreatesgradientPolyGroupsthatfollowthemeshtopology,basedontheinitialclicklocation.
PolyOrder:CreatesPolyGroupsbasedonthepolygonorder.
PointOrder:CreatesPolyGroupsbasedonthepointorder.
RelativePlus,MinusOne:ReplacetheexistingPolyGroupwithaslightlydiffer-enthue.
Checker:CreatetwoPolyGroupswithacheckerpattern.
ModifiersOverwrite,Additive:DefinehownewPolyGroupsarecreated.
OverwriteappliesanewPolyGroupandusesitforeachsubsequentclickwhiletheAdditivemodi-fiercreatesadifferentPolyGroupwitheachclick.
PickExisting:CopiesthePolyGroupoftheclickedfaceandstoresitforusewiththenextPolyGroupcreationprocess.
Full,RandomCoverage:ApplythePolyGrouptoeithertheentireTargetregiontoafractionofit.
QMeshTheQMeshActionletsyouclickanddragtoextrudetheTargetpolygons.
Bydefault,theQMeshoperationisexactlythesameastheExtrudeEdgeAction,exceptthat:Thecreatedmeshwillattempttofusetotheadjacentpolygons.
Thecreatedmeshcanbecompletelydeletedbyperforminganegativeextru-sion.
TheattractionofthefusingoperationdependsupontheDrawSize:asmallbrushsizewilltriggerastrongfuseoperationwhilealargerbrushsizewillapplyweakerfusing.
ThepositionofthecursorwhenclickingontheTargetedgewilldefinethedirectionoftheextrusion.
ItisimportanttocarefullypositionyourcursorbeforeexecutingtheAction.
OptionsAligntenth,Quarter,Third,Half,FullStep,NoAlignment:DefinethenumberofstepsthattheQMeshextrusionwillhavebetweentheclickedpolygonanditsmaximumheight.
TheseModifiershavenoeffectwhentheextrudedpolygondoesn'tcomeincontactwithadjacentpolygons.
ModifiersOneSidePoly,MultiSidesByBrush,StepSize:OneSidePolyisthedefaultfusefunctionofQMesh.
TheStepSizeModifierwillallowyoutoperformacon-tinuousQmeshoftheclickedpolygons,generatingedgeloopsalongthelengthequaltotheDrawSizeoradefinedvalue.
NormalAttraction,WeakAttraction,NoAttraction:Definethesensitivityofthefusingdetection.
DisableandEnableTriangleSnap:Whenenabled,QMeshwillallowthefusingoperationtocreatetriangles.
DisableandEnableExtendedSnap:Whenenabled,snappingcontinuesbe-yondthefullstepoftheextrusion.
IftheStepissettoquarter,thenitwillcon-tinuetoaddastepequaltoaquarterofthedistancebeyondafullstep.
Whendisabled,ZBrushwillsnaptothemaximumdistanceofthesurroundingpoly-gonswithoutneedingtoevaluateheight.
AlternativeOperationsCtrl:StopstheextrusionprocessandswitchestoaMoveAction.
Shift:Disconnectsthepolygonsadjacenttotheextrusion.
Alt:ChangesthePolyGroupoftheextrudedpart.
ScaleTheScaleActionscalestheTargetpolygons.
Whenscalingasinglepolygon,ZBrushwillsimplymoveitspointsinoroutrelativetotheanchorpointdefinedbytheoptions.
Whenscalingapolyloop,ZBrushmayscalealargerpartofthemodelasdeterminedbythepathofthepolyloop.
OptionsMeshCenter,AxisCenter,LocalSymmetry,ClickCenter,PolygonCenter:De-finethelocationoftheanchorpointforthescalingoperation,withallaffectedpointsmovingrelativetoit.
SpherizeTheSpherizeActionforcestheTargetpolygonstowardasphericalshape.
Movingthestrokeindifferentdirectionswhileclickinganddragginggeneratesdifferentresults.
AlternativeOperationsShift:Spherizebymovingallaffectedverticesatthesametime.
SpinTheSpinActionrotatestheTargetpolygonsaroundapointdefinedbytheselectedoption.
OptionsMesh,Axis,Polygon,ClickedCenter,LocalSymmetry,ClickedPolygonCorner:Definewhichpointthepolygon(s)willspinaround.
Somerotationcentersaredefinedbythetopologywhileothersaredeterminedbytheclickposition.
ModifiersNoAlignment,Alignto15Degrees,CustomAlignment:SetaconstraintvaluethataffectstherotationofthespinAction.
AlignRotationtoAxis:Therotationisdonealongtheclosestworldaxis.
SpinEdgesTheSpinEdgesActionchangesthepointorderwithintheclickedTarget.
TheusageisspecifictothosefunctionsinZBrushwhichmakeuseofpointorder,suchasMicro-MeshandNanoMesh.
Becausethisonlyaffectspointorderratherthanposition,youwon'tseeanyap-parenteffectunlessyouhaveappliedaNanoMeshorMicroMeshtothesurface.
Withoneofthesefunctionsapplied,performingtheActionwillchangetheorientationoftheNanoMeshorMicroMesh.
OptionsClockwise,CounterClockwise:Definetherotationdirection.
SplitTheSplitActioninsertsapointintheclickedpolygonandconnectsittomiddleofeachsurroundingedge.
ThisActionissimilartoInsertPointbutmaintainsaquadsur-face.
TransPoseTheTransposeActionautomaticallymaskseverythingexcepttheselectedTargetandthenswitchestoTransPoseMovemodetomanipulatethesurfacestandardTrans-Poseoperations.
PleasekeepinmindthatwhileusingTransPose,youarenolongerinDrawmode.
YouhavetoswitchbacktoDrawmodeifyouwanttocontinueusingZModeler.
Note:Don'tforgettoremoveyourmaskbeforeperformingotheroperations.
UnweldTheUnweldActiondisconnectstheTargetpolygonscreasestheborderedgessothattheymaintaintheirshapewhensmoothed.
ExtrudedpolygonsarecreatedtokeeptheoriginalshapevisuallyunweldedwhenusingDynamicSubdivisionmode.
TheUnweldActiondoesn'tsplitthemodelinmultipleSubTools;itjustdisconnectsthetopology.
ZModelerModifiersThereareafewsettingswhichareuniversalZModeler'sActionsandTargets.
Modi-fyingtheseareonlynecessaryforveryspecificpurposes.
DefaultFlatnessandFlatTargetsTolerance:Definetheaccuracyofflatsurfacedetectionperformedbysometargets.
IncreasingthevaluecanallowActionstoaffectslightlyirregularareasandlargersurfaces.
XIICURVEACTIONSListedhereareActionsthataffectcurveswhichhavebeencreatedonamodel.
TheZModelerbrushiscontextsensitive:Hoveringoveracurveandeitherpressingthespacebarorright-clickingwillbringuptheZModelerCurvemenu.
CurveActionsareofcourseonlyavailablewhenacurveorsetofcurveshasbeengeneratedonamodel.
Curvescanbecreatedusingpoint,edge,and/orpolygonactions.
ThedescriptionsoftheTargetsareavailableaftertheActionssectionsofthisdocu-ment.
BevelTheBevelActioncreatesbeveledtopologyontheedgescorrespondingtothese-lectedCurves.
Thedistancedraggedwhileclickingdefinestheradiusofthebevel.
ModifiersSingle,Two,Four,EightRow(s):Definethenumberofedgesinsertedinthebeveltopology.
Linear,Sharp,SoftEdge:DefinetheshapeofthebevelwhenDynamicSub-divisionisappliedtothemodel.
Notonlyisthevisibleroundnessofthebevelaffectedbutalsothedistancebetweentheedges,allowingforthebeveltolookcorrectwhenusingDynamicSubdivision.
DeleteTheDeleteActionsuppressestheTargetcurve(s).
XIIIZModelerBrushTargetsTheZModelerbrushoperatesbyperformingActionsonTargetpolygons,points,edgesorcurvesinaPolyMesh3Dsuchobject.
Inotherwords,theActiontellsZBrushwhattodobuttheTargetspecifiesexactlywhatpartofthemeshtoperformtheActionon.
ThemostbasicTargetssuchasasinglevertex,edgeorpolygonwillaffectsmallareasofyourmesh.
Howeverwhenworkingonyourmodelsyoumayneedtoaffectalargerareasuchasgroupsofpolygonsormultipleedges.
Asanexample,byselectingthe"Extrude"Actionandsettingthe"PolyGroup"TargetyoucanclickanddragonasinglepolygoninyourmeshtoaffectallpolygonssharingthesamePolyGroup–evenifthosepolygonsarescatteredthroughoutyourmodel.
NowchangetheTargetfrom"PolyGroup"to"ASinglePoly.
"Ifyouclickanddragthatsamepolygon,itwillnowbetheonlypartofthemodelthatisaltered.
WiththissystemitisimportantnotonlytospecifywhichActionthatyouwanttousebutalsotheTargetareayouwanttoeffect.
Ofcourse,someactionsonlyhaveoneTargetduetothenatureoftheireffect.
Forexample,thePointStitchActiononlyhastheTwoPointsTargetsincestitchingcanonlygenerateaneffectacrossthisspecificarea.
BecausetheTargetsystemissoversatiletheZModelerbrushseamlesslyadaptstovirtuallyanyofyourlowresolutionsculptingneeds.
Thebetteryouunderstandthevari-ousTargetsavailabletoyou,themoreyouwillgetfromZModeler.
Thissectionofthedocumentationwillgiveyouthatknowledge.
Belowisthelistofthedifferenttargets.
DependingoftheActionselectedsomeofthesetargetsmaynotbeavailable.
1.
EdgeLoopVersusPolyLoopThisdocumentationwilloftenrefertopolyloopsandedgeloops.
Whilethedescrip-tionsofthesestructuresaresimilar,theyarenotexactlythesameandasaresultyoucangetverydifferenttopologyresultsdependinguponwhichTargettypeyouhaveselected.
Anedgeloopendswhenitreachesavertexthatconnectsandoddnumberofedges.
Apolyloopcontinuesnomatterhowmanyedgesconnecttothevertex.
Seetheillustrationbelowtounderstandhowthisdistinctioncanaffectyourtopology.
ThisisanexampleofthedifferencebetweenanEdgeLoopTargetandaPolyLoopTarget,com-binedwiththeBevelAction.
Ontheleft,theoriginalmesh.
Inthecenter,theBevelEdgeLoopisstoppedwhenitreachesanextraordinarypoint(pointwiththreeconnectededges).
Ontheright,theBevelPolyLoopusestheboundaryofthepolygonalloopandsoisn'taffectedbytheextraordi-narypoint.
Itcreatesabevelaroundthewholemodel.
2.
PointTargetsBelowisalistofTargetswhicharespecificallyavailabletoActionsthataffectthepointsofyourmodel.
ByBrushRadiusTheByBrushRadiusTargetsimplyusestheDrawSizesettingtodefinetheinflu-enceareaoftheAction.
Asanexample,selectingthisTargetwiththePointMoveActionwillgenerateaneffectsimilartothatoftheMovebrush.
Point(s)ThePoint(orPoints)Targetlooksattheedgesofyourmodelandzeroesinontheirendpoints.
TheActionappliedtothisTargetwillaffectonlytheclickedpoint.
Note:SomeActionsdependupontheedgesconnectedtothispoint,whichmeansthatifyouchosetheExtrudeActionwithPointTarget,theexactpositionofyourcursorwilldeterminewhichofthepolygonsattachedtothispointwillbeextruded.
TwoPointsTheTwoPointsTargetisspecifictoanActionthatneedstwopointstobeperformed,suchasStitchwhichwillmoveandweldthetwoclickedpoints.
TheTwoPointsTargetisdoneintwosteps;clickingafirstpoint,followedbyasec-ondpoint.
Witheachclick,theZModelerbrushwidgetwillinstructyouto'Click1stpoint'or'Click2ndpoint.
'Note:Youcanchangeyourpointofviewwhileselectingthetwopoints.
ThisTargetonlyevaluatesclicksonpointsandignoresallothers,suchastorotatethemodel.
InfiniteDepthTheInfiniteDepthTargetautomaticallyselectsallpointsinlinewithyourclick,nomatterhowdeeptheymightberelativetothecamera.
OnlytheverticesthatareperfectlyalignedwillreceivedtheAction.
Inlesstechnicalwords,allthepointsthatarevisuallyoverlappedbytheclickedonewillbemanipulatedbytheAction.
Thisisveryconvenientwhenworkinginorthographicviewswithmodelscomposedofsimpleextrudedelementswhereyouneedtomoveallthealignedpoints.
WiththisTargetyouwillhavethefreedomtorefineyourshapewithoutresortingtoTransPoseand/ormasks.
TheinfiniteDepthTargetonlyaffectspointsthatareperfectlyalignedoralmostper-fectlyaligned.
InfiniteX,YorZTheInfiniteX,YorZTargetisautomaticallyselectingthepointswhicharealignedwiththecursorandlocatedontheworkingplaneoftheselectedaxis(X,Y,orZ).
TheinfiniteX,Y,orZTargetisonlyaffectingthepointsthatareperfectlyalignedoralmostperfectlyaligned.
InfiniteXYZTheInfiniteXYZTargetissimilartotheInfiniteX,YorZActionexceptthatitauto-maticallyselectstheworkingplanethatisclosesttothecurrentcamerapointofview.
Oncetheplaneisdetermined,theTargetthenautomaticallyselectsthepointsonthatplanethatarealignedwiththecursor.
TheinfiniteXYZTargetonlyaffectspointswhichareperfectlyalignedoralmostperfectlyaligned.
RingTheRingTargetselectsthesurroundingpointswhichareconnectedtotheclickedpointbyedges.
3.
EdgeTargetsBelowisalistofTargetswhicharespecificallyavailabletoActionsthataffecttheedgesofyourmodel.
Anedgeisthelinebetweentwoconnectedpointsonyourmodel'ssurface.
EdgeTheEdgeTargetwillonlyeverselectthesingleclickededge.
EdgeLoopCompleteTheEdgeLoopTargetidentifiesaringofedgeswhichconnectendtoend,returningtothestartpoint.
Thepointspassedthroughcannothaveanoddnumberofconnectededges.
EdgeLoopPartialTheEdgeLoopTargetissimilartoEdgeLoopCompleteexceptthattheselectionwillstopatthefirstextraordinarypointthatitencounters.
(Apointwithanoddnumberofedgesconnectedtoit.
)MultipleEdgeLoopTheMultipleEdgeLoopTargetisassociatedwithadvancedmodifiersthatproducemultipleedgeloopsacrossthesurfaceofthemodel.
SingleEdgeLoopThisSingleEdgeLoopTargetisanalternativetotheMultipleEdgeLoopTargetandwillonlyselectasingleedgeloopastheTarget.
EdgeStripTheEdgeStripTargetcorrespondstoasetofedgesthatarelocatedinthesamepolyloop(meaningthatextraordinarypointswithanoddnumberofedgesarepermitted).
Thefirstclickdefinesthebeginningofthestripandasecondclickdefinesitsend.
PolyLoopThePolyLoopTargetidentifiesaringofedgeswhichconnectendtoend,returningtothestartpoint.
Thepointspassedthroughcanhaveanoddnumberofconnectededges.
ThePolyLoopTargetappliestheActiontotheentiresetofpolygonswithintheloopor(forsomeActions)itmayaffectthepolyloop'sborderedges.
Forexample,theTrans-PoseActionwithPolyLoopTargetwillmodifyallpolygonswithintheloopwhiletheBevelActionwithPolyLoopTargetwillapplyabevelonlytotheedgesthatmakeupthepolyloopborder.
Note:ForedgeActions,theaffectededgesoftheTargetedpolyloopwillbetheperpendicularonessincetheycorrespondtotheboundaryofthepolyloop.
TwoEdgesTheTwoEdgesTargetisspecifictoanyActionthatneedstohavetwoedgesse-lectedinordertobeperformed.
Asanexample,theEdgeBridgeActionwillcreateapolygonbetweentwoclickededges.
TheTwoEdgesTargetisdoneintwostepsbyclickingafirstedge,thenasecondedge.
Foreachclick,theZModelerbrushwidgetwillinstructyouto'Click1stEdge'or'Click2ndEdge.
'Note:Youcanchangeyourpointofviewwhileselectingthetwoedges.
ThisTargetonlyevaluatesclicksonedgesandignoresallothers,suchastorotatethemodel.
PolyGroupIslandThePolyGroupIslandTargetselectsallpolygonsconnectedtotheclickededgewhichsharethesamePolyGroupandcontinuestoexpandtheselectionuntilencounter-ingedgesofadifferentPolyGroup.
Forexample,ifyourmodelisafaceandthetwoeyessharethesamePolyGroup,usingthisTargetwouldletyouselectonlyoneeye.
EventhoughtheothereyehasthesamegroupitisnotcontiguouslyconnectedtotheclickedeyeandsowillnotbeaffectedbytheAction.
HoleTheHoleTargetcorrespondstoanareawithinyourmodelwithnopolygonson.
Thisareaisdefinedbyaloopofedgesthatsurroundtheborderofthehole.
Theselectionisdonebyclickingononeoftheseborderingedges.
Note:Theholemustbecompletelysurroundedbyconnectedpolygons.
ConcaveHoleTheConcaveHoleTargetisequivalenttotheHoleTargetexceptthatitisdesignedtoworkonholesthathaveaconcaveangleintheiroutline.
Aconcaveholewithatleastoneinternalanglewithavaluehigherthan180°.
Theselectionisdonebyclickingononeoftheedgesofthehole.
ConvexHoleTheConvexHoleTargetisequivalenttotheHoleTargetexceptthatitisdesignedtoworkonholeswhichhaveaconvexangleinitsoutline.
Aconvexholeonlyhasinternalanglesbetweeneachedgewhicharelessthan180°.
Theselectionisdonebyclickingononeoftheedgesofthehole.
TwoHolesTheTwoHolesTargetisspecifictoanActionthatneedstohavetwoholesselectedtobeperformed.
Forexample,theEdgeBridgeActionwillgeneratebridgingtopologyacrossthedistancebetweentwoclickedholes.
TheTwoHolesTargetisdoneintwostepsbyclickinganedgeofthefirsthole,thenanedgeofthesecondhole.
Foreachclick,theZModelerbrushwidgetwillinstructyouto'Click1stEdge'or'Click2ndEdge.
'Note:Youcanchangeyourpointofviewwhileselectingthetwoholes.
ThisTargetonlyevaluatesclicksonholeedgesandignoresallothers,suchastorotatethemodel.
4.
PolygonTargetsBelowisalistofTargetswhicharespecificallyavailabletoActionsthataffectthepolygonsofyourmodel.
Polygonsaretheplanesbetweenpointswhichareconnectedbyedges.
ASinglePoly(Polygon)TheASinglePolyTargetselectsonlytheclickedpolygon,whichmustbecomposedof3of4points(eitheratriangleorquadrangle.
)Note:N-gonsarenotsupported.
AllPolygonsTheAllPolygonsTargetselectstheentireclickedmesh.
ItwillignorePolyGroups,geometryislandsandspecificquadrangleortriangleareasonthemesh.
AllQuads(Quadrangles)TheAllQuadsTargetselectsallquadrangle(four-sided)polygonsthatarecontainedwithintheclickedmesh,ignoringtrianglesandn-gons.
AllTrianglesTheAllTrianglesTargetselectsallthetriangleswithintheclickedmesh,ignoringallpolygonswithmorethanthreesides.
WhenusedwiththePolyGroupAction,thisletsyouquicklyisolatealltriangleswithinyourmodeltomaketopologycleanupeasier.
BehindTheBehindTargetcorrespondstoallthepolygonswhicharelocatedbehindtheclickedpolygon,asdeterminedbyitssurfacenormal.
Note:ViewingangleisirrelevanttothisTarget.
Behind&PolygroupTheBehind&PolygroupTargetissimilartoBehindexceptthatitwillonlyselectpolygonswhicharebothbehindtheclickedpolygonandsharingthesamePolyGroupastheclickedpolygon.
BrushRadiusTheBrushRadiusTargetusesthecurrentDrawSizetoselectpolygonstobeaf-fectedbytheAction.
FocalShiftisnottakenintoconsideration,meaningthatallpolygonswillbeuniformlyaffectedbytheAction,wherevertheyarelocatedwithinthebrushradius.
ConnectedPolys(Polygons)TheConnectedPolygonsTargetidentifiestwopolygonsthatareconnectedtoeachother.
ThepositionofthecursoroverthepolygonsdeterminesthedirectioninwhichtheActionwillbeapplied.
Forthisreason,theedgeselectorwidgetinformsyouoftheloca-tionoftheedgethatissharingtheconnectedpolygon.
CurvedIslandTheCurvedIslandTargetselectspolygonswhichareadjacenttotheclickedpoly-gonbutnotformingaflatsurface.
Theselectionwillexpanduntilencounteringadjacentpolygonsthatareata0°anglerelativetothepreviousone.
Formoreinformationabouttheconceptofislands,pleaserefertotheIslandTarget.
FacingFrontAllTheFacingFrontTargetallowsyoutoapplyActionstoPolysthataredirectlyfacingthecameraplane.
ByswitchingtoOrthographicviewandrotatingyourmodeltoacertainangleyoucancontrolwhichpolygonswillbeaffectedbytheAction.
FacingFrontIslandTheFacingFrontIslandTargetallowsyoutoapplyActionstopolygonsthatarebothdirectlyfacingthecameraplaneandpartofthesamegeometryisland.
ByswitchingtoOrthographicviewandrotatingyourmodeltoacertainangleyoucancontrolwhichpolygonswillbeaffectedbytheAction.
UnlikewithFacingFrontAll,polygonsthatfacethecameraplanewillbeignorediftheyarepartofadifferentgeometryislandfromthatoftheclickedpolygon.
Formoreinformationabouttheconceptofislands,pleaserefertotheIslandTarget.
Flat&PolyGroupTheFlat&PolyGroupTargetselectsanislandofconnectedpolygonswhichhavenoangledifferentiationbetweenthemandarepartofthesamePolyGroup.
SeetheIslandTargetformoreinformationabouttheconceptofislands.
FlatBorderTheFlatBorderTargetlooksforaflatislandandthenselectsthepolygonsthatmakeupitsborder.
TheflatdetectionthresholdcanbemodifiedbychangingtheFlatTargetsTolerancevalueintheuniversalZModelermodifiers.
FlatBorderisgivesresultswhichareoppositethatoftheFlatInnerTargetFlatInnerTheFlatInnerTargetlooksforaflatislandandthendiscardsitsborderpolygons,causingtheActiontoonlyaffectthecenterregion.
FlatInnergivesresultswhicharetheopposedoftheFlatBorderTarget.
FlatIslandTheFlatIslandTargetselectsagroupofconnectedpolygonswhichmakeupato-tallyflatsurface.
ThesepolygonsdonotneedtoallsharethesamePolyGroup.
Formoreinformationabouttheconceptofislands,pleaserefertotheIslandTarget.
InfrontTheInfrontTargetcorrespondstoallthepolygonswhicharelocatedinfrontoftheclickpolygonasdeterminedbyitssurfacenormal.
Note:ViewingangleisirrelevanttothisTarget.
Infront&PolygroupTheInfront&PolygroupTargetissimilartotheInfrontTargetexceptthatpolygonswhichareinfrontoftheclickedpolygon'snormalwillbeignoredunlesstheysharethesamePolyGroupastheclickedpolygon.
IslandTheIslandTargetselectsasinglegeometryislandwithinyourmodel.
IslandsarecreatedwhenSubToolsaremergedtogetherintoasingleSubTool,suchasintheDe-moHead.
ztlwherethe"eyes"SubToolhasbotheyes,theteethandthetonguetocreatefourseparateislands.
EachIslandhasitstopologywhichistotallyindependentfromtheothers.
Islandscanintersectwitheachother,butsolongastheyaren'tweldedtogethertheyareconsideredseparateentitiesforTargetpurposes.
Poly(Polygon)SimilartotheASinglePolyTarget,thePolyTargetselectsaclickedthreeorfour-sidedpolygon.
(Atriangleorquadrangle.
)PolyCorners(PolygonCorners)ThePolyCornersTargetselectsthepointswhichmakeuptheclickedpolygon.
PolyCenter(PolygonCenter)ThePolyCenterTargetaimstheassociatedActionatthecenteroftheclickedpoly-gon.
PolyGroupAllThePolyGroupAllTargetselectsallpolygonsthatsharethesamePolyGroupastheclickedpolygon,nomatterwherethosepolygonsmightbewithinthemodel.
ThisTargetignoresgeometryislands.
PolygroupBorderThePolyGroupBorderTargetissimilartoPolyGroupAllexceptthatafterselectingthepolygonswhichsharethesamePolyGroupitthenrefinesthatselectiontoincludeonlythosepolygonswhichconnect(shareanedge)withotherPolyGroups.
Putanotherway,therefinementisoppositethatofPolygroupInner.
PolygroupInnerThePolyGroupInnerTargetissimilartoPolyGroupAllexceptthatafterselectingthepolygonswhichsharethesamePolyGroupitthenrefinesthatselectiontoincludethosepolygonswhichDONOTconnect(shareanedge)withotherPolyGroups.
Putanotherway,therefinementisoppositethatofPolygroupBorder.
PolygroupIslandIfyourmodelhasaPolyGroupthatisfoundonmultipleislands,thePolyGroupIslandTargetwillselectallpolygonsbelongingtotheclickedpolygon'sgroupandthenrefinethatselectionbydiscardingthosepolygonswhicharepartofthesameisland.
Formoreinformationabouttheconceptofislands,pleaserefertotheIslandTarget.
PolyloopThePolyloopTargetselectsaloopofpolygons.
Thisisagroupofpolygonsthatareconnectedtoeachotherasastripofgeometry.
Apolyloopcanbeclosedoropen,dependingonthetopology.
Whenhoveringoverapolygon,theedgeselectorwidgetinformsyouofthedirectioninwhichthepolyloopActionwillbeapplied.
Polyloop&FlatThePolyloop&FlatTargetselectsapolyloopasdefinedabovebutdetectionendsassoonasZBrushdetectsananglebetweenpolygons.
Formoreinformationaboutthepolyloopconcept,pleaserefertothePolyloopTar-get.
Polyloop&PolygroupThePolyloop&PolygroupTargetselectsapolyloopasdefinedabovebutdetectionendsassoonasanotherPolyGroupisencountered.
Formoreinformationaboutthepolyloopconcept,pleaserefertothePolyloopTar-get.
TwoPolys(TwoPolygons)TheTwoPolysTargetisspecifictoActionsthatneedtohavetwopolygonstobeperformed.
Forexample,thePolyBridgeActioncreatesbridgedgeometrybetweentwoclickedpolygons.
TheTwoPolysTargetisdoneintwostepsbyclickingafirstPolyandthenasecondPoly.
Foreachclick,theZModelerbrushwidgetwillinstructyouto'Click1stPoly'or'Click2ndPoly.
'Note:ThisTargetonlyconsidersclicksonpolygons.
Thisallowsyoutorotateyourmodelasnec-essarywhilemakingtheselection.
5.
CurveTargetsBelowisalistofTargetswhicharespecificallyavailabletoActionsthataffectthecurvesofyourmodel.
.
AllCurvesTheAllCurvesTargetdirectstheActiontoaffectallcurvesdrawnonthemodel.
CurvesTheCurvesTargetselectsasinglesegmentoftheclickedcurve.
Asegmentisthesectionbetweenanytwocirclesalongthelengthofthecurve.
Allothersegmentsofthecurve,ifexisting,willbeignored.
QUICKMESHPolygonalPrimitivesfortheZModeler.
Tomorereadilyjumprightintoyourcreationprocess,ZBrushofferstheTool>>Ini-tializesub-palette,withsettingsthatcanbeappliedtoanyPolyMesh3Dobject.
NamedQuickMeshes,theseprimitivesconvertthecurrentlyselectedToolorSub-TooltoaPolyMesh3Dcube,SphereorCylinderwhichisoptimizedforusagewiththeZModelerbrush.
Thetopologygeneratediscomposedonlyofquadrangles(foursidedpolygons)andcomeswithapredefinedsetofPolyGroupstomakeyourinitialmodelingstepseasier.
EachpolygonalprimitiveisboundtoX,YandZvaluesthatsetthenumberofpoly-gonsforeachaxis.
Thisvaluemustbesetpriortocreationofthemesh.
TheseQuickMeshesdonothaveUV's.
Also,nomatterwhatvaluesaresetintheX,YandZaxis,themeshwillalwaysfitina1x1x1QCubesize.
TheQuickMeshprimitivehasprimarilybeendesignedtoprovideoptimizedprimi-tivesfortheZModelerbrushbutbecauseitgeneratesaPolymesh3DobjectitcanalsobeusedinassociationwithnearlyallotherZBrushsculptingfeatures.
Note:TheactiveobjectmustnothavesubdivisionlevelsinorderforQuickMeshtofunction.
Ifyourselectedmodelhassubdivisionlevels,youmusteitherdeletethembeforeusingQuickMeshorselectadifferentmodelsuchasthePolyMesh3Dprimitive.
IQuickMeshFunctionsQuickMeshprimitivesarebasedontheselectedX,YandZvalues.
Changingthesesettingswillhaveanimpactontheshape.
Thesettingsaredescribedbelowtohelpyoucreatetheseprimitivesquickly.
QCubeTheTool>>Initialize>>QCubebuttoncreatesacube-basedshape,usingtheval-uesdefinedbytheX,YandZresolutionsliders.
PerformingthisactionwillreplacethecurrentmeshwithaQCubemesh.
QSphereTheTool>>Initialize>>QSpherebuttoncreatesasphericalshapeasdefinedbytheX,YandZresolutionsliders.
Tocreateaperfectsphere,youneedtohavethesamevalueforallthreesliders.
PerformingthisactionwillreplacethecurrentmeshwithaQSpheremesh.
QCylX,YandZ(QuickCylinder)TheTool>>Initialize>>QCylX,YandZbuttonscreateacylindricalshapeasde-finedbytheX,YandZresolutionsliders.
TheprimaryaxisofthecylinderisdeterminedbywhichQCylX,YorZbuttonyouclick.
BymodifyingtheX,YandZresolutionsliders,itispossibletocreateavarietyofshapes.
Forexample,tocreateacircle-basedcylinder,youcanstartwiththesamevaluefortheX,Y,andZresolutionslidersandthenincreaseordecreasetheresolutionoftheslidercorrespondingtotheaxisofcreation,generatingtheshape'slength.
PerformingthisactionwillreplacethecurrentmeshwithaQCylmesh.
X,YandZRes(Resolution)TheTool>>Initialize>>X,YandZResolutionslidersdefinethenumberofsubdivi-sionsalongthecorrespondingaxisofthemesh.
ThisvaluemustbesetbeforepressingtheQuickMeshbuttonofyourchoice.
DYNAMICSUBDIVISIONSubdivisionSurfacesforLowPolygonModelsTheDynamicSubdivisionsystemcontainsalternativefunctionstoZBrush'sClassicSubdivisionSurfacemode,allowingyoutoapplydynamicsmoothingtoyourmodelswithoutactuallydividingthepolygons.
Thisfeatureismainlydesignedtoworkinassocia-tionwiththeZModelerbrushandlowpolygonalmodels.
ThedefaultDynamicSubdivisionmodeissimilartotheclassicsubdivisionsurfacespreviouslyusedbyZBrush.
ApplyingasinglesubdivisionlevelwithDynamicSmoothSubdivisionmodeactivegivesthesameresultassimplysubdividingthemodelonceinpreviousZBrushversions.
Themaindifferencebetweenthetwosystemsissimple:DynamicSubdivisionmodeisusedtorepresenttheresultofasmoothingyourbasemesh,lettingyouseewhatthedividedmodelwouldlooklikeevenwhileyouactuallyeditandsculptthelowerresolutionmesh.
WhileworkingwithDynamicSubdivisionactive,youseethehigherresolutionsur-facewhileyourbrushesoperateonthelowerresolutionbasemesh.
AswtihtheclassicSubdivisionsystem,DynamicSubdivisionsurfacescanbeal-teredwithcreasededges.
However,thisnewmodealsooffersawiderangeofotheroptionsthatdrasticallychangethevisualresultsofsmoothing:chamferededges,non-smoothedsubdivisionsandmore.
DynamicSubdivisionisappliedtothemodelinreal-time.
Whilethefunctionisactive,anychangesinthebasemeshtopologywillshowanimmediateresultinthedisplayedsmoothsurface.
UsingfunctionslikeQGridanditsoptions(BevelorChamfer)willallowyoutomodelobjectswhilehavingreal-timedynamicchamfersorbevelsappliedtothem.
IDynamicSubdivisionBlendedwithClassicSubdivisionUsingDynamicSmoothSubdivisionmodewillgenerateavisualresultthatisexactlythesameasaclassicallysubdividedmesh,exceptthatonlythebasemeshiseditable.
Youcan'tsculptthedisplayedhigherresolutionsurface.
Also,optionslikechamferingrequireanglesinyoursurfacetoachievethebestresults.
SinceClassicSubdivisionsmoothsthesurface,thoseangleswillbelostandfeaturesthatdependuponthemwon'tworkaswell.
WhileitispossibletocombineDynamicSubdivisionwithClassicSubdivisionsmooth-ing,itisgenerallyadvisednotto.
Ifyoumustcombinemodes,onlydosoatlowlevels.
Putanotherway,useDynamicSubdivisionwhilebuildingyourbasemesh,priortodetailing.
Onceyouhavecompletedbasemeshmodeling,turnDynamicSubdivisionoffandsubdividelikenormalfortherestofyoursculpting.
(OrusetheApplyfeatureexplainedbelow.
)Note:BecauseDynamicSubdivisionoperatesinreal-time,itwillmaxoutwhenreachinghighpolygoncounts.
IfZBrushdeterminesthatreal-timefeedbackwillbecompromiseditwillnolongerallowadditionalpolygons.
IIDynamicSubdivisionWorkflowToenableDynamicSubdivisiononamodel,youneedtopresstheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdiv>>Dynamicbutton.
Youwillnotimmediatelyseeavisualchangeonyourmodel.
Next,specifywhichtypeofsubdivisionyouwishtouse:QGrid(QuickGrid),FlatSubdivisionorSmoothSubdivision.
ZBrushwillnowdisplaythattypeofDynamicSubdivisiononyourmesh.
Eachoptionsmoothsthemodelusingitsownalgorithmsandsowillgenerateadif-ferentappearanceinthesmoothedsurface.
Itispossibletomixthethreesliders'values,creatingyourownsmoothingstyle.
Whendoingthis,keepinmindthatthevaluesineachsliderindividuallymultiplythedisplayedpolygoncountby4,somixingallthreeDynamicSubdivisiontypeswithavalueof1isthesameassubdividingthemodelthreetimes:64timesasmanypolygons!
Thepolygoncountoftheworking/editabletopologyremainsexactlythesamebutyouneedtokeepinmindthatZBrushisstillprocessingthevisualqualityofthesesubdivi-sions.
UsingmultipleDynamicSubdivisiontypescouldslowdownyourcomputer.
IIIDynamicSubdivisionHotKeysDynamicSubdivisionandClassicSubdivisionsharesomecommonhotkeys.
ThesecanbeahugetimesaverwhendisablingandenablingSubdivisions.
RememberthatZBrushHotkeyscanalsobecustomizedtoyourliking.
Bydefault,ZBrushuses"D"and"Shift+D"forthesehotkeys.
WhenworkingwithClassicSubdivision,thesehotkeyswillnavigateupanddownbetweenanyexistingsubdivisionlevels.
WiththeDynamicSubdivision(andonlywhenthemodelhasDynamicSubdivisionwithnoClassicSubdivisionlevels)thesamehotkeysareusedtoenableordisablethedisplaymode.
Theybecomesasimpleon/offtoggle.
IfClassicSubdivisionisusedinadditiontoDynamicSubdivision,thehotkeysstoptogglingDynamicSubdivisionandinsteadreverttonavigatingbetweentheClassicSub-divisionlevels.
TherearenodefaulthotkeysforthethreeseparateDynamicSubdivisionmodes.
Youmustnavigatetothosesliders,althoughyoucancertainlyassignhotkeysofyourchoiceifyouprefer.
IVDynamicSubdivisionandSavedProjects/ToolsAnyDynamicSubdivisionsettingsappliedtothecurrentToolorSubToolwillbesavedwithineitherProject(ZPR)orTool(ZTL)files.
Aftersavingandreopeningafile,thecurrentDynamicSubdivisionsettingswillremainthesame.
UnlikeClassicSubdivisionwhichactuallychangesthemodel'sgeometry,DynamicSubdivisionisarendereffectbeingperformedinreal-time.
Assuch,DynamicSubdivi-sionhasnoeffectuponfilesize.
ZBrushissimplystoringafewsettingsratherthanextrapolygons.
VPriorityOrderofthedifferentDynamicSubdivisionslidersBecauseitispossibletocombineDynamicSubdivisionmodes,itisimportanttokeepinmindthatZBrushhasaspecificorderinwhichitstacksthem,regardlessoftheorderinwhichtheywereenabledbyyou.
ThefirstsubdivisionappliedisalwaysQGrid,followedbyFlatSubdivisionandfi-nally,SmoothSubdivision.
IfyouturnedSmoothSubdivisiononfirstthenaddedFlatSubdivision,thevisualresultwouldbethesameasifthey'dbeenturnedoninthereverseorder.
VIDynamicSubdivisionFunctionsChangingthedifferentparametersforDynamicSubdivisioncandrasticallychangeboththevisualappearanceofyourmodelandtheperformanceofZBrushitself.
ThesettingsbelowwillhelpyoufinetuneyouruseofDynamicSubdivisiontogetthemostoutofthefeature.
AllofthesefunctionsarefoundinTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision.
DynamicTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>DynamicmodeenablesDynamicSubdivisionmodeforthecurrentToolorSubTool.
Rememberthatwhenfirstenablingthismodeforamodelitwillnothaveanyap-parenteffectuntilyouadjusttheQGrid,FlatSubdivand/orSmoothSubdivsliderstotellZBrushwhichmode(s)youwishtouseandhowstrongly.
Hotkey:DorShift+Dasatoggle.
Note:Asspecifiedabove,anyClassicSubdivisionlevelsoverridetheuseofthesehotkeysforDynamicSubdivision.
ApplyTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>Applyfunctionconvertsthemod-el'sDynamicSubdivisiontoClassicSubdivision.
ThisonlygeneratesmultiplesubdivisionlevelswithFlatand/orSmoothmodes,duetothefactthatthosealgorithmsarebasedonquadrangle.
WithQGrid(QuickGrid),usingApplywillgeneratetheappropriategeometryasSubdivisionLevel1withnoadditionallevels.
Thesemodesdoworktogether,however,withQGridbeingappliedfirstandthenfollowedbytheothertwo.
Soifyourmodelhassettingsof1QGrid,1FlatSubdivisionand3SmoothSubdivision,usingtheApplyfunctionwillcreateamodelwith5subdivisionlevels.
QGridiscreatedasthefirstsubdivisionlevel,followedbyalevelofFlatSubdivi-sionandthreemorelevelsofSmoothSubdivision.
AfterclickingtheApplyfunction,yourmodelwillappeartobeunchangedduetothefactthatDynamicSubdivisionisaWYSIWYGsystem.
However,youwillnowhaverealhigh-resolutionpolygonswithwhichtofurtherrefineanddetailyourmesh.
Note:ThevaluesoftheDynamicSubdivisionmodeslidersarenotresetbypressingtheApplybut-ton.
QGrid(QuickGrid)TheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>QGrid(QuickGrid)sliderdefinesthenumberofgrid-stylesubdivisionsappliedtothemodel.
Bydefault,itappliesauniformgridovertheentiremodel.
Eachincrementintheslider'svaluequadruplesthenumberofdisplayedpolygons.
TheQGridfunctionworksincollaborationwiththeCoverage,Constant,BevelandChamferoptions.
WhenTransform>>PolyFrameisenabled,theQGridtopologyisvisiblebutwithlessintensitythanthebasemeshtopology.
FlatSubdivisionandtheQGridSubdivisionarebasedonthesamealgorithmexceptthatQGridcanuseextraoptions:QGridCoverageTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>Coveragesliderdefineshowthegridpatternsubdivisionisdistributedacrossthesurface:Withavalueof1,thedistributionisuniformacrossthesurface.
Lowervaluesslidethehighestsubdivisiontowardtheedgesofyourmesh.
WhileQGridisactiveyoucanseetheeffectoftheCoveragesliderinreal-time.
Toobserveanexampleofthis,simplyloadaTool>>Initialize>>QuickCubemesh,thensettheQGridsliderto1,theSmoothSubdivisionslidertooneandchangetheCov-erageslidervalues.
At1,youwillhaveaveryroundedcubebecausetheentiresurfaceisbeingdivideduniformly.
Asthevalueapproaches0youwillgetsharperedgesduetothefactthatmostofthepolygonswillbepushedtothoseareas.
(Themainsurfacesofthecubewillhavefewerpolygons,resultinginlesssmoothingandflattersides.
)QGridConstantTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>Constantmode,whenenabled,keepstheQGridsubdivisionataconstantdistancefromthebasemeshedges,providinguniformtopologyalongtheseedges.
ThissettingisenabledbydefaultasitisimportanttokeepaconstantradiusalongtheedgeswhentheQGridBeveland/orChamfermodesareactive.
QGridBevelTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>BevelmodemovestheedgesoftheQGridsubdivisiontoproduceaflatanglealongthemesh'sedges.
TheCoverageslideraswellastheQGridslidervaluesimpactthesizeandaccuracyofthisbevel.
QGridChamferTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>ChamferissimilartoBevelinthatitoperatesalongthemesh'sedges.
However,theedgeswillbemorerounded.
TheCoverageslideraswellastheQGridslidervalueswillhaveanimpactonthesizeandaccuracyoftheChamfer.
FlatSubdivisionTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>FlatSubdivisionsliderdefinesthenumberofgrid-stylesubdivisionsappliedtothemodel.
Itcreatesauniformgridacrossthemodel'ssurface.
Eachincrementintheslidervaluemultipliesthenumberofrenderedpolygonsbyfourbutnoactualsmoothingisappliedtothesurface.
(ThisissimilartoturningoffSmtbeforeusingDividewithClassicSubdivision.
)BecauseFlatsubdivisiondoesnotsmooththesurface,itdoesn'tmakeuseoftheQGridoptionsdescribedabove.
ThesubdividedshapeisalmostidenticaltousingQGridwithConstant,BevelandChamferallsetto0,exceptthatthepolygonswillbedistributeduniformly.
SmoothSubdivisionTheTool>>Geometry>>DynamicSubdivision>>SmoothSubdivisionsliderde-finesthenumberofstandardsubdivisionsbeingdynamicallyappliedtothemodel.
ItappliesthesameCatmull-ClarksubdivisionsmoothingoverthemodelthatyouwouldgetusingTool>>Geometry>>Divide.
However,thesesubdivisionsaredynamicanddisplayvirtualgeometryratherthanactuallycreatingnewsculptablepolygons.
Eachincrementintheslider'svaluebyonewilldividethenumberofpolygonsbyfour.
Fortechbuffs,Catmull-ClarkSubdivisionsplitseachquadrangleintofournewpoly-gonsanduniformlysmoothstheresultingsurface.
Trianglesaresplitintothreequadsandthesurfaceisnotsmoothed.
Amodelwithbothtrisandquadswillbepartiallysmoothedwiththefirstsubdivision(wherevertheoriginalquadsaretobefound)andfullysmoothedwiththesecondsubdivision.
NANOMESHRealGeometryDetailsThroughInstancingAfeatureoftheZModelerbrush,theNanoMeshsystemtakestheprocessofusingZBrush'sInsertMeshandMicroMeshfeaturestoawholenewlevel.
TheNanoMeshsys-temallowsyoutopopulateareasofamodelwithinstancedgeometry.
Theseinstancescanthenbemodifiedinreal-timetogeneratedifferentscale,offsetandangleforeachinstance.
Ifthedefaultvariationsarenotenough;theNanoMeshsystemhasarandomdistri-butionmodethatwillallowyoutocreatepurelyrandomsurfacesacrossamodel.
SincetheNanoMeshsystemgeneratesinstancedgeometrybasedonanoriginalmesh,youcanedittheoriginalmeshatanytimetomakechangesthatinstantlyupdateacrossallitsinstances.
TheseeditscanbedoneusinganyoftheZBrushsculptingtools,includingtheZModelerBrush.
DuringeditingyoucanalsoapplyUVmappingandtexturemaps.
NanoMeshalsogivesyoutheabilitytolayermultipleNanoMeshesacrossthesamesurfacetogiveevengreatervarietyandcreativefreedom!
WithNanoMesh,youcanquicklyexperimentwithshapeandformaswellasaddtremendousdetailinafewclicks!
INanoMeshComponentsTheNanoMeshsystemisdevisedfrominstancedgeometry(called"Nanos")thatarelinkedtoplacementpolygons.
InorderforaNanoMeshtobeappliedtoameshitmustbeTargetedtothedesiredpolygon(s)byusingthededicatedZModelerAction.
1.
ThePlacementMeshTheplacementmeshcanbecomposedofanythingfromasinglepolygon(triangleorquadrangle)totheentire3Dmodel.
Anyofamodel'spolygonscanbeTargetedastheplacementpolygons.
BecauseZModelercanTargetPolyGroups,aNanoMeshcanhaveitsinstanceplacementdeterminedbythemodel'sPolyGroups.
ThiswillallowdifferentNanostobeplacedondifferentpartsofthemodel'ssurface.
Editingtheplacementpolygonsand/orPolyGroupswillhaveadirectimpactontheinstancedNanoMeshes.
IfyouhaveaNanoMeshappliedtoonePolyGroupthenyouchangeorremovethatPolyGrouptheNanosthatwerelinkedtothatPolyGroupwillberemoved.
PlacementpolygonscanbealsoeditedwithoutappliedNanoMeshinstancesgettingintheway.
SimplyenabletheEditPlacementoption,whichtemporarilyhidestheNanoswhileyoufreelymodifytheplacementpolys.
2.
TheInstancedGeometry(Nanos)Theinstancedgeometry(Nanos)createdbyNanoMesharePolyMesh3DgeometrythathasbeenlinkedtoplacementpolygonswiththeZModelerbrush'sInsertNanoMeshAction.
TheNanoMeshprocesstakesthissingleoriginalNanoandappliesittothemodelasinstancedgeometryacrosswhateverplacementpolygonshavebeensetbytheTar-get.
ThisNanoindexcanthenbemanipulatedthroughmultipleoptionstogiverandomsize,rotationandoffsetvariations.
AtanytimeyoucanedittheoriginalNanoMeshmodelusingZBrush'sstandardEditmodefeatures.
YoucanuseanyoftheZBrushmodelingandsculptingtools,evencreatingUV'sandapplyingtextures.
Whendone,yourchangeswillbeappliedtoalltheinstances.
PleaserefertotheZModelerdocumentationformoreinformationabouttheInsertNanoMeshAction.
3.
TheNanoMeshBrushTheNanoMeshbrushisaspecialbrushtypethatissimilartoanInsertMultiMeshbrushexceptthatitiscreatedspecificallytostorevariousNanosforusewithZModelerbrush.
ThedefaultZModelerBrushcontainsaNanothatisasinglecube.
Touseothertypesof3DmodelsasNanoMeshes,youneedtocreateyourownNanoMeshbrush.
TheNanoMeshbrushissimplyaZModelerBrushwithcustom3Dmodelsstoredinit.
ThisbrushwillhaveallstandardZModelerfunctionswiththeexceptionofthestoredNanos.
TocreatethisNanoMeshbrush,youneedto:1.
SelectanInsertMeshorInsertMultiMeshBrushofyourchoice.
2.
ClickBrush>>CreateNanoMeshBrush.
3.
TheNanoMeshbrushwillbecreatedandautomaticallyselected.
4.
IftheNanoMeshBrushhasbeencreatedfromanIMMbrush,pressthe"M"keyatanytimetodisplaythe3DmodelstouseasaNanoMesh.
ThenexttimeyouuseInsertNanoMeshpolygonAction,thismodelwhichwillbeselected.
(IfyouconvertedanInsertMeshthenonlytheoneNanowillbeavailable.
)5.
Optionally,saveyourbrushforlateruse.
PleaserefertotheZModelerdocumentationformoreinformationabouttheInsertNanoMeshAction.
IINanoMeshDemonstrationWithyourNanoMeshbrushcreated,theworkflowisquitesimple:1.
LoadaPolyMesh3D.
Mesheswithclassicsubdivisionlevelswillusethecur-rentlyselectedlevel.
2.
SelecttheZModelerorNanoMeshbrushofyourchoiceandselectthe"InsertNanoMesh"Action.
(AccesstheZModelerpop-upmenuhoveringoverapoly-goninyourmodelandeitherpressingthespacebarorright-clicking.
)3.
IftheNanoMeshbrushhasbeenbuiltfromanIMMbrush,pressthe"M"keytodisplaythelistofavailablemodelsandselecttheoneofyourchoice.
4.
StillintheZModelerpop-up,selecttheTargetofyourchoice.
Foraninitialtestuse"AllPolygons"topopulatethewholemodel.
5.
Whileapolygonishighlighted,clickanddrag.
Theplacementpolysasdeter-minedbyyourTargetwillbecoveredbyNanoMeshNanos.
Themovementofthemouseorpenwhileyoudragthestrokewilldefinethesizeoftheinsertedmodel.
6.
YoucannoweditthevariousTool>>NanoMeshsettingstofinetunethein-stances.
Youcanchangethesize,width,lengthandoffsetaswellusingtheVariancesliderstoapplyvariationstotheinstances.
7.
UsetheRandomDistributionslidertochangethewaythattheNanoMeshpopu-latesthemodel.
8.
NowselectanotherNanoMeshbrushorpressthe"M"keytoselectadifferentNanotoinsert.
ClickanddragonapolygonofthemodelwhichalreadyhasaNanoonit.
ThisreplacesthepreviousNanowithyournewone.
9.
Ifyouwanttoreplacetheinstanceswithoutlosingthecurrentsettingsappliedtoit,simplyselectchangeNanosandtheninsteadofanewclick-and-drag,usetheTool>>NanoMesh>>Inventory>>ReplaceNanoMeshfromBrushfeature.
10.
Finally,ifyouwanttoconvertalltheinstancestorealgeometry,pressTool>>NanoMesh>>Inventory>>OneToMesh.
ThischangetheNanosfrominstanc-estoregulargeometryjustasifthey'dbeenplacedusinganormalInsertMesh.
IIIWorkingwithMultuipleNanoMeshesToproduceevenmorevariationinyourcreations,youcancombinemultipleNanosonthesameplacementpolygons.
1.
MultipleNanoMeshesEachtimeyouaddaNanotoaplacementpolygonthatdoesn'talreadyhaveone,youaresimplylinkingthenewNanoMeshtothisarea.
Repeatingthisoperationwillcre-ateevenmoreNanoMeshindexesacrossyourmodel.
EachNanoMeshindexthatiscreatedistotallyindependentfromthosethathavecomebeforeexceptthatitmaysharethesameplacementpolygons.
IfyouwanttoeditthesettingsforapreviousNanoMeshindex,simplyusetheTool>>NanoMesh>>Indexsliderorthe">"functions.
AnalternativeistoclickontheNanoMeshthumbnailintheNanoMeshsub-palettetodisplayapop-upofyourcurrentNanoMeshindexesandchoosetheoneyouwish.
Onceselected,youcanthenedititssettings.
2.
PolygonswithMultipleNanoMeshesCreatingaNanoMeshonaplacementpolygonthatalreadyhasoneormoreNanosappliedtoitwilltypicallyreplacetheNano.
(Seetheexample,above.
)Ifyouwanttoap-plymultipleNanostothesameplacementpolygon(s),youneedtofollowthisprocess:1.
CreateafirstNanoMeshandmodifyitssettingsasneeded.
2.
SelectadifferentNanoandstarttodrawit.
3.
Withoutendingtheclick,pressandholdtheShiftkey.
YouwillseethepreviousNanoreappear,withthenewoneaddedaswell.
4.
Releaseyourclicktofinalizetheinsertion.
5.
ThisnewNanoMeshwillhaveauniqueindexandcanbenoweditedintheTool>>NanoMeshsettings.
IVNanoMeshFunctionsEventhoughasingleNanoMeshindexresultsinrepeatingthesamepieceofgeom-etrymultipletimesacrossthesurfaceofthemodel,thereareanabundanceofsettingsthatcanbeappliedtogivegreatvisualvariationtoeachNano,hidingtherepetition.
Allthesettingsbelowaredynamicsoyoucaneditthemandseetheresultsinreal-time.
1.
MainsettingsTheMainsettingscontroltheaspect,orientationandduplicationoftheNanos.
NanoMeshSelectorThesmallpreviewintheTool>>NanoMeshmenuisaselector.
NotonlydoesitdisplaytheexistingNanoMeshIndexthatisappliedtothecurrentmodel,clickingononeofthepreviewiconswillselectthecorrespondingNanoMeshindex.
NanoMeshOnTool>>NanoMesh>>NanoMeshOnmodeenablesordisablesallNanoMeshesappliedtothemodel.
HideOthersTool>>NanoMesh>>HideOthershidesalltheNanoMeshesappliedonthemodelexceptforthecurrentlyselectedone.
IfyoukeepthismodeonwhileswitchingtoanotherNanoMesh,theirvisibilityonthemodelwillbeswapped.
ThismodeissimilartoSoloModewhenworkingwithSubTools.
>TheTools>>NanoMesh>>">>"and">NanoMesh>>IndexsliderletsyouselectaspecificNanoMeshindexfromthosecurrentlyappliedtothemodel.
Aswiththe">>"and">NanoMesh>>CopyandPastefunctionsletyoucopythesettingsfromoneNanoMeshindexandduplicatethemonanother.
EditMeshTheTool>>NanoMesh>>EditMeshbuttonswitchestoisolatethecurrentNano-Meshindex'ssourcemodel,lettingyoumodifyit.
ItoperatessimilarlytoSolomodewhenworkingwithSubTools,hidingtheplacementpolygons.
Whileinthismode,youcaneditthemodelwiththevariousZBrushsculptingandmodelingtools.
Whenyouaresatisfiedwiththechanges,simplypresstheEditMeshbut-tonagaintoreturntoNanoMeshmode.
AllinstanceswillbeupdatedwiththechangesyoudidwhileinEditMeshmode.
Asmentionedpreviously,anotherinterestingthingthatyoucandowiththeEditMeshfunctionistocreateUV'sontheNanomeshandapplytextures.
Ifyouaddadis-placementmap,thiswillbeusedduringtheBPRrenderorbyanexternalrender.
WheneditingaNano,keepinmindthattherecanbethousandsofinstancesofitde-pendingonthevariousduplicationsettings.
Increasingthepolygoncountoftheoriginalmodelcanexponentiallyincreasethetotalpolygoncountofyourscene.
EditPlacementTheTool>>NanoMesh>>EditPlacementmodeisthereverseofEditMeshbe-causeittemporarilyisolatestheNanoMeshplacementpolygons.
AllNanoswillbehiddenandyoucanfreelyedittheplacementpolygonsthemselves,similartohowSolomodeworkswithSubTools.
Whileinthismode,youcanedittheNanoMeshplacementpolygonsusingthevari-ousZBrushsculptingandmodelingtools.
Changingtheshapeoftheplacementpoly-gonsdetermineshowtheNanoaredistributedoverthemodel.
Whensatisfiedwiththechanges,simplypresstheEditPlacementbuttonagaintoquitthemode.
TheNanoMeshesappliedtotheplacementpolygonswillhavetheirposi-tionsupdatedtoreflectthechangesmadetotheplacementpolygons.
ProportionalTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Proportionalmodekeepstheshapeoftheinsertedmeshesproportionalratherthanbeingdependantontheshapeoftheunderlyingplace-mentpolygons.
Todeterminethereferencesize,ZBrushusesthebottompartoftheNanoasseeninthemeshselectorpreview.
FitTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Fitmodekeepsthesizeoftheinsertedmeshproportionalwiththeplacementpolygons.
TheshapeoftheNanoisnotchangedandsowillnotbedistorted.
Note:TheNanoMeshfitsthepolygonsourcewhentheSizeslidervalueissetto1FillTheTool>>NanoMesh>>FillmoderesizestheinsertedNanoinsuchawayastocompletelyfilltheplacementpolygons.
Thisresultinnon-uniformscalingandwilldistorttheshapeoftheNano.
Note:FillmodeandtheFitmodecanbeidenticaliftheboundingboxoftheinsertedmodeliscubi-calinshape.
ConstantTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Constantmode,whenenabled,keepsaconstantheightfortheNanoMesh,regardlessofthesizeoftheplacementpolygons.
ClipTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Clipmodepreventsthetopologyoftheinsertmeshfromgoingoutsidetheplacementpolygons.
Itdoesthisbytrimmingoffanypartsthatwouldextendpasttheedges.
Note:ClipmodemayresultintopologyissuesiftheNanohasalowpolygoncountorashapewhichmayresultinflatparts.
ThisissimilartowhatcanhappenwiththeClipbrushes.
SizeTheTool>>NanoMesh>>SizesliderchangesthesizeoftheNanoMesh.
Theorigi-nalvalueissetbyyourdragmotionwheninsertingtheNanoMeshontheplacementpolygonsthroughtheZModelerbrush.
Width,LengthandHeightTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Width,LengthandHeightsliderschangetheproportionsoftheNanoMesh.
Avalueof1represents100%oftheoriginalsize.
TheseslidervaluesareaffectedbytheWvar,LvarandHvarvariationsliders.
XOffset,YOffsetandZOffsetTheTool>>NanoMesh>>XOffset,YOffsetandZOffsetsliderschangethedefaultpositionsoftheNanobyadjustinghowitsitsrelativetoitsusualcenteredpositionontheplacementpolygon.
ThedefaultvaluefortheXandYOffsetsis0whiletheZOffsetvaluedefaultsto1.
ThisissimplybecausetheNano'sdefaultpositionistolayontopofthesurfaceratherthanbeingembeddedwithinit.
TheseslidervaluesareaffectedbytheXOvar,YOvarandZOvarvariationsliders.
XRotation,YRotationandZRotationTheTool>>NanoMesh>>XRotation,YRotationandZRotationslidersapplyarota-tionvaluetotheNano'sdefaultorientation.
TheseslidervaluesareaffectedbytheXRvar,YRvarandZYvarvariationsliders.
xVar-Variation(W,L,H,IRVar,etc)TheTool>>NanoMesh>>"Var"sliders(locatedtotherightofthesize,offsetandrotationsliders)applyarandomvariationtotheircorrespondingattributes.
Eachvariationcanbefrom-100%upto100%.
Asanexample,theWVarslideraddsavariationtotheWidthslider,witharesultthattheassociatedNanoswillnolongerbeuniforminwidth.
FlipHandFlipV(FlipHorizontalandFlipVertical)Tool>>NanoMesh>>FlipHandFlipVmirrortheinsertedNanoMesheitherhori-zontallyorvertically.
HTileandVTile(HorizontalTileandVerticalTile)TheTool>>NanoMesh>>HTileandVTileslidersduplicatetheinsertedNanoMeshwithintheboundariesofeachplacementpolygon.
Bydefault,thisisdoneinagridpattern.
ThereplicationpatterncanbechangedwiththeTool>>NanoMesh>>Patternsetting(seebelow).
WhenapplyingtilingtotheNanoMesh,itsorientationmaybedifferentfromonepolygontoanother.
ZBrushusesthevertexorderofeachplacementpolygontodefineNanoorientation.
Unfortunately,thepointordermaybedifferentbetweentwoadjacentpolygonsormultiplepolygons,resultinginNanoMeshesnottilinginthesamedirec-tion.
Tochangeasinglepolygon'sorientation(orthatofmultiplepolygons)youcanusethepolygonSpinEdgeActionassociatedwiththeASinglePolyTargetoftheZModelerbrush.
WiththisActionandTargetselected,simplyclickingontheproblempolygonswillrotatethetiling.
Pattern(andPatternSelectorPop-up)TheTool>>NanoMesh>>Patternslideranditsassociatedpop-upselectoraltersthedistributionoftheNanoMeshinsidetheplacementpolygonswhenapatterniscre-atedbytheHTileandVTilesliders.
Thedefaultpatternisagrid.
Tochangethedistributionpattern,simplechangethePatternslidervalue.
YoucanalsoclickthePatternSelectorpop-uptoselectanewonebyname.
Somepatterntypesmayproducethesameresultasothers,dependinguponthevalueoftheHandVTilesliders.
Ifyouarenotnoticingadifference,attempttoincreasetheTilevalues.
IMAGEAnexampleshowingtheimpactoftheHandVTilevaluesonthedifferentpatterntypes:ontheleftareGridInsetandBorderInsetwithavalueof4fortheHandVTilesliders,producingtheexactsameresult.
Ontheright,HandVTilehavebeensetto8.
Noticethedifferencebetweenthetwotypesofinsets.
ThePatternandthePatternSelectorpop-uponlyworktheHand/orVTilesliderhasavalueotherthan1.
RandomDistributionWhenenabled,theTool>>NanoMesh>>RandomDistributionslideroverwritestheexistingNanoMeshdistributionwithrandomplacementacrossallplacementpolygons.
Byincreasingtheslidervalue,youwillincreaseNaondensityaswellaschangingthedistribution.
TheRandomDistributionslideristheperfectfunctiontocreateanaturallookfordu-plicatedobjectsbecauseinstantlyhidesthefactthattheNanosareallthesameobject.
EachNanoMeshcanhavetheorientation,sizeandscaleofitsNanosmodifiedbythevariationsliders.
RandomDistributionisalsoappliedtotheHandVTilevaluesanditsPatterndistri-bution,creatingclustersofrandommeshes.
RandomSeedTheTool>>NanoMesh>>RandomSeedslidermodifiestheRandomDistributionslider'sresultwithoutaffectingthedistributionoftheNanoMesh.
Toputinsimplewords;itchangesthebaserandomizationvariables,resultingindifferentrandomizationvalues.
ThisfunctionisusefulwhenlowvaluesfortheRandomDistributionsliderproduceplacementwhichmaynotfityourdesign.
BychangingtheRandomSeedvalue,youmaygenerateamoreappropriateresult.
2.
AlignmentNanoMeshusesanInsertMeshtopopulatetheregionsofthemodelinwhichitisapplied,withtheorientationofeachNanobeingdeterminedbythepointorderoftheplacementpolygons.
Dependingonhowthemodelhasbeenconstructed,thisordermaynotbeuniformacrossthepolygons.
Asaresult,theinitialappearanceofyourNanoMeshcanbedisorganizedandseeminglyrandom.
OnesolutiontoaligntheNanoMeshesistoeditalltheplacementpolygonsonebyonetochangethevertexorder.
Thiswouldbetimeconsuming,however.
Toresolvethis,youwillfindthefollowingalignmentfunctionsintheTool>>NanoMeshsub-palette.
ThesealignmentsmakeuseoftopologyinformationtochangethedirectionoftheNanos.
Todefinetheorientationofeachinstance,ZBrushusesthebase(bottom)ofthemastermodelwhenitwascreated.
Allalignmentsrefertothisoriginalorientation.
AligntoNormalTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>AligntoNormalalignseachNanobasedonthemodel'ssurfacenormals.
Thisalignmentproducesthebestresultsinmostcases.
AligntoShortEdgeTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>AligntoShortEdgealignseachNanototheshortestedgeoftheplacementpolygon.
Ifapolygonhastwoormoreedgesofequallength,thepointorderwillstillbeusedtoselectthe"shortest"one.
Italsousesthepointordertodeterminethedirectionofalignmentalongtheshortestedge.
AligntoLongEdgeTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>AligntoLongEdgealignseachNanowiththelongestedgeoftheplacementpolygon.
Ifapolygonhastwoormoreedgesofequallength,thepointorderwillstillbeusedtoselectthe"longest"one.
Italsousesthepointordertodeterminethedirectionofalign-mentalongthelongestedge.
AligntoNearEdgeTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>AligntoNearEdgeisamodifierfortheAligntoLongEdgeoption.
AligntoPointOrderTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>AligntoPointOrderorientstheNanobasedonthepositionofthefirstvertexpositionintheplacementpolygon.
Note:Thevertexorderisastructuralinformationwithinthepolygon,withnovisualinfluenceonthepolygon'sappearance.
Itisnotpossibletovisualizetheorderofthevertices.
AligntoRandomEdgeTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>AligntoRandomEdgealignstheNanoran-domly.
NoAlignmentTool>>NanoMesh>>Alignment>>NoAlignmentusesthedefaultalignmentbasedontheplacementpolygon'spointorder.
3.
ColorizeAswithall3DmodelsinZBrush,youcanapplycolorstoaNanoMesh.
Thesefunc-tionsletyoumanipulatehowthecoloringisapplied.
ThisiscolorbeingaddedtotheNanosratherthanthemastermesh.
Forinstructionsontexturemanipulation,pleaserefertotheUVsectionbelow.
RestoreNanoMeshMRGBTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>RestoreNanoMeshMRGBrevertstheNanostothecolorandmaterialoftheoriginalmastermesh.
ThisonlyhasanyeffectifthatinformationhasbeenchangedusingtheotherfunctionswithintheColorizemenu.
(Seebelow.
)MeshMRGBTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>MeshMRGBmatchesthecolorandmaterialofeachNanotothatofitsplacementpolygon'sPolyPaint.
MeshColorTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>MeshColormatchesthecolorofeachNanotothatofitsplacementpolygon'sPolyPaint.
MeshMaterialTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>MeshMaterialmatchesthematerialofeachNanotothatofitsplacementpolygon'sPolyPaint.
UIMRGBTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>UIMRGBsetsthecolorandmaterialofeachNanousingtheColor>>MainColorsettingandthecurrentlyselectedmaterialfromtheZBrushinterface.
UIColorTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>UIColorsetsthecolorofeachNanousingtheColor>>MainColorsettingintheZBrushinterface.
UIMaterialTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>UIMaterialsetsthematerialofeachNanousingthecurrentlyselectedmaterialfromtheZBrushinterface.
AdjustHue,SaturationandIntensityTheTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>AdjustHue,SaturationandIntensityslidersmodifythecolorscurrentlybeingdisplayedoneachNano.
ThesesliderswillhavenoeffectiftheNanoshavenocolorappliedtothem.
AdjustVariationsTool>>NanoMesh>>Colorize>>AdjustVariationsapplyavariationfactortotheHue,SaturationandIntensityvalues,assumingthatanyhavebeenset.
ThisfunctionisveryusefulwhenwantingtoaddsomeslightdifferencesinthecolorofeachNanosothattheylooklesslikeinstancesofthesameobject.
4.
UVNotonlycanNanosreceivecolorandmaterialfromtheplacementpolygons,themastercopyofthemeshcanalsohaveatextureapplied.
Thistexturewillthenappearonallinstancesofthemesh.
Tohaveatextureapplied,itisofcourseimportanttohaveUV's.
ZBrushincludesfunctionstoautomaticallyproduceUV'sforeachNanobasedontheplacementpoly-gons.
Thismeansthattheappliedtexturewilllookdifferentforeveryinstance!
Note:ItispossibletocreatecustomUV'sforaNanoMeshthroughitsEditmode.
ThisappliestheUV'sandtexturetothemastermodel,soallinstancesofitwillthenhavethesameUV's.
UseBaseMeshUVsTool>>NanoMesh>>UseBaseMeshUVsmodetellsZBrushtomatchtheUV'sofeachNanowiththatofitsplacementpolygons.
Thisisaccomplishedbyprojectingfromtheplacement.
UseBaseMeshTextureTool>>NanoMesh>>UseBaseMeshTexturemodeprojectsthetextureoftheplacementpolygonsontotheNanos.
Note:AswithotherplacesinZBrush,texturealwayshaspriorityovertheNanoMeshcolors,over-ridinganysettingsintheColorizemenu.
5.
InventoryTheInventoryfunctionsarededicatedtomanipulationandconversionoftheNano-Meshitself,suchastheconversionfrominstancestorealgeometryorreplacementofoneNanoMeshwithanother.
OnetoMeshTool>>NanoMesh>>OnetoMeshconvertsthecurrentNanoMeshindextorealgeometry.
ThisresultcanthenbefurthereditedwiththevariousZBrushsculptingandmodelingtools.
IfyourmodelhasmultipleNanoMeshesapplied,usetheIndexsliderorbuttonstofirstselectthespecificNanoMeshthatyouwishtoconvert.
6.
AlltoBrushTool>>NanoMesh>>AlltoBrushcreatesanewZModelerbrushfromallcurrentNanoMeshesappliedtoyourmodel.
BypressingtheMkey,youshouldseeallofthesemeshesasavailableobjectsforusewithothermodels.
Note:TheAlltoBrushfunctionisavailableonlyifthemodelhasaNanoMeshonit.
Itisnotpossibletoperformthisactiononamodelwhichonlyhasinsertedmeshes.
ReplaceNanoMeshfromCurrentBrushTool>>NanoMesh>>ReplaceNanoMeshfromCurrentBrushreplacesthecurrentNanoMeshindexwithadifferentmesh,usingyourcurrentlyselectedZModeler,Insert-MeshorIMMbrush.
Thisfunctionsimplyreplacestheinsertedmesh.
Itwon'taffectthevarioussettingscurrentlyappliedtotheNanoMeshindex.
Note:IfyourcurrentlyselectedbrushisanIMMbrushorZModelerbrushwithmultiplemeshes,youcanchoosetheInsertMeshofyourchoicebypressingtheMhotkeyorbyclickingtheBrush>>ModifiersMeshInsertPreviewbutton.
ThisfunctionisreallyconvenienttoreplaceaplaceholderNanowithanothermodelorsimplytotryoutdifferentNanoMeshesonamodel.
DeleteOneTool>>NanoMesh>>DeleteOneremovesthecurrentlyselectedNanoMeshbyde-letingitsindex.
IfyourmodelhasmultipleNanoMeshesapplied,youmustofcoursefirstusetheIndexsliderorbuttonstoselecttheNanoMeshthatyouwishtodelete.
DeleteAllTool>>NanoMesh>>DeleteAllfunctionremovesallNanoMeshesappliedtothecurrentmodel,deletingeveryNanoMeshindex.
ARRAYMESHDynamicallyInstancedArrayGenerationArrayMeshisanadvancedarraysysteminZBrushthatwillallowyoutocreateduplicateinstancesofgeometryinvaryingpatternsandshapes.
Thisfeatureoperatesinreal-timeasyoueditthestructureoftheoriginalmeshoradjustthemodifiersofthearray.
UsingthesliderslocatedintheArrayMeshsub-paletteorsimplyusingArrayMeshwithTransPosecanquicklygeneratecomplexinstancedgeometry.
TheArrayMeshsystemalsoincorporatesamulti-stageapproachthatallowsyoutonestmultiplearrayswithineachother.
WiththissystemyoucaneasilycreateInstancedshapessuchastanktreadsorfullbuildings!
BecausetheArrayMeshisinstancedgeometryyoucanatanytimemodifytheorigi-nalmodelandseeallchangespropagateacrosstheentireArray.
IfyoucreatedanArrayofwindowsforabuildingfaadeandyounowwanttoaddcurtainstoallthewindows,simplymodifytheoriginalmodelandthecurtainswillbeappliedtoalltheinstances.
IArrayMeshStagesAnArrayMeshcanbegeneratedasasingleoperationorasmultipleoperationscombinedtogether.
Eachstagethatisappliedtothearraycaneitherreusethecontentofthepreviousstageorjustthelocationofthelastcopyasastartofanewstage.
EachArrayMeshstageisindependent.
Thisprovidesawaytohavedifferentpa-rametersforeachstage.
Anexampleistanktracktreadswhere:Thefirststagedefinesthetopflatpart.
Thesecondstagedefinesoneoftheroundedparts.
Thethirdstagedefinesthebottomflatpart.
Thefourthstagedefinestheotherroundedpartandconnectsittothebeginningofthefirststagecopy.
Thefifthstagedefinesamirroredversionofthewholetracktogeneratetwofulltreads.
Nowbyeditingtheoriginalsourcemesh,thetrackscanbeautomaticallyupdatedinreal-time!
IIWorkingwithTransPoseArrayMeshisafunctionthatreliesheavilyonparametersandsliderstogeneratethedesiredresults.
Thisprocessisnotalwaysartist-friendly,soZBrushalsoallowscontrolovertheseparametersusingtheTransPoseline.
LocationofthePivotPoint:thelittleyellowcircledefinesthecenterofthetrans-formations.
Offsetbetweenthesourcemodelanditsduplicates,withMove.
Scalefactorbetweenthesourcemodelanditsduplicates,withScale.
Rotationbetweenthesourcemodelanditsduplicates,withRotate.
Numberofinstancedcopies.
Selectionofthecurrentstage.
AnychangesthatyougeneratewithTransPoseareautomaticallyappliedtotheAr-rayMeshmodifiersintheArrayMeshsub-palette.
TouseTransPosewithArrayMesh,youneedtofirstenabletheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransPosemodeswitch.
AfterenablingthisfeatureyoucanfreelymanipulateTrans-PoseasusualandswitchtothedifferentTransPosemodestoaffecttheOffset,Scale,RotateandPivotoftheArray.
ThebehaviorsofTransPoseareexactlythesameastheonesthatareusedwhenmanipulating3Dmodels.
IIIPivotPointThePivotPointisakeyiteminArrayMeshcreationbecauseitsetsthecenteroftheoperation,thusimpactinghowtherotationandoffsetvaluesworktoplacetheinstances.
YoucandefinethepositionofthepivotpointbyusingtheX,YandZAmountslid-erswhileinPivotmode.
Formoreinteractivemanipulation,useTransPose.
Inthislattercase,alittleyellowcirclewillappearattheTransPoseline'sstartingpoint.
Thisisthepivotpoint.
Thepivotpointismanipulatedbyclickinganddraggingthecircle.
Becauseitsposi-tionissetinthecameraworkingplane,itisadvisedtoswitchtoanorthographicviewandcarefullyselectyourpointofviewbeforemanipulating.
ThepivotpointisonlyvisiblewhenTransPosemodeisenabled.
Whendisabled,theyellowcirclewillnotbeseen.
IVArrayMeshandNanoMeshArrayMeshandNanoMesharetwofunctionsthatcanworktogetherintwodifferentways:DuplicatingaNanoMeshwithanArrayMeshorusinganArrayMeshasplacementpolygonsforNanos.
1.
DuplicatingaNanoMeshwithanArrayMeshANanoMeshisconsideredbyZBrushtobetruegeometry.
ThismeansthatitcanbecomethesourceofanArrayMesh,withouttheneedtofirstconverttheNanoMeshinstancestogeometry.
BecausebothNanoMeshandArrayMesharebasedontheprincipleofinstancedgeometry,editingthesourceobjectoftheNanoMeshwillmodifytheresultoftheNano-MeshandthencopythatresultacrosstheArrayMesh.
2.
ConvertinganArrayMeshtoaNanoMeshAnArrayMeshisafantastictoolwhenitcomestogeneratingparametricshapesbasedoninstancedcopiesoftheinitialobject.
HoweversinceanArrayMeshgeneratesexactcopiesofthesourceobject,theresultingfigurewilllookveryuniform.
ByconvertingeachcopyoftheArrayMeshtoaNanoMesh,youcancapitalizeonthevariationparam-eterswithintheNanoMeshsystemtobreakthedesignupandmakeitlookmorenatural.
WhenconvertinganArrayMeshtoaNanoMesh,eacharrayinstanceisisolatedandappliedtoasingleplacementpolygon.
OncetheArrayMeshisconvertedtoaNanoMeshitcanuseanyoftheNanoMeshfeatures--fromreplacingitwithanotherNanoMeshtoeditingtheoriginalmodelorapplyingrandomizations.
Asimpleworkflowcouldbe:CreateanArrayMesh,ineithersingleormultiplestages.
ConvertittoNanoMesh.
AfterconversionyouwillnotbeabletochangethenumberofinstancesoruseanyotherArrayMeshmodifiers.
SelectanInsertbrush,InsertMultiMeshbrush(IMM)orNanoMeshbrush.
(WhenusinganIMMbrushoraNanoMeshcreatedfromanIMMbrush.
)PresstheMkeytoselectthe3Dmodelofyourchoice.
ClickTool>>NanoMesh>>Inventory>>ReplaceNanoMeshfromBrush.
The3Dmodelassociatedwiththeplacementpolygonswillbereplaced.
UsealltheNanoMeshsettingstointeractivelyrefinetheresults.
PleaserefertotheNanoMeshdocumentationformoreinformationaboutNanoMeshcreationandmanipulation.
VWorkingwithPresetsTheArrayMeshsettingscanbesavedasafileonyourcomputertoreuseatalaterdateorsharewithotherartists.
YoucanalsosavethesefilesinthededicatedZArrayMeshfolder.
StoringtheArrayMeshesinthisfolder(foundinthemainZBrushdirectory,inthesamefolderastheZBrushapplicationitself)willmakethemavailablethroughtheArraytabinLightBox.
ToapplyanArrayMeshpresetfromLightBox,simplydouble-clickitsthumbnail.
ZBrushwillautomaticallytakeyourcurrentlyselectedTool(model),enabletheArrayMeshfunctionandapplytheArrayMeshsettingsfromthepreset.
VIArrayMeshFunctionsBelowisalistoftheArrayMeshsettingsthatcanbemodifiedforgreatercontrolovertheduplicationprocess.
Mostofthesesettingsarefullyinteractive,lettingyoufreelyexperimentwithad-vancedmultiplestagecreations.
LightBox>ArrayMeshPresetsTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>ArrayMeshPresetsbuttonopensLightBoxtotheArrayMeshtab.
Youcanthendouble-clickonasavedArrayMeshpresetfiletoapplytheset-tingstoyourcurrentmesh.
OpenandSaveTool>>ArrayMesh>>SaveallowsyoutosavethecurrentArrayMeshsettingsinafile.
Tool>>ArrayMesh>>OpencommandofcourseloadsanypreviouslysavedArrayMeshfileandappliesthecorrespondingsettingstothecurrentmodel.
Note:AnArrayMeshfiledoesnotcontainthegeometrythatisbeinginstanced,butrathertheset-tingsforthearrayitself.
ArrayMeshTool>>ArrayMesh>>ArrayMeshenablesordisablesArrayMeshmodeforthecurrentToolorSubTool.
WhenArrayMeshmodeisfirstenabled,itcreatesacopyofthecurrentmodel.
Thiscopyispositionedinthesamelocationastheoriginalmodel.
IfanArrayMeshalreadyexists,disablingandenablingArrayMeshmodewillsimplyhide/unhideanytransformationsthathavebeenappliedwithoutchanginganysettings.
Thisfunctionallowsyoutotemporallyturnoffthearraysoastomakeisolatedmodifica-tionstotheoriginalMesh.
TransPoseTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransPoseswitchallowsyoutousetheTransPosesys-temtomanipulateyourArrayMeshinteractively.
WhenTransPoseisenabled,switchingtoMove,ScaleorRotatewillturnontheTransPoseActionLineandletyouuseittomodifytheOffset,ScaleandRotatevaluesfortheArrayMesh.
(TheX,Y,andZAmountsliders.
)TransPosemodewithanArrayMeshalsoletsyouinteractivelysetthepivotpointforthetransformations.
Tochangethepivot,simplyclickanddragtheyellowcirclelocatedatthestartoftheTransPoseline.
Thepivotisalwaysfreelymanipulatedrelativetothecameraworkingplane.
Foraccurateplacement,itisadvisedtoswitchtoanorthographicviewandcarefullychoosethedesiredpointofviewbeforemovingthepivotindicator.
Uponchangingthepivotpoint,theActionLinewillautomaticallyberepositionedtofitthenewpivotlocation.
LockPosition,LockSizeTool>>ArrayMesh>>LockPositionandTool>>ArrayMesh>>LockSizepreventthepositionand/orsizeoftheexistingArrayMeshinstancesfrombeingchanged.
Bydefault,transformationsareappliedtotheinitialmodelandtheinstancesthenmoveorscaleaccordingly.
Byactivatingtheselocks,thesizeandpositionoftheexistinginstanceswon'tchange.
Theselocksaffectallstagesassociatedwiththearray.
SwitchXY,SwitchXZ,SwitchYZTool>>ArrayMesh>>SwitchXY,SwitchXZandSwitchYZtransformthecurrentaxisorientation,baseduponthecurrentworkingplanefromwhichyouareviewingthemodel.
Thesefunctionsareusefulwhenyouwanttoapplytransformationsthatmaynotbeinthedesireddirectionrelativetotheworldaxis.
TransformStageTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransformStagesliderletsyounavigatebetweenthedifferentArrayMeshstages.
Tocreateanewstage,usetheAppendNeworInsertNewfunctions.
WhenanArrayMeshisfirstcreated,thissliderwillbegreyedoutbecausetherearenoadditionalstagestochoosefrom.
PleaserefertotheArrayMeshStagessectionbelowformoreinformationaboutstages.
AppendNewTool>>ArrayMesh>>AppendNewcreatesanewstageafterallexistingstagesinthelist.
Soifyouhavefourstagesandarecurrentlyatthefirst,thisbuttonwillcreatea5thstage.
InsertNewTool>>ArrayMesh>>InsertNewcreatesanewstageimmediatelyafterthecur-rentlyselectedstage.
Soifyouhavefourstagesandarecurrentlyatthefirst,thisbuttonwillcreateanewstage2withtheremainingstageseachincrementingbyonenumber.
Withthisfunction,youcaninsertanewstageinbetweentwoexistingstages.
ResetTool>>ArrayMesh>>Resetsetsallparametersforthecurrentlyselectedstagebacktotheirdefaultvalues.
DeleteTool>>ArrayMesh>>Deleteremovesthecurrentlyselectedstage.
IfthatistheonlyexistingstagethentheArrayMeshisdeletedandallthesettingsarereturnedtotheirdefaultvalues.
Copy,PastTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>CopyandPastefunctionsletyoucopythesettingsfromthecurrentArrayMeshstageandpastethemintoanotherstageoreventoanotherArrayMesh.
RepeatTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>Repeatsliderdefinesthenumberofinstancethatwillbecreatedfromthecurrentmodel.
Thisvaluealwaysincludestheoriginalmodel,sotocreateasinglecopytheslidermustbesetto2.
ChainTool>>ArrayMesh>>Chainmakesthenextstagestartattheendofthepreviousone.
Thisallowsyoutogenerateadvancedcurvestructuresusingasingleinstancedmeshacrossmultiplestages.
Whenenabled,theChainfunctionturnsofftheAlignmentandPatternfunctions.
SmoothTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>Smoothsliderappliesasmoothtransitionbetweeneachstage.
AligntoPathTool>>ArrayMesh>>AligntoPathchangestheorientationofallinstancestofollowthearraypath.
Tochangetheorientationofeachinstancedmeshalongthepath,youcanchangetheaxisorientationmodifierintheAligntoPathbutton.
AligntoAxisTool>>ArrayMesh>>AligntoAxisorientseachinstancewiththeworldaxisratherthanalongthearraypath.
Tochangetheorientationoftheinstancedmeshestouseanotheraxis,clickthedesiredmodifierintheAligntoAxisbuttonPatternStart,PatternLength,PatternOn,PatternOffTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>PatternStart,PatternLength,PatternOnandPatternOffslidersdefinewheneachinstanceoftheArrayMeshstartsandhowmanyarevisible(On)orinvisible(Off).
Thefirstobjectisalwaysvisible,evenifyousetPatternStarttoavalueotherthan1.
However,inthiscaseselectinganotherSubToolwillcausethefirstinstanceofthepreviousSubTooltodisappearsinceit'snolongertheactiveinstance.
ThisissimilartohowSubToolvisibilityworks,wheretheselectedSubToolmustalwaysbedisplayedevenifitissetto"Off".
XMirror,YMirror,ZMirrorTool>>ArrayMesh>>XMirror,YMirrorandZMirrorapplyamirrortransformationtotheArrayMesh,basedonthechosenaxis.
MirroringcanbeindividuallysetforeachStage.
XAlign,YAlign,ZAlignTool>>ArrayMesh>>XAlign,YAlignandZAlignapplyapositiveornegativeoffsettotheaxisoftransformation,makingthevariousalignmentseasier.
OffsetTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>OffsetmodeworksinassociationwiththeX,YandZAmountslidersandcurves.
Whenenabled,modifyingthesliderswillincreasethedis-tanceofthecopiesfromthesource.
TheOffsetvalueisthedistancebetweenthesourceandthefinalinstancegeneratedbythecurrentstage.
Modifyingthecurvewillaffecttheaccelerationordecelerationofdistancebetweencopiesalongthelengthofthearray.
Thecurveisinteractiveandanymanipulationwillprovidereal-timevisualfeedback.
WhentheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransPosemodeisenabled,manipulatingtheTransPoselineinMovemodewillinteractivelychangetheOffsetvalues.
ScaleTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>ScalemodeworksinassociationwiththeX,YandZAmountslidersandcurves.
Whenenabled,modifyingthesliderswillincreasethescaleofthecopiesrelativetothesource.
TheScalevalueisthesizeofthesourcerelativetothefinalcopybeinggeneratedbythecurrentstage.
Modifyingthecurvewillaffecttheaccelerationordecelerationofthescalebetweencopiesalongthelengthofthearray.
Thecurveisinteractiveandanymanipulationwillprovidereal-timevisualfeedback.
WhentheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransPosemodeisenabled,manipulatingtheTransPoselineinScalemodewillinteractivelychangetheScalevalues.
RotateTheTool>>ArrayMesh>>RotatemodeworksinassociationwiththeX,Y,andZAmountsliderandcurves.
Whenenabled,modifyingthesliderswilladjusttheorientationofthecopiesrelativetothesource.
TheRotatevalueistheangleofthesourcerelativetothefinalcopybeinggeneratedbythecurrentstage.
Modifyingthecurvewillaffecttheaccelerationordecelerationoftherotationbe-tweencopiesalongthelengthofthearray.
Thecurveisinteractiveandanymanipulationwillprovidereal-timevisualfeedback.
WhentheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransPosemodeisenabled,manipulatingtheTransPoselineinRotatemodewillinteractivelychangetheScalevalues.
PivotTool>>ArrayMesh>>PivotmodeworksinassociationwiththeX,YandZAmountsliderandcurves.
Whenenabled,modifyingthesliderswillchangethepositionofthepivotpointusedbythedifferenttransformations(Offset,Scale,Rotate).
Modifyingthecurvehasnoimpactonthepivotlocation.
WhentheTool>>ArrayMesh>>TransPosemodeisenabled,beinginTransPoseMovemodeanddraggingtheyellowcirclefoundatthesourcepositionwillinteractivelychangethePivotvalues.
PleaserefertotheTransPoseandPivotsectionofthedocumentation(above)formoreinformationaboutthepivot.
X,Y,ZAmountandX,Y,ZProfileTheseslidersandprofilecurvesworkinconjunctionwiththeOffset,Rotate,ScaleandPivotmodes.
Pleaserefertothesesectionsjustaboveformoreinformation.
ConverttoNanoMeshTool>>ArrayMesh>>ConverttoNanoMeshtransformseachArrayMeshtoaNa-noMeshstructure,creatingaseparateplacementpolygonforeachinstance.
PleaserefertotheArrayMeshwithNanoMeshsectionaboveandtotheNanoMeshdocumentationformoreinformationaboutNanoMeshmanipulationandcreation.
MakeMeshTool>>ArrayMesh>>MakeMeshconvertstheArrayMeshintoreal(non-instanced)geometry.
Afterconversion,theresultingmodelcanbefreelyeditedwithanyZBrushsculptingandmodelingtools.
ExtrudeTool>>ArrayMesh>>ExtrudeconvertstheactualArrayMeshresultstoanewmeshandgeneratesbetweeneachformerinstance,baseduponitsPolyGroups.
Inordertoperformthisfunction,theArrayMeshobjectsmustsharePolyGroupingontheiroppositesides.
WhenExtrudeisturnedon,theMakeMeshfunctionwilllookatthisPolyGroupingandcreatebridgesbetweenthesamePolyGroupedareas.
Thisfunc-tionisusefulwhencreatingenvironmentitemslikestairsororganicmodelslikesnakeswhereyouwantthegapsgeneratedinbetweentherepeatstobefilled.
Ifyourinstancerepeatsareclosetoeachother,ZBrushwillfusethem.
Ifthisisanundesiredresult,changetheRepeatValueofthearraytoaddmorespacebetweeneachinstanceandthenclickMakeMeshagain.
CloseWhenusingcylindricalarrays,theClosefunctionwillattempttofusethefinalin-stanceofthearraytothestart,creatingacontiguouscircle.
AngleTheAnglesliderworkswithExtrudewhenitgeneratesbridginggeometryontheAr-ray.
ThissliderwilllookatthesurfacenormalofthecorrespondingPolyGroupedfaces.
ChangingtheAngleslidermayfixbridgingproblemsbutcanalsogenerateundesirableresults.
Adjustthissettingonlyifthedefaultvaluesdon'tworkwell.
KEYSHOTFORZBRUSHInteractiveraytracingandglobalilluminationrenderforZBrush.
KeyShotisarenderingsoftwarecreatedbythecompanyLuxion.
Theyhaveexpertknowledgeinareasrelatedtodaylighting(atmosphericscattering),lightscatteringbymaterials(BRDFandBSSRDFmodels),lighttransportalgorithmssuchasphotonmap-ping,andreal-timerenderingtechnology.
KeyShotisaninteractiveraytracingandglobalilluminationprogramdevelopedbyLuxionforbothPCandMacthatbreaksdownthecomplexityofcreatingphotographicimagesfrom3Dmodels.
KeyShotiseasytouseandgivesanybodyinvolvedwith3Ddatatheabilitytocreatephotographic-qualityimagesinamatterofminutes,independentofthesizeofthedigitalmodel.
KeyShotfeaturesScien-tificallyAccurateMaterials,Multi-CorePhotonMapping,AdaptiveMaterialSamplingandaDynamicLightCore.
Thesefeaturesallowuserstoseeresultsaschangesarebeingmade.
Inadditiontotheabove,KeyShotalsoallowsyoutocreateyourownlightsaswellasmaterialsinordertohavefullcontroloveryourrendering.
KeyShotforZBrushconsistsoftwoparts:KeyShotitselfandaZBrushtoKeyShotBridgebasedontheLiveLinkingfunctionwhichconnectsZBrushtoKeyShot5.
ForZBrushuserswhodonotalreadyownacopyofKeyShot5,thereisaspecialeditionoftherenderer,namedKeyShotforZBrush.
WiththeBridgeactive,KeyShotbecomesanalternativerendererforBPRinsideofZBrush.
IfyouarealreadyanownerofKeyShot,youwillonlyneedtheZBrushtoKeyShotplugintoenabletheBridge.
AllversionsofKeyShot5andbeyondarecompatiblewiththisplugin.
WiththecombinationofZBrushandKeyShot,youwillhaveanotheroptiontoalmostinstantlyproducehighqualityimagesfromyourZBrushmodels.
AtanytimeyoucansendyourmodelstoKeyShotwhichwillthendisplaywhatyouhaveinZBrush,includingprimitives,ZSpheres,ZSketches,geometryandmore.
Thiswillincludethecorrespond-ingmaterialorMatCapalreadyappliedtothem.
Inaway,KeyShotcanbecomeyoursecondZBrush"monitor".
WeinviteyoutovisittheKeyShotwebsiteforfurtherinformationanddocumenta-tionontheapplication.
TheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgeplugincanbepurchasedfromthePixologicwebstore.
AlsoavailableisabundlecontainingbothKeyShotforZBrushandtheZBrushtoKeyShotPlugin.
AllversionsofKeyShotitself(includingspeciallicensingoptionsforKeyShotforZBrush)areavailablefromtheLuxionwebsite.
IAbouttheKeyShotforZBrushSoftwareTheKeyShotforZBrusheditionisadedicatedversionofKeyShotthatworksonlywithZBrush.
ThisversionisequivalenttoKeyShotHDintermsoffeaturesexceptthatitcanonlyopenKeyShot'snative.
bipfilesandofcourse,connecttoZBrush.
Itisnotpos-sibletouseotherfileformatstoimportdata,althoughonecouldloadsuchmodelsintoZBrushandthenuseKeyShottorenderviatheBridge.
Thiseditionhasnorestrictionsonrenderresolution.
.
AllversionsofKeyShotstartingwithKeyShot5nativelysupporttheBridge,whichmeanthatifyouarealreadyanownerofaKeyShotlicenseyouwillbeabletouseitwith-outneedingtobuythespecialeditionofKeyShotforZBrush.
InthatcaseyouwillonlyneedtopurchasetheBridgeplugin,addingittoZBrushtoenableconnectionbetweenbothapplications.
ThepurposeoftheKeyShotforZBrushversionistomakeKeyShotmorereadilypricedforhobbyists.
Tothatend,abundleisalsoavailablewithspecialpricingwhenyoubuybothKeyShotforZBrushandtheKeyShotBridgetogether.
YouofcoursearenotrequiredtopurchasetheKeyShotforZBrusheditionandcouldinsteadopttobuyoneoftheothereditionsinordertohaveexpandedimportcapabilitiesorlargerrenders.
IIInstallingandActivatingTheKeyShotforZBrushBridgepluginisalreadyinstalledwithZBrushanddoesn'tneedanyadditionalfilestobeaddedbyyouafteryourpurchase.
Allthatisnecessaryistoactivatethepluginafterpurchasingalicenseforit.
TheactivationprocessissimpleandwillbetriggeredthefirsttimeyouusetheZBrushtoKeyShotBridge.
1.
First,installandactivateKeyShot.
2.
ClickRender>>ExternalRender>>KeyShottosetitasthedefaultBPRren-derer.
3.
LoadamodelandclickRender>>BPRRenderPass>>BPRorusetheShift+Rhotkey.
4.
Adialogboxwillopen,notifyingyouthatyouneedalicensetoruntheZBrushtoKeyShotBridge.
Clickthe"InstallmyLicense"button.
Ifyoudon'townalicense,youwillneedtopurchaseoneatthePixologicStore(http://store.
pixologic.
com/)ordownloadatriallicense.
Internetlinksinthedialogboxcantakeyoudirectlytotheappropriatepagesforthesechoices.
5.
Uponclickingthe"InstallmyLicense"button,awindowwillopensothatyoucanbrowseyourcomputerharddrivetolocateandloadthelicensefilethatyousavedafteryourpurchase.
(Ifyouhaven'tdownloadyourlicenseyouwillneedtodosobeforeyoucanproceed.
PleaserefertotheemailyoureceivedfromthePixologicstorewhichincludesalltheinformationneededtodownloadyourlicensefile.
)6.
Whenyourlicensehasbeenlocated,selectitandclickthe"Open"button.
7.
Anewdialogboxwillappearnotifyingyouthatthelicensehasbeensuccess-fullyinstalledonyourcomputer.
8.
Thefinalstepistoactivateyourlicenseonthiscomputer.
Todothis,clickthe"ActivateMyLicense"button.
9.
Ifyourcomputerisconnectedtotheinternet,activationwillbeimmediate.
Ifyoudonothaveaninternetconnection,seetheparagraphimmediatelyfollow-ingthesesteps.
10.
Uponactivation,KeyShotshouldnowlaunchandyourZBrushmodelshouldappearinitsdocumentwindow.
IfyouhaveaconnectionerrorinZBrushafterperformingtheactivation,clicktheBPRbuttonagain.
(Youshouldnothavetogothroughsteps4-9again).
Ifyourcomputerdoesnothaveinternetaccess,anofflineactivationprocessisavail-able.
Afterloadingyourlicensefileyouwillbegiventheopportunitytosaveanactiva-tionrequestfiletoyourcomputer.
SimpleputitonaUSBstickandvisithttps://register.
pixologic.
com/activate/fromanycomputerthatdoeshaveinternetaccess.
Followingtheinstructionsonthatwebpagewillcreateanactivationfile.
DownloadthefileandsaveittoyourUSBstick.
TheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgeactivationwindowwillallowyoutoloadthatfilefromtheUSBstickandcompletetheactivation.
Notes:ActivationoftheKeyShottoZBrushBridgeisseparatefromyourZBrushactivation.
IIIDeactivatingtheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgePluginTodeactivatetheZBrushtoKeyShotBridge,followthesesteps:1.
BrowseyourharddrivetolocatetheZBrushinstallation.
Bydefault,itislocatedat:2.
OnWindows:C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Pixologic\ZBrushXX3.
OnMacOSX:Applications/Pixologic/ZBrushXX4.
WithintheZBrushfolder,locatethePixologicDeactivationManagerapplicationandlaunchit.
5.
Theapplicationlistsyourcurrentlyactivatedplugins.
YoushouldhavetheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgelisted.
6.
Selectit.
7.
ClicktheDeactivatebutton.
Thebridgewillnowbedeactivatedandtheactiva-tioncreditedbacktoyourlicenseforuseelsewhere.
Ifyourcomputerdoesnothaveinternetaccess,anofflineactivationprocessisavail-able.
Afterloadingyourlicensefileyouwillbegiventheopportunitytosaveanactiva-tionrequestfiletoyourcomputer.
SimpleputitonaUSBstickandvisithttps://register.
pixologic.
com/deactivate/fromanycomputerthatdoeshaveinternetaccess.
Followingtheinstructionsonthatwebpagewillcreateadeactivationfile.
DownloadthefileandsaveittoyourUSBstick.
ThePixologicDeactivationManagerwillallowyoutoloadthatfilefromtheUSBstickandcompletetheactivation.
Note:DeactivatingtheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgedoesnotdeactivateZBrushorKeyShot.
Youwillneedtodeactivatethemseparatelyifyouintendtoremovethemfromyourcomputerorreinstallyouroperatingsystem.
KeyShotHardwareSpecificationsKeyShotwillrunonbothWindowsandMacOSXoperatingsystems.
LikeZBrush,itisaCPUdrivensoftwarewhichmeansthatitdoesn'tneedanexpensivehighendgraphiccardtogivegreatrenders.
KeyShotwillworkonmostcomputers,fromlaptopstohighendworkstations.
IfyourcomputercanexecuteZBrush,thenitwillbeabletoexecuteKeyShotBecauseKeyShotperformsreal-timerenders,themodelrenderisconstantlyup-datedtorefineandoptimizethequalityoftheimage.
Forthisreason,theprocessorisalwaysusedatitsmaximumpotential.
Bothprocessorspeedandnumberofcoreshaveanimpactonperformance.
Asarule,morecoreswillbeofgreaterbenefitthanfasterindividualcorespeed.
(ThisholdstrueforZBrushaswell.
)Aneasy–ifgeneric–waytocompareCPU'sforbothZBrushandKeyShotistomultiplyeachCPU'sspeedbythenumberofcoresthatithas.
DoingthisforeachCPUwillgiveyouvaluesthatyoucancompare,withthehighernumberbeingthebetterchoice.
Inthisway,adualcorepro-cessorat4GHz(comparisonvalueof8)isinferiortoaquadcoreprocessorat3GHz(comparisonvalueof12)eventhoughthedualcoreCPUisthefasterchip.
BothZBrushandKeyShotalsorelyheavilyonmemory.
Ifyourcomputerhasalimitedamountofmemory,runningbothapplicationsatthesametimewillproducede-gradedperformanceduetothememorythatisneeded.
Itisadvisedtohaveatleast8GBofmemorytobeabletorunbothprogramsatthesametime.
Togiveyouanestimationofthememoryneeded,with16GBofRAMyoucanmanipulatebetween100and200millionpolygons.
Ofcourse,topushthatmanypolygonsinZBrushyouwouldneedtobeusingthe64-bitversionofZBrush.
)IVSupportedandNon-SupportedZBrushDataTypesTheKeyShotforZBrushBridgeallowsyoutoproducehighqualityrendersinasingleclickwithouttheneedforconvertingyourmodelstoaspecifictypeoffile.
KeyShotwillnotonlyrenderyourgeometry,butalsomanyofZBrush'sproprietaryfunctionslikeZSpheresandZSketch.
Thislistgivesaquickrundownoftheinformationtypesthataresupportedandnotsupported,alongwithvariousnotes:1.
GeometryandMeshesGeometrywithorwithoutUV's:Allofyour3DmodelsdisplayedinZBrushinEditmodecanbesenttoKeyShotwithoutrestriction.
GeometryHD:Thisspecificsculptingmodeisn'tsupportedbytheBridge.
Ge-ometryHDsupportsupto1billionpolygons,whichiswellbeyondthecapabili-tiesofKeyShot.
ZSphere,ZSketch,Primitives:Theseproceduralgeometries(i.
e.
,non-Poly-Mesh3D)canbesenttoKeyShotandwillappearastheydoinZBrushwithouttheneedtoconvertthemtoPolyMesh3DobjectsviaAdaptiveorUnifiedSkin-ning.
Partialvisibility(hidingpartofamesh):PartiallyvisiblemeshesaresenttoKeyShotastheyaredisplayedwithinZBrush.
SubTools:AllvisibleSubToolsaresenttoKeyShot.
TheselectedSubToolwillalsoalwaysbesent,evenifitisflaggedasinvisible.
FiberMesh:TheFiberMeshfeatureisfullysupported,frompreviewmodetogeneratedFiberMesh.
MicroMesh:IfMicroMeshmodeisenabledintheRenderpropertiesofZBrush,instancesaresenttoKeyShotasgeometry.
NanoMesh:ThedifferentNanoMeshlayersappliedtoamodelwillbeexportedtoKeyShotasseparategeometry.
SurfaceNoise:ThisfeatureisfullysupportedinKeyShotandisequivalenttowhatyouwouldhavewiththetraditionalBPRrender.
Noiseisconvertedtorealgeometrywithoutanyactionbeingrequiredfromyou.
2.
Color,TexturesandMaterialsPolyPainting:KeyShotsupportsZBrushPolyPaint.
ModelswillkeeptheirPolyPaintwhenapplyingdifferentKeyShotmaterialsaslongasthosematerialssupportvertexshading.
ColorTextures:KeyShotsupportsthecolortextureappliedonameshviaitsUVWcoordinates.
TheusercankeepthetexturewhenapplyingdifferentKey-Shotmaterialsaslongasthosematerialssupporttextures.
NormalMaps,DisplacementMapsandVectorDisplacementMaps:Noneofthesemapsarecurrentlysupported.
KeyShotcaneasilyhandlethehighresolu-tiongeometrygeneratedbyZBrush,sousingsuchmapswouldonlyincreaserendertimewhileactuallyreducingrenderquality.
Ineffect,thesemapsareuselessforKeyShotrenders.
MaterialsandMatCap:ZBrushmaterials--whethertheyareclassicmaterialsorMatCaps--arefullyinterpolatedtoKeyShot.
Mostofthisinformationistrans-ferredviaatexture,whichmeansthatyouwon'tbeabletotweakthematerialinKeyShotlikeyoucoulddoinZBrush.
However,whatyouseeinZBrushwillbewhatyoucanexpecttoseeinKeyShot.
3.
EnvironmentalDataZBrushLights:ThelightssetintheLightpalettearenotsupportedinKeyShot.
LightCap:Thisisnotdirectlysupported.
TheeffectofanyLightCapiscon-vertedtobeapartofthetheZBrushMaterialinKeyShot.
Thismeansthatyourmaterialwilllookthesamethere,butifyouchangematerialsinKeyShottheLightCap"result"willbelost.
Backgroundcolor:TheZBrushbackgroundcolordefinedintheDocument>>BackcolorissupportedbysettingEnvironment>>BackgroundinKeyShotto"Color.
"Backgroundimage:BackgroundimagesloadedinZBrusharenottransferredtoKeyShot.
4.
SettingsZBrushcamera:ZBrushusesa2.
5DcamerawhileKeyShotusesafully3Dcamera.
Asaresult,whengoingtoKeyShotitisnotpossibletopreservethemodel'spositionrelativetotheZBrushcamera.
ReferencesimagesandGrids:NeitherfeatureissupportedbyKeyShot.
Gridlevel:Thegridlevel(definedbyDraw>>Elv(ElevationGrid))isn'tsup-portedinKeyShot.
VBasicWorkflowfromZBrushtoKeyShotTheprocessofrenderingyourZBrushmodelsorscenesinKeyShotiseasyandmainlyreliesonthematerialsappliedinZBrush.
1.
ChangingtheRenderingEngineThefirststeptouseKeyShotinsteadoftheZBrushBPRistogotoRender>>Ex-ternalRendererandclicktheKeyShotbuttontoenableitasthedefaultrenderingengineforZBrush.
2.
SettingtheBridgeOptionsBeforesendingyourdatatoKeyShot,youcanchangethevariousoptionsfoundintheExternalRenderersub-palette.
ThemostimportantsettingtoconsideristheAutoMergemodewhichwerecom-mendbeleftenabled.
PleaserefertotheAutoMergefunctiondescriptionattheendofthischapter.
3.
SendingDatafromZBrushtoKeyShotWiththeabovesettingsinplace,clickingtheBPRbutton(locatedintheRender>>BPRRenderPassmenuorontherightShelfinmainZBrushinterface)orusingtheShift+RhotkeywillautomaticallysendyourcurrentmodeltoKeyShot,launchingitifnecessary.
IfKeyShotisalreadyrunning,thecurrentinstanceofKeyShotwillbeused.
DependingonwhatyouhaveinZBrush,youcanhavethesescenariosinsideofKeyShot:IfyouhaveanemptysceneinKeyShot,theBridgewillbuildthescenebyusingtheinformationfromZBrush.
IfyoualreadyhaveamodelloadedinKeyShotcomposedofoneormoreSub-ToolsandyouhavethesamemodelinZBrush,theKeyShotscenewillupdateaccordingtothecurrentZBrushstate.
Forexample,modifiedSubToolsorevenadded/removedSubToolswillbeupdatedappropriatelyinKeyShot.
Note:AllvisibleSubToolsarealwayssenttoKeyShoteveniftheyhavenotbeenedited.
IfyouselectedadifferentToolorProjectinZBrush,thenwhateverisintheKey-ShotscenewillbereplacedbywhatisnowinZBrush.
Thisissimilartocreatinganewscene.
ItisimportanttoconsiderthattheBridgeitselfwon'tautomaticallysaveyourKey-Shotrenders.
Ifyoulikearender,saveitbeforedoinganewrender!
Otherwisethenewrenderwillreplacethepreviousone.
TheBridgeactionsarenotundoable.
Note:ItisnotpossibletoupdateyourKeyShotscenefromZBrushifKeyShotisinPausemode.
YoumustdisablePausemodebeforepressingBPRtotryagain.
4.
GoingBackfromKeyShottoZBrushTheBridgeisstrictlyaone-wayaction,fromZBrushtoKeyShot.
WhileyoucansendmaterialsfromZBrushtoKeyShotitisnotpossibletobringKeyShotmaterialsbackintoZBrush.
Additionally,ifyouusedthecopy/instancefunctionsofKeyShotyouwouldnotbeabletoreflectthatinZBrush.
TogofromKeyShottoZBrushyoucanuseyouroperatingsystemcommands(suchasAlt/Cmd+Tab)oryoucanclickthesmallZBrushlogolocatedattherightoftheKey-Shottoolbar.
AllthatthiswilldoischangeyourfocusapplicationfromKeyShotbacktoZBrush,withoutanydatabeingtransferred.
Ofcourse,ifyouareworkingonadualmonitorconfigurationwithZBrushandKey-Shotlocatedondifferentmonitors,youwon'tneedtousethisfunction.
VIWorkingwithZBrushDataTheworkflowtoproducenicemodelsinKeyShotispartlybasedonthebackgroundenvironmentimagewhichwillproducethelight,aswellasthematerialsappliedtoyoumodel.
InKeyShot,youhavecompletefreedomtochangethelighting,useZBrushmateri-alsalreadyappliedtoyourmodelandalsouseanythingfromtherichmateriallibraryprovidedwithinKeyShot.
ApplyingmaterialstoamodelinKeyShotisdoneintwodifferentways:Dragamaterialfromthelibraryanddropitontothemodel.
TheZBrushmate-rialappliedtothemodelwillbereplacedbytheselectedoneandthischangewillalsobeappliedtoallotherSubToolswhichhavethesameZBrushmaterial.
DragamaterialfromthelibraryanddropitontothemodelofyourchoiceintheKeyShotscenetree.
Inthiscase,thematerialchangewillonlybeappliedtothatspecificSubTool.
Thiswayofworkinggivesyougreatflexibility.
Ifyouareworkingwithasinglemodelwhichonlyneedsonematerial,youcansimplydoaquickdraganddropfromthelibraryontothemodel,nomatterhowmanySubToolsitmightbecomprisedof.
Ontheotherhand,ifyouwanttokeeptheZBrushmaterialsforsomeSubToolswhileusingKeyShotmaterialsforothers,youcandragmaterialsontothescenetree.
Alternatively,youcandefinedifferentMaterials/MatCapsinZBrushbeforesendingittoKeyShot.
1.
MaterialPriorityWhenworkingwithmaterialsineitherZBrushorKeyShot,thelastmaterialappliedineitherprogramwillhavetheprioritywhendoinganupdateofthescenefromZBrushtoKeyShot.
Inotherwords,ifyousentascenetoKeyShotandchangedthematerialsthere,thosematerialswouldremainevenifyoudosomeeditsinZBrushandperformanewrender.
However,ifyouthenchangedamaterialinZBrushthatwouldbereflectedinyournextKeyShotrender.
KeyShotwillalwaysusethemostrecentlyappliedmaterialforanySubTool,regardlessofwhetherthatmaterialwasappliedinZBrushorinKeyShot.
2.
MultipleMaterialsinActionIfyouwishtoapplydifferentKeyShotmaterialstodifferentpartsofyourmodel,youwillgenerallyfirstwanttoassignseparateZBrushmaterialstoeachpart.
ApplyingamaterialinZBrushalwaysmeansbeingabletoapplyaKeyShotmaterialtothesamelocation.
IfyouwantseparateKeyShotmaterialsondifferentpartsofthesameSubToolyouwouldhaveto:1.
SelectyourSubTool.
2.
SelectthefirstZBrushMaterial/MatCap.
3.
SelectDraw>>MorMRGB.
4.
ClickColor>>FillObjecttoattributethematerialtoalltheSubTool'spolygons.
5.
UsetheMarqueeorLassoselectionbrush(Ctrl+Shift+clickdrag)tohidethepartsofthemodelthatyouwanttocontinueusingthefirstmaterial.
6.
Selectanothermaterial.
7.
Color>>FillObjecttoattributethematerialonlytothevisiblepolygonsofthemodel.
8.
Repeatthelastfewstepsforanyothermaterials.
9.
ShowallthepolygonsofthemodelwithbyCtrl+Shift+clickonthedocumentorbyclickingTool>>Visibility>>ShowPt.
10.
NowsendyourmodeltoKeyShot.
11.
Ifyouselectamaterialanddragitoveryourmodelwithoutreleasingthemousebutton,portionsofthemodelshouldbecomehighlightedbaseduponwhichZBrushmaterialwasassignedtothatportion.
12.
NowyoucandefinewhichKeyShotmaterialtoapplytoeachsectionsimplybydroppingitonthedesiredhighlightedarea.
3.
WorkingwithTextureandPolyPaintTheKeyShotforZBrushBridgefullysupportsbothtexturesappliedtoyourmodelandZBrushPolyPaint.
IfyourSubToolhasbothanappliedtextureandPolyPaint,theBridgewilltransferwhicheveriscurrentlyvisibleintheZBrushdocument.
(TexturetakespriorityunlessitisturnedoffinTool>>TextureMap.
)YoucanalsoapplyKeyShotmaterialstoyourmodeltoreplacetheZBrushmateri-als.
Bydefault,doingthiswillcompletelyreplacethematerialanditsinformationofcolor/texture.
TopreservethetextureorPolyPaintinformationyouneedtoholdtheAltkeywhiledragginganddroppingtheKeyShotmaterialtoitsdestination.
KeepinmindthatnotallKeyShotmaterialssupportvertexshadingortexturemap-ping!
Ifyouchoosetousesuchamaterialitwillbeimpossibletopreservetheincom-patibledatainthatpartofthemodel.
InthosecasesitisnotpossibletoaddtheColor/TextureinformationinKeyShotexceptbychangingthetypeofmaterialbutthismaymakesomephysicalpropertiesofthematerialdisappear.
4.
WorkingwithSurfaceNoiseAnySurfaceNoiseappliedtoyourmodelisfullytransferabletoKeyShot.
Duringtherenderingprocess,ZBrushappliesatessellationtothewholemodelbeforethendisplacingthegeometrytocorrespondwiththeproceduralnoise.
Thisautomaticopera-tionmeansthatyoudon'tneedtoapplyyoursurfacenoisetothemeshforrenderingpurposes.
ThequalityofthetessellationandasaresultthequalityoftheproducednoiseisdefinedbytheTool>>DisplayProperties>>BPRSettings>>3DNoiseMaxResolutionslider.
Thissets(inmillions)themaximumnumberofpolygonsthatZBrushcanaddtoyourmodelduringtherenderingprocess.
PleaserefertotheSurfaceNoisedocumentationformoreinformation.
VIIZBrushtoKeyShotBridgeOptionsTheZBrushtoKeyShotBridgeissimpleandeasytousebutthereareafewoptionscanhavegreatimpactonthewayyouwork.
ThisisparticularlytrueoftheAutoMergemode.
KeyShotRender>>ExternalRender>>KeyShotenablestheBridgebetweenZBrushandKeyShot.
Whenenabled,anytimeyoutellZBrushtodoaBPRrenderitwillautomaticallysendyourmodeltoKeyShot.
Ifdisabled,ZBrushwilluseitsownBPRrenderer.
MaxFacesTheRender>>ExternalRender>>MaxFacesmodesplitsthecurrentmodelintosmallerparts.
Thesizeofeachpartwillbenolarger(inmillionsofpolygons)thanwhathasbeensetbythisslider.
Increasingtheslider'svaluesendsyourworktoKeyShotinlargerchunks.
Dependinguponyourcomputerconfiguration,thismayproduceslow-downsorcausetheBridgetohangentirely.
Imaginecrossingafootbridge.
Ifyoutriedtodriveatankacross,itwouldmostlikelycollapse.
Butifyoudisassemblethetankandcarryitacrossonepieceatatimeyou'llbeabletoreassembleitontheotherside.
Theactualcapacityofyourbridgedependsuponyoursystemspecs.
Butevenwithapowerfulcomputer,keepingalowvaluewillproducesmallerchunksofdatawhensendingtoKeyShotandusuallyspeeduptheprocess.
IftheAutoMergeoptionisactive,thesesmallerchuckswillbemergedtogetherinsideofKeyShot.
AutoMergeModeBecauseZBrushcansendlargeamountsofdatatoKeyShot,theinformationusu-allyneedstobesplitintosmallerchunkstospeeduptheBridgeprocess.
(SeetheMaxFacessectionabove.
)TheRender>>ExternalRenderer>>AutoMergemodethentellsKeyShottoweldallthesepartstorebuildthemodelsastheyoriginallywereinZBrush.
Ofcourse,youcanincreasetheMaxFacesSlidervaluetosendthedatainlargerchunks,thusavoidingsplittingofthemodel.
However,sincethemaximumvalueis10millionpolygonsyouwillmostlikelyneedtomergepartsofyourmodelsoonerorlater.
Ifyoudon'tenableAutoMergemode,yourKeyShotscenemaycontainhundredsofparts.
Forthisreason,itisstronglyadvisedtoleaveAutoMergeenabled.
SowhywouldyoueverwanttoturnAutoMergeoffTheremaybetimeswhenyouwanttodoquickrendersofyourmodelswhileworkingandarenotgoingtobeapplyingKeyShot-specificmaterialsthroughtheScenetree.
Inthatcase,turningAutoMergeoffwillmaketheBridgeoperationmuchfasterbecauseKeyShotwon'tneedtospendtimeweldingthemodelbacktogetheragain.
GroupByMaterialsTheRender>>ExternalRender>>GroupbyMaterialmodecreatesaseparategroupforeachZBrushmaterialappliedtothemodel'sSubTools.
Thismeansthathav-ingmultiplematerialsappliedtoyourmodelinZBrushwillproducethesamenumberofmaterialgroupsinKeyShot.
ThesegroupsaresimplydefinedbythematerialsinZBrush;noothervisualrepre-sentationexist.
WhenthemodelissenttoKeyShot,draggingamaterialfromtheKeyShotlibraryontoanypartofthemodelwhichispartofamaterialgroupwillapplythatmaterialtopartsthatsharethismaterialgroup.
WhenthisGroupbyMaterialsoptionsisdisabled,eachmodelisindependentanddraggingamaterialfromtheKeyShotlibraryontothemodelwillaffectonlythatmodel.
SendDocumentColorWhenenabled,theRender>>ExternalRender>>SendDocumentColormodeinstructsKeyShottosetitsowndocumentbackgroundcolortomatchyourZBrushdocu-ment.
Thisfunctiondoesn'tsendanybackgroundimagetoKeyShot;itonlysendsthecolorvaluesfoundintheDocumentpalette.
ZREMESHER2.
0Automaticretopologytakentoanewlevel.
ZBrush'sautomaticretopologytoolhasevolved.
Inthissecondversion,ZRemeshernowgeneratesbetterautomaticretopologyresultswithonlylimitedspiralsornoneatall.
Theupdatedversiongeneratesimprovedsurfacequality,hasanautomatichelixremovalsystemandhasfarbettersupportforhardsurfaces.
Inadditiontotheseimprovementsitisnowalsoa64-bitprocessThisChaptercoversonlythelatestadditionstoZRemesher.
ThefullZRemesherdocumentationcanbefoundintheZBrushUserGuide.
IZRemesherandHardSurfacesZRemesherisoptimizedtoworkonallkindsofmodelstructuresandshapesbutwillbydefaultproducebetterresultswithorganicshapes.
However,withsomeextraeffortonyourpartretopologyofhardsurfacesandmechanicalmodelscanbegreatlyimproved.
1.
MeshDensityUnlikeorganicshapes,hardsurfacemodelsgenerallyhavedrasticchangesindi-rectionalongtheirsurfacesandmultipletopologyvariationsinsmallareas.
Allthesetopologychangesputalotofstressonthealgorithms.
Withthisinmind,requestingalowvalueforthetargetpolygoncountcandecreasethequalityoftheresults.
TohelpZRemesher,thefirststeptodoistoavoidusingalowpolygoncountandallowahighervalue.
ThisgivesZRemesherthenecessaryfreedomtomanagethesetopologicalchanges.
2.
WorkwithPolyGroupsZRemesherhastwodifferentoptionsdedicatedtoPolyGroups.
OneofthemstrictlykeepsthePolyGroupborders(usingthemasedgeloops)whiletheotherusesthemasreferencesduringtheretopology.
IfyourhardsurfacemodelisdefinedbyPolyGroups,turningtheseoptionsonwillimprovetheresults.
Dependingonthemodel,itisadvisedtotestbothoptions.
Ifyourmodeldoesn'thavePolyGroups,itisbenificaltocreatethemtoassistZRemesher.
Whenworkingwithhardsurfaceobjects,Tool>>PolyGroups>>GroupByNormalwillquicklyproducePolyGroupsbasedonanglesbetweenedges.
3.
UsecurvesAtavalueof100,theCurveStrengthsettingforcesZRemeshertoputpartialorcompleteedgeloopsatthecurvepositions.
Makingextensiveuseofthisforhardsurfacemodelscanthereforeincreasethequalityofedgesurfacetopology.
Unfortunately,itcanbedifficulttoaccuratelyplaceacurveexactlyalonganedge.
Thereis,however,aneasywaytoproduceanaccuratesetofcurvesbasedontheanglesandedgesofyoursurface:1.
FirstcreatePolyGroupsbasedonthemodel'snormalsbyusingTool>>Poly-Groups>>GroupByNormalandadjustingitsMaxAngleTolerancesliderasneeded.
2.
UsethosePolyGroupborderstocreatecurvesviatheStoke>>CurveFunc-tions>>FrameMeshfeature.
Don'toverlooktheusefulnessoftheBorderandCreasededgesmodes.
3.
SetTool>>Geometry>>ZRemesher>>CurveStrengthto100,alongwithanyotherZRemesheroptionsthatyouneed.
(LiketheKeepGroupsoption.
)4.
RunZRemesher.
IISpiralsintheRetopologyBecauseZRemesherisa100%automaticalgorithm,itcaninsomecasesproduceatopologywithoutedgeloopsinsomeplaceswithtubularshapessuchaslegs,arms,fingers.
Instead,inrarecasesitcancreatesprials.
ZRemesher'ssmartalgorithmswatchforanddotheirbesttoavoidthistopologyissuebecauseitcanbeproblematicwhentry-ingtobreakthemodelintocleanPolyGroups.
IfZRemeshercreatesspiraltopologyinaplacethatyouwouldliketoavoid,thenusetheZRemesherGuidebrushtocreateacurveatthatlocation.
Itshouldbeaclosedcurvecorrespondingtoadesirededgeloopdirection.
Next,setTool>>Geometry>>ZRemesher>>CurveStrengthto100,forcingZRemesherplaceanedgeloopatthatlocationratherthanaspiral.
Itisimportanttoconsiderthatdependingforsomemodelsitmaybeimpossibletohavetopologythatis100%freeofspirals.
Thisisbecausesometimes,avoidingaspiralinonepositionmayresultinaspiralatanotherlocationthathadn'thadonepreviously.
IIIZRemesherfunctionsWhatfollowsisalistoftheZRemesherlatestsettingswhichcanmodifiedtomorepreciselycontroltheresultsofyourretopology.
AllsettingsarefoundintheTool>>Ge-ometry>>ZRemesherUIgroup.
ZRemeshercanofcourseproduceveryhighqualityresultswithitsdefaultsettings.
However,dependingontheneedsofyourspecificmodel,youmayfindthatchangingtheseparameterscanimprovetheresults.
KeepGroupsTool>>Geometry>>ZRemesher>>KeepGroupmoderetainstheexistingbound-ariesofeachofthemodel'sPolyGroupstoreproducethosegroupsintheretopologizedmodel.
UnlikeFreezeGroupsoption(whichretainsthesametopologyalongthePolyGroupborders),theKeepGroupsoptionaltersthetopologywhilekeepingtheboundaryshape.
Thisresultsinabettertopologyflow.
FBXEXPORTIMPORTPLUGINSeamlesscommunicationTheFBXExportImportplugin,locatedintheZpluginpalette,providesexportandimportoftheFBXfileformat.
Thisisa3DinterchangeformatdevelopedbyAutodeskandiscommonlyusedbymany3Dsoftwareapplicationsandgameengines.
FBXisacomplexformatthatcanincludeanimationanddifferentcamerasaswellas3Dmeshes.
TheZBrushimplementationonlyincludesasubsetofthesefeatures.
IGeneralThepluginisinstalledautomaticallywiththedefaultinstallationofZBrush.
Ifyouneedtoreinstalltheplugin,pleaseexecutetheZBrushfullinstaller.
1.
FeaturessupportedforexportListedbelowarethefeaturessupportedwhenexportinganFBXfilefromZBrush.
Exportofselected,visibleorallSubTools.
Embedding/non-embeddingoftexture,displacementandnormalmaps.
ExportofPolyPaintasvertexcoloring.
Polygroups.
Smoothorhardnormals.
Triangulationofmeshesonexport.
3DlayersexportedasBlendshapes.
Axissystemselection.
2.
FeaturessupportedforimportListedbelowarethefeaturessupportedwhenimportinganFBXfileintoZBrush.
ImportofseparatemeshesasSubTools.
Texture,normalanddisplacementmapsimportedandassigned.
ImportofvertexcoloringasPolyPaint.
Polygroups.
Blendshapesappliedaspercentagemeshdeformation.
3.
FBXversionssupportedInordertoensurecompatibiltywithasmanydifferentapplicationsaspossible,theFBXpluginsupportsmanyFBXversionsaslistedbelow.
FBX2009,2010,2011,2012,2013and2014.
Binaryorascii.
4.
TexturemapfileformatssupportedForeaseofuse,theFBXpluginsupportstheimagefileformatsbelow.
TGAPSDPNGBMPTIFJPG5.
StepByStep-ExportingExportinganFBXfileusingthepluginisverystraightforward.
Here'sastep-by-stepguidetoexportingyourmodel.
Beforeyoustart,yourmodelmustbeinEditmode.
1.
ThefirststepistodecideifyouwishtoexportthecurrentlyselectedSubTool,thevisibleSubToolsorallSubTools.
Presstherelevantbutton.
2.
ChoosetheFBXversionyouwishtoexportbyclickingtheFBX2014buttonrepeatedly.
WhenexportingfromZBrushchooseanFBXversionthatissuit-ableforyourothersoftware.
Forexample,ifexportingtoMaya2012useFBX2012orearlier.
Usingalaterversionmaymeanthatthemodeldoesn'tdisplaycorrectly.
3.
Selectbetweenabinaryorasciifile.
Ingeneral,binarywillbethebestchoiceandthefilesizewillbesmaller.
Notethatasciiformatfor2010andearlierdoesnotallowembeddedmaps.
4.
Ifyourmodelhas3DlayersandyouwanttheseincludedasBlendshapesthenturnonthisoption.
ThelayernameswillbeusedastheBlendshapenamesandintensityvaluescarriedover.
5.
TurnontheTrisoptionifyouwantmeshesexportedastriangularpolygons.
Withthisoptionturnedon,eachquadwillbedividedintotwotris.
Whenthisoptionisturnedoff,quadrangularpolygonsarepreserved.
6.
Theplugincanexportwiththemodelorientedforaparticularaxissystem.
SelectwhichyouwanttousebyclickingtheMayaYUpbuttonrepeatedly.
Choosebe-tweenMayaYUp,MayaZUP,3dsmax,MarmosetToolbag,Unity,MotionBuilder,OpenGL,DirectXandLightWave.
IfindoubtthenMayaYUpisagoodchoice.
7.
TurntheSNormaloptiononforSmoothedNormalsorturnitoffforHardNor-mals.
SmoothedNormalsisgenerallythepreferredoption.
Smoothingisauto-maticallycalculatedbasedonthenormals.
8.
IfyouwishtoincludemapsthenthesemustbeassignedintheToolpaletteforeachSubTool.
Forexample,theremustbeatexturemapselectedintheTool>TextureMapsub-paletteforittobeincludedwiththeFBXfile.
9.
ChooseifyouwanttoembedmapswiththeFBXfile.
MapsthatareembeddedwillbeincludedaspartofasingleFBXfilewhereasnon-embeddedmapsaresavedasseparatefilesinthesamelocation.
MapsarenamedwiththeSubToolnamefollowedbyasuffix:_TXTRfortexture(diffuse)maps,_NMfornormalmapsand_DMfordisplacementmaps.
10.
Themapfileformatcanbeselectedforboth8bitand16bit.
Clicktherelevantbuttonrepeatedlytoselectwhichyouwant.
11.
IfyouwishtoexportPolyPaintmakesuretheColorizebuttonison.
YoucanturnthisonquicklyforallSubToolsbyShift+clickingthepaintbrushiconintheSubToollist.
12.
PresstheExportbuttontoexportyourmodel.
6.
StepByStep-ImportingImportinganFBXfileintoZBrushisveryeasy.
Here'sastep-by-stepguide.
1.
PresstheImportbuttontoselectafiletoimport.
TheimportedfilewillcreateanewZToolintheToolpalette.
IftherewasamodelinEditmodethenthiswillbeswappedonthecanvaswiththenewZTool.
2.
Duringimportyoumaybeaskedtoselectmapimagefilesiftheplugincannotautomaticallyfindthem.
ThesewillthenbeassignedtotherelevantSubTools.
3.
Embeddedmapsareextractedtoaseparatefolderduringimport.
ThisfolderwillhavethesamenameastheFBXyouimport,witha".
fbm"suffix.
IIFBXImportExportFunctionsWhatfollowsisafulllistoftheFBXExportImportpluginfuncitions.
Thepluginset-tingsarefoundintheZplugin>>FBXExportImportsub-palette.
Clickthesub-palettetitletorevealthebuttons.
Selected,Visible,AllTheSelected,VisibleandAllbuttonsletyouchoosehowyouwantyourmodeltobeexported.
SelectedwillexportjustthecurrentlyselectedSubTool.
VisiblewillexportthevisibleSubTools.
AllwillexportallSubTools.
FBX2014ToselectbetweendifferentFBXversions,clicktheFBX2014buttonrepeatedly.
Youcanchoosebetween2014,2013,2012,2011,2010and2009.
bin(Binary),asciiThebinandasciiswitchbuttonsletyouchoosebetweenbinaryandasciiFBXfor-mat.
Binarywillusuallybethebestchoiceandhassmallerfilesize.
LayersTheLayersmodeletsyouexport3DlayersasBlendshapesifyouwishto.
TrisTheTrismodeTurnonthisoptionformeshestobeexportedastriangularpolygons.
Leaveoffifyouwantpolygonstoremainasquads.
MayaYUp–AxissystemsselectorToselectanaxissystem,clicktheMayaYUpbuttonrepeatedly.
ChoosebetweenMayaYUp,MayaZUP,3DSMax,MarmosetToolbag,Unity,MotionBuilder,OpenGL,Di-rectXandLightWave.
IfindoubtthenMayaYUpisagoodchoice.
EmbedMapsTheEmbedMapsmodeletsyouembedmapsintotheFBXfile.
IfturnedoffthenallmapswillbeexportedasseparatefilestothesamelocationastheFBXfile.
SNormals(SmoothNormals)TheSNormalmode,whenactivated,exportssmoothednormals.
Turnitofftoexporthardnormals.
Smoothingisautomaticallycalculatedbasedonthesenormals.
TGA–ImageformatselectorClicktheTGAbuttonrepeatedlytochoosebetweendifferent8bitimageformatsfortextureandnormalmaps.
ThechoiceisbetweenTGA,PSD,PNG,BMP,TIF,JPGlow,JPGmed,JPGhigh.
16BitTIF–DisplacementmapsimageformatselectorClickthe16BitTiffbuttonrepeatedlytochoosebetweendifferent16bitformatsfordisplacementmaps.
YoucanchoosebetweenTIFandPSD.
ExportTheExportbuttonexportsyourmodelasanFBXfile.
Enterafilenameinthefiledialog.
ImportTheImportbuttonimportsanFBXfileintoZBrush.
Selectafilethroughthefiledia-log.
AnewztoolwillbecreatedintheToolpalette.
The""buttondisplaystheAutodeskFBXlicenseinformation.
OTHERADDITIONSBecauseZBrushhassucharichfeatureset.
Complementingallofthemajor4R7features,thereareanumberofimprovementsandfunctionsrequestedbyourusers,aswellasvarioussmalleradditionsandnewfunc-tions.
I64-bitSupportZBrush4R7isavailableastwoseparateapplications:Theofficialrelease4R7application,whichisa32-bitprogram.
Asecondexecutable:the4R764-bitPreview.
Theofficial64-bitreleaseofZBrushwillnotbeavailableuntilZBrush5.
Duetothecomplexnatureofmigratingthecodeto64-bitarchitecture,weareprovidingthe64-bitversionof4R7asa"developerpreview.
"Thisprevieweditionhastheexactsamefeaturesastheofficial32-bitreleaseandhasbeentestedonawidevarietyofsystems.
Howevertherestillmaybeunknownbugsthatcan'tbespotteduntilithasbeen"inthewild"onawidevarietyofhardware.
Wecannotguaranteethatnoproblemswillariseaspartofthetransitionto64-bitcoding.
ForthoseofyouwhoareusingZBrushformission-criticalandproductionprojectswewillcontinuetotreatthe32-bitversionastheofficialreleaseuntilZBrush5.
AtthatpointZBrushwillexclusivelybeavailableasa64-bitap-plication.
Thismeansthat4R7willbethefinal32-bitreleaseofZBrush.
AsalicenseduserofZBrush,feelfreetostartusingthe64-bitPreviewtoday!
Itisalreadyfasterthanthe32-bitversionandwilluseallofyourcomputer'sRAMandpro-cessingcapabilitiestopushZBrushtoitsfullpotential!
IISurfaceNoiseTheZBrushSurfaceNoisecapabilitieshavebeenimprovedtoallowblendingbe-tweennoisesources.
NowthesurfacenoisefunctionwillallowforaNoisemakerorIm-portedGreyscalenoisetobemixedwiththedefaultnoise.
Thisfunctionalitymakesitpossibleforyoutoblendthesetwotypesofnoisetogether,extendingthepossibilitiesforyoursurfacedetailing.
Buildyourownlibraryofpresetsandreusetheminfutureprojectstocreaterichandsubtlesurfacedetails.
Itwillbeimpossibleforviewerstospotrepeatingpatternsthatareinherentinnoisegenerationsystems,makingyourcreationslookmorerealthaneverbefore.
PleasevisittheZBrushGuidefolderofthedocumentationforcompleteSurfaceNoisedocumentation,includingtheselatestadditions.
IIIDisplacementRenderingWhetheryouareusingBPRortheZBrushtoKeyShotBridge,youcannowseepro-ceduralandtexture-createdsurfacenoiserenderedasdisplacedgeometry.
Thisprocessisautomatic;afterdesigningyournoiseyounolongerneedtoworryaboutapplyingitbeforeyoucanviewtheresultonyourgeometry.
Allyouneedtodoisrender!
ThisfeaturecanalsobeappliedtoNanoMeshes.
Withthisnewtechnology,itbe-comeseasytorenderscenescomposedofbillionsofpolygons!
IVReplayLast/AllRelativeRepeatingyourmostrecentstrokeonanotherpartofyourmodelisnowpossiblebyusingtheReplayLastRelativefunction.
Forexample,alightningboltalphathatisdrawninonelocationcanbeidenticallyreproducedatanotherlocationaslongasthepointofviewremainsthesame.
Toreplaythelaststrokeinthismanner,youmustusetheShift+1hotkey.
Becausetherepeatedstrokebeginsatthecursorlocationitisnotpossibletohaveaninterfacebuttonforthisfunction.
Ifyouwanttoreplayasetofstrokes,youneedtousetheStroke>>Inventory>>Recordfunctiontosaveyouractions.
Oncedone,useShift+2hotkeytoreplayallofthestoredstrokes.
Becausethestrokesarerecorded,itispossibletochangethepointofviewbeforereplayingthem.
Note:Fortechnicalreasons,thisfeaturerequiresamouseanddoesnotworkwithtablets.
VProjectionofGridBackgroundImagesBackgroundimagesappliedtoyourscene'sfloorandwallgridscannowbepro-jectedontothesurfaceofyourmodels.
Thisaddsanextralayerofhelpwhenusingrefer-enceimagestoaccuratelyproducespecificdesigns.
Toenabletheprojectionofthebackgroundimage,firstloadoneormorebackgroundimagesintheDrawpaletteFront-Back,Up-Downand/orLeft-Rightsub-palettes.
ThensimplychangethevalueoftheProjectonMeshslider.
Alowvaluewillgenerateatranslucentversionoftheprojectedbackgroundimagewhileahighvaluewillgenerateafullyopaqueeffect.
Enablingprojectionofthebackgroundimagewilldisablethevisibilityoftheimagesonthegridsthemselves.
(Otherwiseyouwouldhaveabadcaseofdoublevision!
)Toreturntodisplayingtheimagesonthegrid,setthevalueoftheProjectonGridsliderbackto0.
Ifyouhavefavoritesettingsyoucanofcourserecordmacrosforeachandassignhotkeyssothatyoucanswitchbetweenprojectionandgridviewwithalltheeaseofakeypress.
VIFBXImport/ExportAnewpluginhasjoinedthelibraryoffreeZBrushplugins:FBXImport-Export!
YoucannowimportandexportFBXfilesusingtheFBXv6.
1andv7.
1standards.
ThisFBXpluginwillsupportembeddedmaps(Displacement,Normal,andTexture),blendshapesbasedonlayers,smoothingbasedonnormalsandmore!
PleasevisittheZBrushGuidefolderofthedocumentationforcompleteinstructionsontheuseofthisplugin.
VIICopyandPasteWiththeCopyandPastefunctions,youcannoweasilycopymeshdataoverdiffer-entprojectsorfunctions.
ThesefeaturesworklikethetraditionalCopy/Pastefunctionsfoundinmostsoft-ware.
TheonlyexceptionisthatthePastefunctionmaycreateanewentityorgeometry,dependingonwhatisbeingpasted.
AnexampleisifyouCopyandPastewithintheToolpalette,PastingwillcreateanewTool(andallitsSubTools),similartothe"Duplicate"function.
Thecopiedmeshdataisnotstoredintheoperatingsystem'sscrapbook.
QuittingZBrushwilleraseremovethecopieddatafrommemory.
Note:TheusualCtrl+candCtrl+Vcommands(orCmd+C/Cmd+VforMacusers)can'tbeuseinZBrush.
1.
Copy/PasteFunctionsTheCopyandPastefunctionsarefoundindifferentlocationsthroughoutZBrush,witheachbeingdedicatedtoislocation.
Theirbehaviorsmayvarydependinguponthedatathattheyaremeanttoworkwith.
Whatfollowsisafulllistoftheselocationsandtheirfunctions.
CopyTool,PasteToolTool>>CopyToolandTool>>PasteToolcopythecurrentlyselectedToolandallitsSubTools,includingmeshdata.
Oncestored,thisdatacanthenbepastedinsideofthesameprojectasanewTool.
Alternatively,youcanloadadifferentprojectandpastetheToolintothat.
TheCopyToolandPasteToolfunctionsarethemostconvenientsolutionfortrans-ferringamodelbetweenseparateprojects.
SubToolCopy,PasteTheTool>>SubToolCopyandTool>>SubTool>>PastefunctionsaresimilartotheTool>>SubTool>>Duplicatefunction.
ThedifferenceisthatthisfeatureallowsyoutocopytheselectedSubTooltoanothermodel'sSubToollistwithoutneedingtoCloneandthenAppendit.
GeometryCopy,PasteAppend,PasteReplaceTheTool>>Geometry>>ModifyTopology>>Copy,PasteAppendandPasteRe-placefunctionsoperateonthetopologyofthecurrent3Dmodel.
Thisfunctionwillcopyallvisiblepolygonsfromthemesh.
Partsofthemodelthatarehiddenwillnotbecopied.
ThePastingfunctionsreplacetheexistingmodel(PasteReplace)withthecopiedtopologyoraddsthecopiedtopologytotheexistingmesh(PasteAppend).
FunctionsCopy,Paste(NanoMesh,ArrayMesh)TheseCopyandPastefunctionscanbefoundinseverallocationsthatusemultiplesettingsandparameters.
Thesefeaturesletyoucopythemtoanothermodelthathasthesamefunctionapplied.
AsanexampletheCopyandPastefunctionslocatedundertheNanoMeshsub-paletteletsyoucopythesettingsfromonemodeltoanyothermodelsthathasanactiveNanoMesh.
VIIIInsertMeshandUV'sTheMakeInsertBrushfunctionnowstoresUVmapping.
Ifconvertingameshdi-rectlytoaZModeler"InsertNanoMesh"brush,texturesanddisplacementmapswillalsobeincluded.
InsertMeshBrushesnowholdUV's.
WhenusingInsertMeshbrushesthathaveUV'sstoredthereceivingmeshmusthaveUVmappingappliedtoitaswellortheUV'swillnottransfer.
IfthemeshreceivingtheInserMeshobjectsdoesnothaveUV's,theUVmap-pingoftheinsertedmeshwillbedeleted.
IXBevelingCreasedEdgesAnycreasededgesonthemodelcanbeconvertedtobevels,offeringanalternativetoZModeler'sownBevelfunction.
ThenewBevelfunctionislocatedinTool>>Geom-etry>>Crease>>Bevel.
Whenexecutingthisfunction,alltheedges(includingmaskededges)thathavecreasingarebeveled.
Severalparametersareassociatedwiththebeveltochangetheradiusandtessellation.
Thesecanbedynamicallychangedimmediatelyfollowingtheinitialbevelcreation.
XPolygonDrawSizeThepolygonsonthemodelcannowhavetheirsizevisuallyreduced,givingthemanappearancesimilartoPolyFramemode.
Thebenefitistodrasticallyimprovethedisplayofthemeshandnavigationonmodelsthathavehighpolygoncounts.
HavingZBrushonlydrawthePolysofthemodelandnottheconnectingedgeswillspeedupperfor-mance.
Tomakeuseofthisfeature,simplychangetheTool>>DisplayProperties>>Poly-gonDrawSizeslidervalue.
Note:Thissettingdoesn'taffecttherealgeometry.
ExportingamodelwhichhasthePolygonDrawsizesettoalowervaluethan1willexporttheoriginalgeometryandnotshrinkpolygons.
XIGridDivideTool>>Geometry>>ModifyTopology>>GridDivideisanalternatesubdivisionroutinewhichuniformlytessellates/dividesamodelbasedonagridpattern.
ItisassociatedwiththeGridDivideslider.
Thevalueofthesliderdefinesthenumberofsegmentstoaddineachedge,definingthedensityofthetessellation/division.
Thisprocessisusefulwhenwantingtogenerateunevendivisionsacrosssurfacesbecauseyouarenolongerlimitedtoonlydividingby4.
ThisalgorithmisalsoappliedinternallywhenZBrushconvertsproceduralfunctionslikeSurfaceNoisetorealgeometryatrendertime.
XIIMiscAdditionsTransPosenowhasa"CenteronSelection"mode.
ThisplacestheActionLineatthecenteroftheunmaskedregion,visiblemeshorcurrentPolyGroup.
PleaseseetheZBrushGuidefolderofthedocumentationforcompleteTrans-Posedocumentation,includingthelatestadditions.
Thetechnicalinformationofamodel(itsPolyFrameorPolyGroupcoloring)canbeenabledordisabledindividually.
Thisoffersalternatewaystodisplaythemodel'stopology.
TheMaskAdjustfunctionallowsyoutoalteranexistingmaskbeyondwhatcanbeaccomplishedwiththeregularsharpen/blurfunctions.
TexturetransparencynowhasaToleranceslidertobringahigherqualityoftransparencybysupportingmorethanjustpureblack.
Atcreation,3DPrimitivescanbeorientedalongthethreedifferentaxes,avoid-inganextrarotationstepafterthefact.
Allradial-basedprimitives(liketheSphere3DandCylinder3D)nowhavethecenterpointswelded.
Theyalsoalignthesegmentstotheworldaxiswhenpossible.
TheUVTilingfunctionisnowinteractive.
AllCurvesnowhaveaTileparametertoduplicatethecurvevaluemultipletimes.
TheWeldPointfunctionassociatedwiththeModifyTopologyfeaturenowhasamaximumdistance.
THANKYOU!
Yes,toyou!
ThankYouPixologicwouldliketothankeveryonewhohasparticipatedasabetatesterforZBrushsinceitsbeginning.
WealsothankalltheZBrushuserswhoaremakingsuchwonderfulartwork,inspiringustopushourlimitsandofferyounew,innovative,artisticandproductiontools!
HappyZBrushing,andthankyouagain!
ThePixologicTeamNotes