Zbrush

A voxel based 3D sculpting tool.

Hotkeys

Basics

Command	--	Description
T		Edit Mode
P		Perspective Mode (In Edit)
Shift + S + Drag/Drop		Copy Shape + Move
Alt + Tap outside		Center object in viewport

Painting Geometry:

Command	--	Description
S		Change Brush Size
Drag On Mesh		Pull Mesh
Alt + Drag On Mesh		Push Mesh
Space		Brush Options
X, Y, or Z		Mirrors all sculpting along X, Y or Z axis

Navigation:

Command	--	Description
Drag		Rotate
Alt + Drag + Release Alt		Zoom in/out
Alt + Hold-Drag		Pan Camera
Shift		Snap to Orthographic views
Alt + Click		Center Geometry to pane

Manipulation:

Command	--	Description
W		Move Tool
E		Rotate Tool
R		Scale Tool

Masks:

Command	--	Description
Ctrl + Paint on Mesh		Mask Out
Ctrl + Shift + M		Lasso Mask
Ctrl + Alt + Paint on Mesh		Mask In
Ctrl + Single Click Off Mesh		Inverse Mask
Ctrl + Shift + Drag Off Mesh		Hide all but selected
Ctrl + Drag Off Mesh		Delete Mask
Ctrl + Click on Mesh		Sharpen Mask Edge
Ctrl + Alt + Click on Mesh		Soften Edge

Hide Geometry/Polygroups

Command	--	Description
Ctrl + Shift + Drag Over Mesh		Hide All Geometry Outside Marquee
Ctrl + Shift + Drag Off Mesh		Inverse Hidden Geometry
Ctrl + Shift + Click Off Mesh		Restore All Hidden Geometry
Ctrl + Shift + Click On Mesh		Hides everything but the Polygroup the mesh belongs to

Useability Notes

Arranging the UI

Command	--	Description
Hold CTRL + Drag Menu Option into a shelf		Add To Shelf
Hold CTRL + Drag Menu in Shelf onto canvas		Delete UI Item
Preferences > StoreConfig		Save UI

Concepts

Name	--	Description
Brush Alpha		texture of brush
Stroke		Brush or brush mask
MRGB, RGB, M		MRGB paints to the material + RGB M paints only to the material. No Colour RGB paints only RGB
Custom Brush Alphas		16bit grey psd or .tif files Program Files/Pixologic/Zbrush/Zstartup/Alpha
Replacing Default Brush		Hold Shift + click a brush. Now whenever you hold shift and paint, that brush will be used.

Sculpting Tools

GUI Option	--	Description
Cube on Right side		Turn on PolyFrame
Geometry > Display Properties > Double		See Both sides of a polygon
Geometry > Crease		Hold onto edge when smoothing
Automask by Cavity		Masks the big cavities in a model
		You can subdivide only a particular area by masking it out then suvdividing

Modeling

General Tips:

Wrinkles:

Modeling Wrinkles is like drawing wrinkles. Think of the Tilde symbol ~. Smooth curve on one side, then harsh drop, then smooth again on the other side. It is a crease, and the contrast between the smoothness and sharpness makes it read better. It's all about painting with shadows

Match Maya Camera:

If you have a particular render camera, it can be useful to match the desired image resolution, and camera FOV in Zbrush.

I found a conversion chart here:

http://sortadone.blogspot.ca/p/zbrush-focal-angle-tutorial.html

. You can change the

camera FOV in edit mode in Zbrush with:

• Draw > Focal Angle
• Make sure that you push the perspective button.

Maya		Zbrush
15		110.5
25		81.7
35		63.4
45		51.4
55		42.9
65		36.8
75		32.2

Toggle RenderCam

When you're modeling it can be very frustrating because just because something looks good up close, it doesn't necessarily look good from far away, or from your desired render angle. While I could not find a way to have multiple viewports, I found a script that remembers camera positions. I modified the script so that you can set a rendercam, and easily toggle between it, and your current location in the

perspective view. Install by placing the .txt file in

ZStartup/Macros

.

Alt + 1		Set Render Cam
1		View Render Cam (save persp)
2		View Persp

ZSphere Modeling

A}		Switch Between Zspheres and Polygon View
SideBar > Adaptive Skin > Density		Changes the Resolution of the Polygon View while you are switching between Zspheres and Polygon View
SideBar > Tool > Make PolyMesh 3D		Makes your Zspheres an editeable 3D Mesh
Select the Zsphere from the Tool Palette		Use W, E, R to move, scale and rotate your Zspheres

Notes
You must have a base of 3 Zspheres to start, otherwise you will have a hole in one side of your mesh.

Texturing

ZAppLink

G	Projection Master
Ctrl + Shift + S	Zapplink (open in photoshop)

Zapplink lets you edit your texture outside of zbrush and reload it.

Prepare your Model

Set up Model + Texture:

• Import your .obj file of choice with the UVs already created
• From the top menu, load the texture
  • Texture > Import
  • Texture > FlipV

Set up your Subtools:

• you can export multiple 3D objects to one .obj
• import the .obj to the tool sidebar in Zbrush
• under tool, expand polygroups and choose autopolygroups

A) to import each separate mesh as it's own subtool:

• under the Tool sidebar, Polygroups > Autogroups
• Tool Sidebar > GrpSplit

B) to group some meshes together as one subtool:

• Ctrl + Shift + Click an object you want to separate from the others to hide the others
• Tool Sidebar > Subtool > Split
  • this splits shown geo from hidden geo

If you are painting on a subtool, then use the projection master, or the Zapplink,
even if you paint over other geo, you are only painting on the subtool you have selected.

Paint on prop:

• Press "G" to open projection editor
  • Uncheck Fade radio button
  • Leave Colour Checked
• hit ok

• Now you are in the projection master and can edit your model's texture in a 2D environment
• Export to photoshop using Zapplink (Ctrl + Shift + S)
• In photoshop *ONLY EDIT LAYER 1*
• save the file, and re-open Zbrush, click to re-import mesh into zbrush
• you should now be able to see the changes in Zbrush but you are still in the 2D Projection Master
• Press "G" to re-open projection master, and pickup your new texture information.

Paint on 3D Mesh

Sometimes it can be helpful to mark up and paint on the mesh itself as a guideline for when you are texturing. Using the built in maya paint option is great, except that it doesn't work with all video cards. If you export to a .obj, import it into zbrush and then:

Painting the topology in Zbrush

• Choose an Alpha, Deselect Z-add, and make sure RGB is selected and you wil be able to paint. The Alpha is where the texture is stored. Make sure you click yes to save this when saving your progress by saving the tool.
• Select the background colour as the secondary colour, and black as the main colour and you can hit V to switch between them.

when you are ready to export your map:

• Tool > Texture > (Col>Txr)
• Top Menu > Texture > Export