Pixologic Release: Turntable Plus (PC & Mac)

[aurick]

TurntablePlus.jpg

Turntable Plus was designed by marcus_civis to add some extra functionality to the ZBrush movie palette:

Pan and zoom while recording a turntable
Adjust 3D Layer intensity to morph from one shape to another
Render HD Geometry for a movie/turntable

This plugin is now available for ZBrush 3.1 PC and ZBrush 3.12 Mac.
You can get it from the Download Center (http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/downloadcenter/zplugins/).



Click the image below to view an introductory movie

TurnTablePlusMovie.jpg (http://download.pixologic01.com/PluginsMovies/TurnTablePlus.mov.zip)


Here are the features of Turntable Plus:


interface.jpg

Layer Intensity

This feature will allow you to render a layer in your turntable. It will only render from intensity 0-1 and will only render the selected layer.


HD Geometry

This feature will allow Turntable Plus to render out a turntable of all HD subtools.

Image Sequence

This feature will render out an image of every frame of your movie. This is much like taking a GrabDoc of every frame of your movie.

Alpha Sequence

This feature will render out an alpha of every frame of the movie. Click the hand icon to change alpha format.

Depth Sequence

This will render out a depth image of every movie frame.

File Extensions

Turntable Plus will export Image, Alpha, and Depth sequences in three formats. (tif, bmp, and psd)

Disable Movie Recording

There will be no movie to view or export from ZBrush if this option is selected.

Installation
Download the zip to your hard drive.
Unzip to the ZStartup\Zplugs folder. Make sure your unzipping program preserves the folder structure.
Restart ZBrush.
After correct installation you will have a Turntable Plus submenu in the Movie palette.

We hope you find Turntable Plus useful, :)


TurnTableSmallicon.jpg (http://javascript%3cb%3e%3c/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%27114535%27,%27TurnTableSmallicon.jpg%27,1,0%29)

[Eol-dark_elf]

For mine flash engine the transparent background is necessary. It seems to me that in the following version it is necessary to add export in .png or at least in bmp 32 bit.
Thanks ;)

[Eol-dark_elf]

Please help me. I have not absolutely understood.
1. RotateAndExport script exports sequence to 360 degrees?
2. How to start this script? Where for it to search?

[frenchdork]

for some reason I cannot see the export options. All I see are the render options :confused:

Edit: Found out why. Apparently I installed the older version of Turntable Plus in Zdata > ZPlugs which overrid the one in ZStartup > ZPlugs. Doye.

[frenchdork]

I have a second problem, I made a turntable with the plugin and I played it in Zbrush to see if there were any problems and noticed that towards the end it slowed down before ending. For example, 30 frames a second for the first 10 secs and then 20 frames a second for the last 2 seconds.

I exported it into quicktime to see if it had the same effect and yes the same thing happens.

Any way to remedy this?

[marcus_civis]

I have a second problem, I made a turntable with the plugin and I played it in Zbrush to see if there were any problems and noticed that towards the end it slowed down before ending. For example, 30 frames a second for the first 10 secs and then 20 frames a second for the last 2 seconds.

I exported it into quicktime to see if it had the same effect and yes the same thing happens.

Any way to remedy this?


If you saved out the Turntable Plus settings then you could load them back in and re-record the movie. Alternatively, if you have access to a video editor you could load the MOV file into that and edit the last 2 seconds.

[Aumakua]

Thank you for this excellent plugin! Really useful one. I got a problem though. When I render a couple of turntables, as tests, with best render on (I delete the z-movie between the tests), ZBrush stops render after a few frames.
On the task manager the cpu usage is close to 100%, but ZBrush stays frozen and I have to press escape and do the turntable all over again, or some times the program crashes. Btw, my specs are Xeon 5140/8GB/7900GTX/Vista64bitUltimate. Also, I put 4096 on mem preferences.
Any ideas?

[marcus_civis]

Aumakua,

I've not come across this issue. Is it only when you render a second turntable using Turntable Plus? And are you using any special materials?

Thanks,

[Aumakua]

Hi Marcus,
I've been doing these turntables using Metal Dust material from Ralph Stumpf libraries. It seems like there's a memory leak happening, after the first turntable render is done.. also, I noticed that if I decide not to delete the sequences of images,alphas and depth files from the first turntable render,
and let the second render to overwrite these, I get a crash or freeze.
If I delete these 3 sequences and perform the render again, everything is fine (unless I want to do another one test - freeze).
I should mention that I use files of multiple MB, and of several ztools, for my turntables, but I wouldn't consider this as a problem. Also, my render size is PAL, nothing high at all.
Thank you,

Nick

[marcus_civis]

Thanks Nick, that's useful. I'll look into it. If you have time and can be bothered, please try a different material (such as FastShader), just so we can rule that out.

Incidentally, you don't need to overwrite files - when entering a file name at the start of rendering simply change the number to whatever you want to start at, so if the previous sequence ended "Movie0036.psd" enter "Movie0037.psd".

[Aumakua]

I'd be glad to help you with this, cause I'm going to keep using Turntable Plus, it's really useful to me!

"Incidentally, you don't need to overwrite files - when entering a file name at the start of rendering simply change the number to whatever you want to start at, so if the previous sequence ended "Movie0036.psd" enter "Movie0037.psd"."

Really?? that's quite cool, thanks !

[Aumakua]

So, doing a couple of turntables with fast shader on all my ztools, I got a bit luckier - was able to render 2 triplets of sequences before I see ZB freeze(while all cpus are at 100% and memory usage at 2.7GB).
Oh, and another thing.. when I put 360 on Spin Frames per Cycle, the final turntable slows a bit (I play it in Softimage Flipbook) after half of the sequence is over.

[Say again]

Hi! Thanks for the plugin.

Right now, I'm doing some tests and there's no way I can get the alpha sequence. Every image results in a white canvas.

I have a few models with several subtools and I try to render them in perspective. An alpha would be useful to play with compo.

...Help? :)

[marcus_civis]

Right now, I'm doing some tests and there's no way I can get the alpha sequence. Every image results in a white canvas.

I have a few models with several subtools and I try to render them in perspective. An alpha would be useful to play with compo.


Which version of ZBrush are you using?

[Say again]

Thanks for writing, Marcus!

To my embarrassment, I didn't try the process "shut down the computer". And yes, It worked! The alphas are beautiful. ...Thanks again.

[marcus_civis]

Say again,
I'm glad you got it working!

[John Strieder]

Hello, thanks for the Plug-In!
Unfortunately, I have this issue with the slowdown too. I wanted to make a Turntable, 360 Frames for a Turnaround. Start, Mid and Stop-Positions are the same. But ZB renders only 60% (after that it freezes and does nothing, but with 100% CPU Usage) and in the middle of these I have the slowdown.

The freeze happens also with usual turntable rendering, but without slowdown :(

I'm using a MatCap with Cavity Detection and Renderoption "Best" (GI-Shadows).

[comic_craig]

Just wondering if there is a way to set the pivot the model turns around. I tried using the Tool>Preview to adjust the model pivot, but for me it didn't change the turn table pivot. I'm probably doing something wrong- so if anyone has some insight, I'd love to hear it. Right now, my models tend to do a asymmetrical circle motion- this is probably in part that the work I'm using is a asymmetrical pose.

Any suggestions?
craig

[marcus_civis]

John,

I'm looking into the slow-down. For the render problems, this sounds as though it is related to the particular material, rather than plugin related. I will see if I can find a solution though.

Craig,

You can use Transpose Master to alter the pivot point for a model with subtools. Simple make the combined mesh, adjust the pivot for that and then transfer the result back to the original model.

If you use the Tool Preview to adjust the pivot, remember to press 'Store'.

One other thing, if you are rendering a model with Perspective on then that may be causing a 'wobble' in the resulting turntable. Test the turntable with Perspective off to see. You can solve the issue by following the instructions here (http://www.benbus.co.uk/zbrush).


HTH,

[John Strieder]

Hi, thanks for the Reply!
Would be great, if the slow down could be fixed :D
Regarding the freeze, I found out, that the freeze happens when the Screensaver starts (it's just the "Black"-Option here, nothing fancy). I've turned the Screensaver off and until now there's no freeze. Maybe it's Vista or the Graphics Card. At least, not ZBrush :p

[Aumakua]

Regarding the freeze, I found out, that the freeze happens when the Screensaver starts (it's just the "Black"-Option here, nothing fancy). I've turned the Screensaver off and until now there's no freeze. Maybe it's Vista or the Graphics Card. At least, not ZBrush :pI wouldn't be sure about the screensaver involvement. I get the freeze on Vista without any screensaver at all (not even the monitor shut down active)
while the cpus are almost 100% working.

[Say again]

Turntable plus saved my ego 15 days ago. Like this: in a couple of days I had to present a modeling reel or cry. Madness, but it worked!

I had no time for gymnastic pipelines outside from Zbrush, and this plug-in was the best solution.


Let me add a few observations:


1) Excuse my English.



2) Yes: About the crashes, they happen to me when the monitor shuts down (safe mode).

It’s not a real crash, however. After pushing any key or shaking the mouse, Zbrush screen comes back to life; and yes, the screen is “frozen” but the program keeps rendering.

Slow downs and sudden “...here-we-go-up-and-down!” movements happen at the extreme corners of the model. (May it be because of the pivot issues?)

I suspect that movements are smoother when Mid position is not stored. Quite sure.

Turntable plus experience (reel wip): http://www.vimeo.com/5670855 (http://www.vimeo.com/5670855)


3) Obvious tip:
it’s possible to make a fast preview of the turn around this way, a) if you choose fast render,

b) then limit the spin frames to something reasonable (15 or 20) and
c) export no image/alpha/depth after clicking the RENDER MOVIE button.
d) watch your screen


4) Umm…
It would be nice to have more control over the Start Mid Stop positions. For example, I tried to go back to one position to check it and make changes, just a little, and I couldn’t.

A dream: Slow-in and Easy-out options (maybe adding more Mid positions and some frame controls).

To absentminded-people like me, this could be a nice addition: a few buttons to overwrite rendering and choose “flat, fast, preview, best”.

What about a script to add a specific material to all subtools?


5) Thanks.
Yes, thanks.

[comic_craig]

Just wondering if there is a way to invert the alpha- I have always seen alpha renders inverted (white subject matter on black). My inexperience makes me wonder why it is needed to be the reverse for zbrush. I know I could do my render twice and make the 2nd render a white figure on black BG- or I could use a photoshop action script... but I'm wondering if there is a setting that I missed that would allow the alpha image to be reversed... or even better, stored as an alpha. No worries if not- I got my work arounds. Thank you for this great plug in and your help.

Craig

[marcus_civis]

Say again,

Thanks for your comments and I'm glad you find the plugin useful. I'll bear your suggestions in mind for the next version. :)

comic_craig,

You can change the way the alpha is rendered in the Turntable Plus options dialog - just click the 'hand' icon:
alpha.jpg alpha2.jpg

[spaceboy412]

wow, this is the second time this has happened to me, those icons really don't indicate that they are buttons, i had that happen with one in the subtool master as well. good to know.

[comic_craig]

Glad to know I was not the only one- still feel kind of dumb, but thank you :)

[marcus_civis]

Glad to know I was not the only one- still feel kind of dumb, but thank you :)

It should have been mentioned in the release info!