ZBrushCentral

ZPlugin installer

Hello all active zscriptors… yes you three in the corner over there :wink: I hope you are all, as I am, enjoying the unexpectedly early summer heat.

I recently had the extreme pleasure of writing a couple of READ_ME.txt files to accompany some, dare I say it, practically complete zplugins. But while typing away I was struck by the memories of many a thread post describing installation problems. Granted, most people do not have any problems installing zplugins correctly. But for the minority that do, and the people who read their trials and tribulations it…well it is just reflects badly on the value of zplugins and just might deter someone from downloading in the first place.

So, how about a one time installation of a zplugin zplugin installer? I am pretty sure we have all the neccesary tools needed to create such a thing. The few OS calls that are needed should be covered through one of the .DLLs in the ZData folder.

I am well aware that if you can install the Zplugin Zplugin installer you should be able to install additional zplugins without problems but there are additional benefits of course. Uninstallation of zplugins through the zbrush interface, info on each zplugin installed such as website, update available, version compatibility etc.

Anyway, as I said, the current heat has been unexpected and so perhaps it has addled my mind :confused: But in any case I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. And if you happen to agree it would be great to also read what you have to say about the data to be included in a possible .ZPK header :slight_smile: (ZpluginPacKage)

And of course this thread is not restricted to zscriptors. Any input is welcome.

Cheers

Mark

Howdy TVeyes…as just another non-active scriptor I can say I’ve not
really ever had a problem with the current process of installing to the
\ZStartup\ZPlugs directory, but that’s not to say I don’t see the worth
in your suggestion.

If I were and active scriptor it would give me solice knowing that I didn’t
have to answer random questions about “your plugin doesn’t work” which
might directly amount to improper installation…

Dunno how important it is to Pixo, but perhaps when Marcus tires of
responding to similar posts he might nudge developement of such thing? :wink:

cheers.

WailingMonkey

thats a really good idea!
Uninstallation of zplugins through the zbrush interface would be my fav feature of this plugin :slight_smile:
infos about other plugins would be nice too, so…

… I would appreciate such a groovy addition :smiley:

greets
froyd

I agree this is a nice idea, though I haven’t foisted any new scripts on the ZBrush community recently. (I’m waging my own private war with a new plugin or two.)

At a website for another product (TVPaint) they just released the 8.6 update to their software that now includes something similar,for auto installation, but it also bundles in things like custom-brushes, paper-backgrounds, custom button sets and scripts, of course. But it uses a proprietary format.

This was timed with the company’s release of a huge, 4GB add-on package, (intro price 100 euros, offering a try-me subset bundle for free download). In this case, it looks like the purpose of this bundling is to control the commercial product distribution and I think doesn’t offer the end-user a way to create their own distribution packs but I might be wrong.

Anyway I’d be interested to hear more details on your proposal!

Sven

Please, yes, thank you.