ZBrushCentral

Can Zbrush remember last draw size for each brush?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I’m sorry if this is well known, but I’m just coming back to Zbrush after a long hiatus and I’ve spent 2 hours googling and haven’t found any solution for this, and have only found 1 other person asking about it (with no good solution).

Basically, Zbrush already remembers whatever you have Z Intensity and Focal Shift set to on each brush, but it doesn’t seem to do the same with Draw Size (at least by default).

This is not an issue with dynamic draw size, but with individual brush size. So for example, if I’m working with DamStandard at a small draw size, and want to switch to the Move brush to adjust a large area, I have to change the move brush size to be large, and then if I switch back to DamStandard to continue working the draw size is too large so I have to re-size it to be small again, and either remember or try to approximate the small size I was using before. Then when I want to use the move brush again, I have to repeat this process each time, and it slows down the workflow considerably.

Is this some kind of technical limitation, or is there a setting somewhere that I can’t find that will maintain the last selected draw size for each individual brush?

#2

I’m afraid Draw Size is not stored with the brush. It would be possible to script a solution but I’m not sure how useful it would be because you’d have to store/restore the setting using a button or hotkey - it wouldn’t be automatic.

#3

Ok, thanks for the answer, that’s what I was afraid of. A script wouldn’t seem to be useful in this case, unless it just added that functionality without interaction, and didn’t use specific values.

This like a feature most people wouldn’t complain about though right? I mean how often do you use a move brush and then keep the same draw size for the next sculpting brush you use? 1% of the time? Less?

It probably wouldn’t bother me if I was using a keyboard, but on a tablet, where you sacrifice a certain amount of efficiency due to a lack of hotkeys, it’s one area where you could definitely save some time in many circumstances.

#4

I thought of a way to do it that may work for you. Save the attached macro to the ZBrush 4R8/ZStartup/Macros/Misc folder and Press Macro>Reload All Macros or restart ZBrush. There should then be a new button in the Macro>Macros>Misc sub-palette called “ChooseBrush”

Ideally, assign the ‘B’ hotkey to the button. This is because you need to use the button whenever you want to pick a brush and it replaces the original hotkey. If you really need to use the button without a hotkey then you’ll need to put it on the interface somewhere such as below the color picker on the left. The reason for this is that if the brush popup appears too far from the button then it will simply close before you get to it. Use a hotkey if you possibly can because then the popup appears under the cursor.

Then just use to pick the brush you want. Every time you change brushes the draw size should be restored if you’ve used the brush before during the session.

ChooseBrush.txt (717 Bytes)

Let me know if it’s any use.ChooseBrush.txt (717 Bytes)

#5

Wow, ok now we are getting somewhere! Thanks for taking the time!

This definitely works as intended when assigning it to the b hotkey, but of course, doesn’t work with custom UI brush buttons (though it does keep the last size stored after using the hotkey).

I wonder if there’s a way to, for example, change the operation or have another hotkey to open a custom menu of mine with specific brush buttons inside, instead of the giant full brush browser, and still have the same functionality. It works great now through the full brush menu, but it would be even nicer to use with a small streamlined favorite brush popup menu.

Either way, I’m really grateful for your effort! :+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:

#6

Yes, that’s possible. Below is a revised version that will work with a custom menu. If you assign a hotkey to the button then pressing the hotkey will pop up the menu at the cursor, provided the menu is not already open in the right or left tray.

You’ll need to make a small change to the file. Open it in a simple text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit and look for the line towards the bottom that says

[VarSet,myMenu,“My Brushes”]//change to custom palette name

All you need to do is change the “My Brushes” bit to whatever your custom menu is called. Save the file to the ZStartup/Macros/Misc folder as before. If you want to have both macros they will work together, just give one file a different name and assign a different hotkey to the button.

ChooseBrush2.txt (787 Bytes)ChooseBrush2.txt (787 Bytes)

#7

This is fantastic, thank you so much. I think this solves the problem completely!

It seems that having the 2 different copies of the script assigned to different brush menus creates some kind of conflict if you switch between the same brushes via the different scripts, and doesn’t maintain the sizes set in one if you select the brush again through the other, but I just solved this by putting the main brush palette button in my custom brush menu, and will access extra brushes through that, which appears to work perfectly, and even frees up the button I was using for the b key to use for something else.

Again, I’m really impressed and thankful. I think this is a feature other people might get some value out of too. Great work, and thanks again! So far it seems to be a perfect solution. :D:+1:

#8

Great, I’m glad it’s useful. I can’t think why there’s a conflict with the two macros - anyway, your solution sounds a good one.

#9

Prefs > Draw >remember draw size button