Is it possible to set up environment variables or similar for the default paths Zbrush looks for Materials, alphas, textures, config files etc?
I find it a bit frustrating that they have to be copied to the application install directory. e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Pixologic\ZBrush 3.5 R3\ZStartup\Materials
for materials.
they don’t need to be. unless you want them to load by default.
I have shortcut folders than link to the directories where I store all of my alphas, shaders, etc. I also have similar folders set up to help navigate with lightbox as well.
Yes, I’d like them in by default. Ideally I would have a bunch of brushes and program layouts etc. on a USB stick or external hardrive and then use environment variables to start up ZBrush with drive mappings to the correct folders.
Most programs I wok with have environment variable you can set on launch but I can’t find any for ZBrush or if they even exist! 
John