How to perform a default action instead of replay action in ZModeler?

[iouzzr]

Hi, I am learning ZModeler right now. I see that action is performed by click and dragging on a point, edge or poly. There’s also replay action which can be performed with a single click. My question is, can I perform something like a default action instead of the replay action? For default I mean the action result you get with just click and hold without dragging. This is different than click (click and release) which is replay action. I list my steps so that you can understand it.

1. Use point action split, set target to point. Click and drag at point a to get a faceted circle A on front side of the default cube.
   
   
2. Change target to ring. Click and drag at point b to get a round circle B (larger than circle A) on left side of the default cube. The size of the circle is remembered by replay action.
   
   
3. Get back to point a on front side of the cube, click and hold left mouse button. This will perform a “default” action and create a round circle C which size is same as circle A.
   
   
4. Release the left mouse button, this actually finished the mouse click and treated as replay action. Circle C will become larger than step 3 because the replay action set its size to the size in step 2.
   
   

How can I get result from step 3 instead of step 4, so that circle C’s size is the same as circle A’s?

[Spyndel]

Hello @iouzzr ,

I’m not certain I understand everything you’re asking, but I’ll do my best to figure out what you’re seeing. Thank you, btw, for the effort you put into illustrating your question.

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There’s not really a “default action”, at least not for all the ZModeler functions. Some functions may perform some sort of action by default, others won’t do anything at all on a fresh program restart until you drag out an action and define it. To the best of my knowledge, there is no click and hold functionality. If you click on an element to perform a replay action, the action completes when you release the click, whether you do that instantly, or hold it then release.

Once you do this and produce a result, that result will be remembered for that function, and you can reproduce it with a single click on any similar target element unless you again drag it out and reset the remembered action. So in your scenario you have defined an action for both the Point>Split>Point, and Point> Split> Ring action. Switching between those two actions should remember the result for each. Drawing out similar sized circles with each is as simple as defining the first action, then clicking on each additional element you wish to perform that action on. You will need to create all your duplicate actions before redefining the action by dragging it out to a different size.

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I think I understand some things that might be causing confusion here though. Some actions have a sort of two step process, where you might see the action create a circle at once size before it expands to the remembered size upon releasing the click. Point> Split> Ring will do this.

Now, if you click on a point to repeat the action and the initial circle appears at one size, and you inadvertently drag just a little bit before releasing the click, ZBrush may read that as you redrawing the action, at which point that becomes the new remembered size. This is something that may be more likely to happen with a tablet if your pen tip is moving across the surface when you click down. A traditional mouse may provide more precision in this situation.

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I hope that I haven’t confused you more. Good luck!

[iouzzr]

Hi SPYNDEL,
Thank you for elaborating the replay action mechanism and I think you understand me correctly.
So for my question, if I want to keep the initial circle size the Point>Split>Ring gives me instead of the replay action size, I can just click and drag a little bit. Dragging a little bit won’t change the circle size interactively and will let ZModeler know that I actually want to perform an action instead of replaying an action.
This method works for my question. However, I am worried about some other cases. In the Point>Split>Ring, when you click and drag a little bit, there’s some snapping to the circle. So when the dragging is little that doesn’t pass the threshold, the initial circle size won’t change. But in cases like Edge>Align, I feel there’s no snapping at all. Dragging even a little will interactively change the curvature angle. I think maybe this is the property of ZModeler? It’s for artistic purpose so that not seriously accurate. I will continue to learn.
Thank you.