ZBrushCentral

Tool Rotates AND Remains Fixed

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello,

Sorry for a totally newbie question (I started learning ZBrush about four hours ago).

I’m following a Lynda.com course. It explains rotating and translating tools. When they do it, the object rotates as expected. When I do it, it rotates but the original ALSO stays put inside of it, superimposed with the now rotated version (they’re both visible at the same time). Why is a copy of the unrotated version still staying in place ? I’ve spent about an hour trying to find a corresponding preference or setting and I give up.

I’ve obviously got something screwed up somewhere already. Could someone help please ?

#2

Hello @starlite ,

It’s impossible to say for certain what you are experiencing without more information, but it sounds as if there may be a copy of your tool dropped to the canvas as Pixols. If this is the case, then simply pressing Ctrl-N should clear the canvas.

Further information can be found here, and I recommend reading the entire “Getting Started” section of the documentation before moving on to tutorials.

http://docs.pixologic.com/getting-started/basic-concepts/

If this does not resolve your issue, please elaborate further and document with images.

Thank you!

#3

To add to Spyndels answer, you probably inadvertently press Shift+S which will put a stamped copy on the canvas.

#4

Thanks very much you guys - that fixed it and explains it ! I will read the info at the suggested link before proceeding.

While I have you, may I ask one more question that I’m sure isn’t covered in beginning material. When I installed ZBrush, a window with a live demonstration was also launched. An expert was demonstrating something and had menus attached to the left and right of his screen (how to do that is explained in the course I’m watching so I’ve got that) but also at the bottom of his workspace. I can’t get anything to attach at the bottom of mine. How is he doing that ? I have a large monitor and that would be very helpful for me.

Thanks again !

(I could send a screen shot of this if desired)

#5

Hi @starlite

It’s quite easy to customize the interface in ZBrush. Along with the left and right trays, you also have the shelves at the top, bottom, left and right that you can place interface items into. The first thing you would do is to Enable Customize in “Preferences > Config” then hold down Alt+Ctrl and click, drag and drop interface items. When you are done, you would first disable the “Enable Customize” button then you would click “Store Config” button so it remains that way every time you start ZBrush. See Custom Interface in the ZBrush Docs for explanations and how to’s.

#6

Thanks very much for the reply ! I HAVE tried to do this and I’m following the instructions you provided a link for as carefully as I can (it looks like it’s “control-Command” on Mac by the way, not “control-alt”, though neither works).

I can place menus on the left and right sides no problem. But it won’t work at the bottom. I get the “highlight” box on the left and right showing ZBrush is ready to accept a menu but no box appears at the bottom no matter what I do.

There is a “Tutorial” box down there and I’ve tried opening it and placing in there, placing above it where the instructions show, and leaving it closed and placing above (and everywhere else for that matter) - nothing.

I’ve rechecked my preference settings against the instructions over and over. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong !

Any further thoughts ?

Thanks!

#7

I’m on a PC not a Mac, so I can’t help you there. It works alright for me, and always has. I would suggest that you let Pixologic Support know, using the email address your license is registered to.

#8

Again, thank you for the help !

And I think your response probably explains what I’m seeing as well. Since the manual only refers to “alt” (not “opt” or “cmd” too), and you’re seeing it work fine on your PC, I think the Mac interface probably just doesn’t support menus at the bottom.

As for contacting support, that’s actually where I started with this question and was sent here instead. I was disappointed because this approach often doesn’t work out very well with other s/w products but this time it worked great.

I hope you have a great evening and I know I keep saying it but, thanks again !
Russ

#9

@starlite

I find it odd that you are unable to place anything in the bottom shelf. I have been around here for quite some time and I don’t remember any Mac user complaining about it or saying that it wasn’t possible. I will presume that you have already tested your keyboard and made sure that those keys aren’t defective or sticking.

I don’t know if you already know this but the following is what the Docs say here about the keys on a Mac.

Important!

Wherever the Ctrl key is mentioned in this documentation, MacOSX users may want to use the Cmd (Apple) key instead, though note for keyboards with both a Ctrl and Cmd key either can be used. The Alt key on Macintosh keyboards is sometimes called the Option key, and the Windows Enter key is called the Return key.

#10

Hi Again ZERB2,

Yeah, I knew about the key substitution thing and I tried all possible combinations many many times. I mentioned earlier that I can get the white “you can put it here” box mentioned in the documentation by hovering over on both the right and left sides and successfully place anything in either. So it seems the problem isn’t the keyboard/key choice since it works there.

It would be nice if I could ask Pixologic directly about the Mac compatibility thing but they very “crisply” sent me here instead. I agree it seems strange that it wouldn’t work on Mac but that fact never comes up on this forum. You’d think people would be asking about it all the time since it isn’t addressed in the documentation. Still, the instructions work fine here to the left and right (again, modifying the key choice for Mac), just not to the bottom.

There’s a “window” down there called “Tutorial View”. I couldn’t find anything in the documentation about it and a google search just turned up a lot of questions about it but no answers. I tried it in there too to no avail.

Oh well, I can certainly work around it. It would just be very useful if I could get it to work.

Thanks again !
Russ

#11

The ZScript / Tutorial Window

Located at the very bottom of the ZBrush window, this tray can be expanded or collapsed just like the left and right trays. However, this tray can’t receive a palette like the others can. It is used by ZBrush only for ZScript or Tutorial purposes.

from here

#12

Ok, that explains that. It also explains why I missed it. When I scanned down that instruction page I saw the words “ZScript” and didn’t even notice “Tutorial” right next to it.

So that explains why I can’t load anything into the “Tutorial” area but the instructions show the area right below the window, and above the “click to open” icons for that “Tutorial” section anyway. And I tried that area over and over again without success.

If I ever get to the bottom of it, I’m still guessing the Mac interface just doesn’t support it.

Thanks again for the feedback !