Hello,
I am currently adding scales to a lizzard skin by using the alpha of a single-scale with the Draw-Rect Tool. Is it possible to have to the last-drawn scale being auto-masked, so that the next scale won`t overlapp the already drawn scales ?
Or do you have a better idea, how to place single scales side by side without any overlappings ?
Thx and best,
Thomas
Hi! I don’t think you can have your last brush stroke masked automaticly, but you could try to convert your current single-scale-alpha texture into a ‘Stencil’ instead (Alpha menu -> ‘Make St’). When using Stencils then it is possible to tile/repeat your alpha all over your model. Just remember to disable your alpha texture (‘Alpha off’) before you start to sculpt using the Stencil, otherwise you will have your brush strokes masked twice.
There are some nice “snake/lizzardskin” alphas available for download here.
Hi Tennet,
Thx for reply. I was going through many techniques for adding scales. Indeed - there are many. It`s quite easy when adding large amounts of scales to bigger and more homogenous surfaces. But when it comes to Face/Head Area i guess, it will be handwork and scale by scale.
For my approach i think i will Draw-Rect a scale mask on the surface, invert it and then use the move tool to extrude it. Different Alphas and the usage of the move-tool should bring up a natural variation.
I just checked your stencil approach und this might work for me, too. I will do some tests and see, what makes the best result and working speed.
But to come back to my initial question - Adding the capability of masking while sculpting might be a nice feature 
Best,
Thomas
Thomaskl, looks like you need smth like this: Brush > Auto Masking. But it doesn’t work in Zbrush4. Bug.
Is this possible now in ZBrush 2022?
We have an auto masking option for IMMs and Fibermesh, and we have a stroke modifier that can repeat the last stroke, so surely it would be possible to have an automask option that masks out each stroke immediately after you apply it. This would be especially useful when sculpting with vdm brushes.