Another masking issue. Hope the last one gets answered.
Anyway my issue is you can mask by painting the mask on your Ztool, then when the cursor is outside the model when you Ctrl drag it is set to box by default.
When you set masking to lasso, you cannot paint your mask on the model, you can only use lasso.
The updates are great but the masking tools are really hindering working, being able to switch from lasso to box and still paint the mask on the tool is very difficult and cumbersome.
It takes awhile to get used to the new masking system when you’re used to the old ways.
I put shortcuts to all the masking brushes and selection types on my bar for easy access since it’s necessary to switch all the time. Also hitting control then clicking on the brush box will give you all the masking brushes options for easier access.
But yeah. One thing about this release I’m struggling with is my old methods, which I’ve grown very accustomed to, simply not working any more. Having to change is hard to adjust.
I hear ya, its always hard to adjust,
But it doesnt make sense. Why allow painting masks with box stoke or box mask brush and not with lasso?
Also i dont see how they couldnt have the old toggle of box and lasso, and then added the additional mask strokes as separate brushes because switching between box and lasso whilst sculpting is extremely important.
And what is present now is inconsistent which makes it very jarring and adds more steps to the process taking your attention away from sculpting and more about what brush or stroke have i just selected and what is capable of what.
ps whats the difference between the mask pen and mask box, the mask pen allows you to both paint the mask and box select.
pps really hope they fix this in a point release 
ZBrush would not be able to tell when you wanted to use the lasso and when you wanted to paint a mask. You can only paint a mask on the object, so it makes sense to automatically switch to a different mode when not over the object. It just happens to be the rectangle.
Also i dont see how they couldnt have the old toggle of box and lasso, and then added the additional mask strokes as separate brushes because switching between box and lasso whilst sculpting is extremely important.
If you customize your UI you can position the different masking brushes in a convenient location. You can easily switch between them simply by holding Ctrl and clicking on the one you want.
ps whats the difference between the mask pen and mask box, the mask pen allows you to both paint the mask and box select.
You can’t paint a rectangular mask inside the boundaries of the model with the pen. This is essential for ShadowBox.
HTH,
Thanks for replying marcus, i hate to sound like a stick in the mud but the thing is, the masking tools in the way they have be reconfigured are more focus towards shadowbox than sculpting.
I’ve spent hours (probably days) thinking how to place my tools so i dont have to think when i want to use them. That they are there without me thinking and without taking my attention away from modelling. My eyes concentrating solely on the model and nothing else.
This is my UI, you might think its extreme but as you can tell the only thing i focus on is the model. I will be bring out a few videos of me working with this UI and it will become very clear that i am doing a lot of tool switching on the fly without any stumbling.
I rarely if ever need to open a palette to switch between subtools or brushes or… anything. I can open, save, import, transpose.
It would be different zbrush had replaced a minor tool but masking is a very very import feature in my modelling workflow and one i never have to think about and having to switch between lasso and box is more steps than is required. Especially when you are switching modes on the same mask.
It is obvious to me that pixologic focus on workflow trying to make things as easy a possible. Features like Solo and Subtool quickpick are amazing, they are extreme time savers whilst providing rapid perspective on your work you never had before.
Thatss why i am really crossing my fingers because whilst its not a major hurdle i have to jump, its the fact i will have to jump it every time i want to switch between the two. Shadowbox is amazing but the balanced has already shifted with this one change.
I am impressed with the new Masking and Clipping options and about their elegant implementation. What I miss however is the kind of Key-Binding which is also available for Z-Sketching. As soon as one changes over into this mode, the B-Key pops up the Sketch-Brushes-Palette right under the pen.
Accordingly one should get the Choice of Clipping-Brushes on Ctrl+Shift+B and the Masking-Brush-Palette on Ctrl+B. Is that somehow mappable?
I’ve tried if the F2-key automatically adapts, but it doesn’t.
That the problem, the new masking system is specifically geared towards shadowbox.
I have a solution if anyone is open to hear it.
What to keep:
The masking brushes, im in no way doubting there usefullness.
What to bring back:
Box/Lasso toggle for sculpting
What to add:
One button that determines weather you need to be inside or outside the model to create the mask.
I would even be happy to keep this feature on at default so there will appear to be no change to those who currently like the system the way it is.
Please programmers at pixologic, i love this program and what i can achieve with it. The moment you create more steps to select tools the less potent it becomes and makes it a chore to work with.
phrenzy84,
The little plugin in the zip will give you the old Lasso button behaviour. Unzip and put the file in you ZStartup/ZPlugs. Restart ZBrush and you will have a Marcus Tools menu in the ZPlugin palette. In that will be a switch named Lasso.
The switch will toggle the Lasso and Paint mask brushes. With the Paint mask selected you will be able to drag a rectangle from outside the model, just as in 3.5. You can assign a hotkey to the switch if you wish.
The first time you use the switch in a session you may have to press it twice, depending on your setup. You may also get the message about selecting the mask option, which you can get rid of for the rest of the session.
polyxo,
You can create a custom menu and put the masking brushes in that. You can assign a hotkey to the menu so that it will pop up at the cursor, making quick selection easy. See my picture.
If you make a custom menu, see the instructions here, particularly starting the menu name with ~ (tilde):
http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index.php/Changing_the_Interface_Layout#Building_User_Menus
HTH,
I dont know what to say.
I am forever in your debt.
This works perfectly. The only difference, is like you said the Mask menu popup etc that is affecting everyone… we all know that will be fixed.
Pixologic, please add this tool/plugin to the actual code of Zbrush, saving me to beg marcus everytime you update ZB.
I only thing i can hope for now is that Pixo will add a button to allow you to create a mask in or outside of the model. Not only would this allow the “old” workflow, but also accommodate the “new” one.
Marcus, again thank you so much. Don’t think you will know how much this tiny feature will affect my workflow. Hope i am not the only one who will benefit from it and i will be sure to point it out in the videos i will be releasing soon.
Cheers mate.
-andrew
Andrew,
No problem, my pleasure and I’m glad you find the solution useful.
Thanks,
Thank you very much Marcus - I’ll do that.
Still - in the sense of consistency these really should be the default Key-Bindings.
Anybody know how to keep the lasso from masking through the object to the opposite side?