ZBrushCentral

How do I orbit / rotate the camera?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Prepare yourself for the stupidest question ever, most likely. (And please be nice!)

I started ZBrush, literally, yesterday. I’ve familiarized myself with many of the tools, brushes, and settings, however every tutorial I’ve watched doesn’t seem to explain how to get the cursor to rotate an object. Or maybe I’m talking about rotating the camera. Or orbiting the camera. Basically, I want the object to stay put, while the camera revolves around it.

In all the tutorials I’ve seen, the cursor in play when the artists do this is a circular arrow (arrow pointing back at its own tail). I can’t for the life of me, activate that cursor.

Can anyone help? Point me in the right direction, maybe?

I’d appreciate whatever advice you can give.

Thank you!
matt

#2

Hi Matt,

In ZBrush, the camera never moves. This is because the ZBrush workspace is not a fully 3D space. The camera is a window into a 3D volume but there is nothing outside of what the camera sees. That’s part of how ZBrush is able to work as efficiently as it does. It’s also a big part of what allows us to have 2D and 2.5D painting tools that can paint right on the canvas.

I remember an analogy that one of our early ZBC members used, likening ZBrush to a trip to the beach. With other programs, you take your camera and walk around the beach, taking pictures of the pretty girls. With ZBrush, you set your camera up in the perfect spot and then bring the pretty girls to you. :slight_smile:

So everything that you are doing in ZBrush is going to involve manipulating the model in front of the camera. Think of it as Photoshop on steroids in that regard.

As for the particular cursor you’re talking about, he went to the right side of the canvas and moused over the Rotate icon found there. Or perhaps he just moused over empty canvas and dragged. That’s the faster way to rotate the model.

1 Like
#3

So much yet to read and explore :wink:
A fantastic adventure for you has begun.
There are many useful scripts and files which could be beneficial to your workflow.
Don’t get lost :smiley:

#4

Interesting. I guess that does work. I still don’t see the cursor in question (mine’s still a crosshair), but I suppose that’s a minor detail.

I’m using a trial version of the software. Would that have anything to do with it?

In any case, thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

Also, if you can recommend any tutorials to help get me started, that would be awesome. I’m specifically interested in face and body sculpting (action figures).

Thanks again!
matt