Hi, I’m having a hard time with navigation. I’m coming from Rhinoceros 3D and am used to zooming in and out occurring about the cursor location. Zbrush seems to sometimes do this but other times seems totally wacky to me and can’t even explain what it’s doing. Is there anyway I can tweak how Zbrush zooms?
Also, is it possible for me to use the middle mouse button to pan? If so, how do I set this up?
Thanks!
Sam
If Local Transforms is on (found on the right shelf, or in the Transform menu), then zbrush will focus on the point where you last clicked on the model. So if you want to zoom in on a character’s finger you would just need to quickly tap on that finger, and then you can rotate around it or zoom in on it regardless of where your cursor is.
If you wanted more mouse navigation options, you could try https://draster.com/ZSwitcher/ (although there is a cost involved). Personally I’m a fan of zbrush’s default right-click navigation. It’s basically designed for tablets/styluses in mind so you can do all your camera movements with one keyboard modifier and one stylus button, and it winds up being pretty fast as a result.
Lastly, I think part of the trick to understanding Zbrush’s navigation is to realize that you’re not moving a camera through a virtual environment to orbit around the model. Instead, you have a 3d model essentially floating in a tiny bubble above a 2d painting canvas. You are moving, rotating, and scaling that bubble in order to get the view you want while your eyes/‘camera’ stays locked in place.
There’s is also a free plugin called Middle Button. Latest version here. Explanation and screenshot here.
EDIT: September 23, 2022: The above links are no longer valid. Folow the link below.
Thanks Cryrid and zber2,
I see that local transform does causing zooming to be about the last edited feature, up until a point… after that it zooms towards the cursor… Have you noticed this?
I tried that middle mouse button plugin but get an error, even after the visual studio update. I’m thinking I might as well get used to the existing controls though, given, as you mentioned, it makes sense for a tablet and I plan to go that way.
Starting to get used to it, just wish the zoom was more consistent for me…
Thanks,
Sam