ZBrushCentral

New Script: ZMATS (Lite) a Materials Manager

Shared ZScripts & Macros
#29

Sven,
This is brilliant! It works beautifully and will be very useful. I think the way you’ve solved the cavity shader issue is very smart. Thanks! :+1:

Just a couple of little little points: I found I needed to switch Fibers on in the Render menu to get them to show in ZMats (only a problem if you do as I did and simply loaded a material from elsewhere and pressed Save). And… I’m not sure I like my interface colors changed (I have my ZScript buttons/sliders set the color I like them!) Otherwise perfect.

And Sven, if you don’t mind… :slight_smile:
For anyone that wants to rapidly batch convert Material List or Material Pack files here’s a little zscript utility. Load the zscript, press the button and select the first file such as ‘ML001.zmt’ (ignore anything named zero such as ‘ML000.zmt’). Up to 100 files (of both types) will be converted and put in the ‘FileOutput’ folder. Just copy them to an empty ZMats bank. Should work on Macs too!! :slight_smile:

#30

Thank you so much Sven_ superb little script that works perfectly!

#31

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for the feedback and the nice little conversion utility.

I have to plead guilty on the changing button and slider colors. I was experimenting with saving and restoring the user’s original color choices but got sidetracked on something else. Ultimately my intent was to make the color change a user option. I forgot to disable the button color changes but didn’t realize that code was still in the script until after I posted ZMATS… since these are the colors I use for my own interface.

In the next release I will fix that. By the way, the main reason I changed the button and slider colors in the first place was that the original ZList and MaterialsList spheres had transparent backgrounds. Since many users have not customized their interfaces, the five material windows displayed the material spheres against the default dark crimson button colors.

Also thanks for pointing to the fibers issue… There is a sneaky problem with that too. Since the material spheres are generated at 1 to 1 scale, the bushier fibers tend to overgrow the material window! You can see how solving this could get complicated. I just left it up to the user to decide when and how fiber materials would be stored.

You (and all the other scripters who write ambitious ZScripts) know the complicated code you must sometimes write to maintain the feeling of simplicity and convenience in the user’s interface. Actually, for me that is one of the most interesting challenges. I think the ZBrush software is a pretty good resolution of this delicate balance: versatility vs ease-of-use.

Anyway, thanks again for making the conversion process (MaterialList to ZMATS) simple and relatively painless!

For anyone who hasn’t down-loaded Pixolator’s MaterialList of 100 free original materials you’ll find that HERE.

Another similar group of 100 free original materials (called FleshPack) can be found at Glen Southern’s website.

later, Sven

#32

Hi Sven,

You’re absolutely spot on when you say that scripting is a balancing act. I quite understand your reasoning behind both the button color and the fibers issue. Neither is much of a problem and I do like the grey color you’ve choosen! (The inability to change the button/slider colors without changing the user’s settings was frustrating for me when writing ZSwatch. Dark red is no the best color to judge other colors next to it!)

So, what next? :slight_smile:

#33

Thank you very much for this plugin Sven and to the tester that worked on it with you. This will come in very handy. I have it installed and have saved some of my mats and all works well. Now I am off to convert my old mats.

Thanks

JIM :+1:

#34

If no one has thanked you enough, allow me…Thankyou thankyou thankyou. I love this script

#35

If Pix doesn’t object, and Southern doesn’t object, I have renamed all of the materials (on my computer) in Pix’s material pack and Southern’s skin pack to match the naming on this ZMats script. I saved Southern’s in BankB and Pix’s in BankC and they all work perfectly, with icons and everything. If these 2 guys (and Svengali, of course) don’t object, I would be happy to zip the 2 banks into a file that others can add to their ZMats folders.

Let me know, and it will be done!

#36

Sven gave me an earlier version of his " Z-mats"script and i think its great !
I’m glad everyone can use it now…this is a very talented guy , and i hope he
will surprise us in the future with other great things :+1:

jantim

#37

This is awesome Sven, a truly awesome plug-in, thanks so much :smiley:

Could I just add something though (a bit cheeky but hey)…

As much as I love the ZMATS plug-in, it would be really cool (IMHO) if you also had the option to pull up a whole bank onto the screen at once, so that you can browse easier & quicker (kinda like what 3DSMax’s material manager does) Maybe even be able to delete & name them???

Oh & before I go, ZALPHAS plug-in maybe??? :wink:

Thank you again :+1:

PS Hey Slosh thanks for the offer of the ZMATS folders, I just read this to late, already done it (must login more often)

#38

Svengali vbmenu_register(“postmenu_191081”, true); :+1: :+1: :+1:
Thanks for your great zscript,it would be really cool,
i test it at once, here is my result:

[Snap10.jpg

and i hope that i could name these zmts:D

Thank you again:+1: :+1: :+1:

Attachments

Snap1.jpg

Snap2.jpg

#39

Once more, thanks all. ZMATS is a utility I use all the time myself. It’s so easy you get addicted to trying out all those different materials on an object. It’s makes whipping up and saving variations on a material simple.

tdrs: The rendering of the sample spheres are influenced by whatever ZBrush settings are in effect, so I can’t say exactly why you are getting those odd results. Some materials are extra sensitive to lighting and color of the object - especially those materials from Froyd. What happens of you restart ZBrush and use the lighting and coloring that Froyd recommends. That’s worked fine for me when I added his materials to my own library and I was glad that ZMATS stores lighting and color with each material.

As for naming materials, perhaps that will be added to the next version.

Bucky: The thing about a utility like this is that access has to be fast. I’m already doing some cheats so that the materials display almost immediately. I’m afraid generating a full screen of mat-samples and keeping it up to date would kill quick access. In the future the promised SDK might provide a way to do this.

A ZALPS utility might be neat - As would a ZMODS and a ZTEXS?

Slosh: I think your offer to post the converted libraries is generous and would make a lot of people happy. However, you really need to get permission from the makers of the original libraries. Explain to them what you want to do and why. Then, it’s up to them.

I suspect that in the next few weeks there may be new libraries posted from other ZBrush users as well. One issue will likely be finding a server that can store large files and that can handle the traffic. :smiley:

Sven

#40

This is really very good of you to share your hard work and talent with us Sven! :+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:

It is really MUCH appreciated!

All the best.

#41

This is by far the best & most useful script I’ve downloaded here on ZBC, I think ZB has to be one of the wisest purchases I’ve ever made, & with guys like Sven, Cameyo etc writing such cool stuff it’s just gonna get better.

Respect to you guys :smiley:

#42

Svengali:
After using the plug-in several days, I found a problem:Load the material at the same time, but it can’t load its color and light set , I can only load it in hand, I hope that you can help me.

#43

tdrs,

I think what you are saying is that the lights and color must be loaded separately from the material. That’s true. That’s the way it works.

When you save the material, the lights and color are saved at the same time.

But I made it so that when you load the material again, loading the color and/or the lights is optional. This is so ZMATS doesn’t accidently over write current lighting or color choices that you might not want to lose.

Sven

#44

Very nice Svengali :+1: The inclusion of the lighting setup and the undo button is very handy. Time to build the mother of all material libraries.

Thanks.

#45

Great and very helpful :+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:small_orange_diamond:+1:

Thank you Sven :+1:

#46

After I transfered all my mats, including pix´s and southerns packs, I whish i would have checked back here earliere :slight_smile: Marcus´s batch conversion would have saved me 1 or 2 hours :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks again for that great script. For me its one of the most useful scripts for ZBrush, besides XYZAdjust and MaskGroups.

What would we all do wihtout your altruistic effort! You have my admiration!

greets
froyd

#47

Great stuff! A most excellent upgrade, thanks Sven!

#48

i did some searching and found some free storage sites

http://www.rapidshare.de
http://www.megaupload.com
http://www.qfile.de