I realized that after some testing for making some hotkeys for brushes an other things that numpad inputs are not differentiated from top row number inputs by default (i.e. Quick save is 9, and both 9’s on numpad and top rows activate it). Is there a way to differentiate the two? I was confused since these are usually differentiated as separate key inputs. I’m used to Blender so pad inputs is pretty ubiquitous for several different hotkeys.
Hello @eora,
This may vary by system and hardware, but generally the number keys and the num pad keys should be different things. Ultimately though ZBrush is subject to whatever information your keyboard is sending it. If a key on your keyboard sends the same ID as another key, ZBrush has no way to differentiate that.
Open your Preferences > Utilities menu and dock it to one of the Trays so you can keep it open. Every key on the keyboard sends a numeric code to identify it, and that number can be seen in that menu:
Press the 1 number key and then the 1 numpad key. On my system these send two different numbers, and the keys can hold different assignments. If they are sending the same number on your device, then these are the same key on your system.
I recommend using functions other than Brush assignments to test this. Brushes and brush functions are highly sensitive to context and modifier keys, especially ALT. Those modifier keys are hard coded to functions related to brush behavior, and conflicts are very possible. Furthermore, some brushes only activate in certain modes and attempting to activate the directly with hotkeys may not return the expected results. If you are attempting to map brushes directly to keys, especially with a modifier, there may be other reasons why your keys aren’t working.
It is recommended to use the Brush pop up letter key shortcuts as described in this article to avoid most conflicts with Brush Keys:
http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/customizing-zbrush/hotkeys/