Can someone please explain the PREVIEW WINDOW…
When im working on a model, sometimes the preview windows is filled up by the model or it is not in sight and when this happens sculting is a nightmare… .
As you can see in the pic, the model is " Off Axis "… which makes all the deformations inaccurate because its not centered. .
So for example, when im designing a sword… the handle is completely off axis as seen in the picture.
What do you mean off axis? Watch out for perspective and get this>> http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?161588-quot-Axis-quot-Plugin-for-ZBrush-4r2 It will help with views.
The Object Preview window displays the current 3D tool, and how it will be drawn when applying it to the canvas. Also displayed is the clipping plane, showing how deeply the object will be embedded into the canvas or surface upon which it is drawn.
http://docs.pixologic.com/reference-guide/tool/polymesh/preview/
To understanding the preview window, it probably helps to understand how zbrush is using your 3d model. Unlike standard 3d programs, there is no 3d environment with a virtual camera that you can use to navigate. Instead it’s an image document similar to photoshop, and when you draw a model on top of it and starting moving around, you’re basically just rotating the model in place instead of actually moving a camera around it.
So while you’re seeing the model on top of the document and can rotate/translate/scale it however you want in relation to the document, you’re not exactly getting a good idea of the raw model data; how big the model actually is, where it’s center actually is in relation to its vertices, etc. That’s what the preview window will show.
A good example of this would be when using dynamesh, where the resolution is based on the actual size of the model. If you look at the model on the canvas you have no idea how big it is, but a quick glimpse at the preview window can tell you if the model is too large or too small. Using the unify deformation will resize the dimensions of the model so that it fits nicely within the preview window, which tends to give you a nice scale for working inside of zbrush.
If your model is off center you can set a new center by placing it (the red cross) in the preview window, or by using Transform: SetPvt
Doug: thank you for your reply and for the tip. I will check out that plug in.
Cryrid: So, if im modeling a sword i would want to " UNIFY " the model so it all fits in the preview window then continue modeling and use " Scale " to zoom into the object…?
Thanks again for the assistance!
-Josh
Also, When there are multiple sub tools and UNIFY is pressed, all the tools come together at the crosshair… So the blade, guard, handle etc. all now are at the orgin…
With multiple subtools you’ll probably want to use transpose master to do it, or instead use the size deform on one subtool to scale it down to a proper size in the preview window, and then use ‘repeat to other’ to apply the same transform to the rest of the subtools