ZBrushCentral

Project/tool management question

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

This is probably something simple, but currently escapes me.

I’ve saved a number of tools, and am woking on a project.

If I load the project, zbrush clears the tools palette, so I can not append new tools.

How do I add previously saved tools to a current wip project thats been loaded?

I would think it would be in the tool or subtool palettes, but both only list the default and current tools I’m working on.

EDIT: I managed to get one to load and append to the project, but am not sure exactly what I did to achieve the desired result. :confused:

#2

If you have Tools in other ‘Project’ files that you want consolidated into a specific Project, you can save the Tools in the other Projects as ZTools (Tool > Save As) then load (Tool > Load Tool) them and ‘Append’ (Tool > Subtool > Append) them into your Project.

#3

I’ve got the tools saved seperately, but it looks like if I want to load a tool, I need to turn edit off on the project, load the tool, and then new the screen, apply the project from its thumb in the tool palette, and then append the tool I loaded from the palette.

(At least that appears to work consistantly.)

That seems like a kludgey way to do it though.

#4

It’s just a matter of understanding how the Tool palette works. You don’t have to turn Edit off or “new the screen” when you load tools. If you have a Tool on the canvas and you load another Tool (Tool > Load Tool), then the one your loading will replace the one that’s on the canvas, but your original Tool is still in the Tool palette. You can Append the original to what is on the canvas or you can select the original from the Tool palette to put it on the canvas and Append the last Tool you loaded.

#5

Ah, ok. That makes sense now. One thing I’m running into an issue with though is managing a bunch of tools.

Say I have a ground base, and want to add a bunch of the same rock. The subtool palette is limited to 8 positions, but I want to possibly manipulate the rocks individually for final placement.

Is the only best prectice to do this to group them all under one subtool, and then use the move brush scale to relocate them individually?

I’m forcing myself to learn to do this in zbrush, and know I could have done this much quicker in the aging lightwave 9.6 I have here. (Its taken me a half hour to scale and position only 2 low poly rocks!)

Partly I think the issue is the rocks were not universe centered in lightwave, so when I use the deformation palette, and you rotate, items go sliding off all over the place,and need repositioning.

I’m not letting zbrush get the upper hand on me though!

#6

I have no idea what you mean by that. “The subtool palette is limited to 8 postions” ??? Where did that come from?

Again, what?? If you want to move subtools around, the best and quickest way is to use the Move (W) transform. Same with scaling, use the Scale (E) transform. If you don’t understand how the Action Line works, then check out Understanding The Action Line.Sounds to me like you should be soaking in some tutorials. I would suggest you check out ZClassroom and also Zbrush 4 (Modeling 2 DVD)

#7

Garee, the subtool subpallet does only show 8 subtools at a time, yes. But it is scroll-able. Drag on the orange spot on the left side of the pallet. You can have as many subtools as you need. I’ve got models with nearly 100 and a lot of people use many more than that. A good habit to get into is to rename your subtools using the “rename” button at the top of the subtool pallet. Once you’ve got a lot of subtools having those unique names will come in handy. Zber is dead on when he says to look at tutorials. Listen to the man, he knows Zbrush inside and out. It’s the absolute best way to learn.

#8

Say I have a ground base, and want to add a bunch of the same rock. The subtool palette is limited to 8 positions, but I want to possibly manipulate the rocks individually for final placement.

Is the only best prectice to do this to group them all under one subtool, and then use the move brush scale to relocate them individually?

You’ll only be able to see 8 listed on the subpalette to prevent it from hogging to much of the UI, but off to the left of the subtool list is a little slider (it should be orange by the default colors). You can use this to scroll through the entire list. There are also arrow keys in the subtool palette to shift the selection up and down, the ‘n’ key will display a quick-pick menu with all the subtools to choose from (if you have more than 2), and you can also alt+lmb click on a subtool on the canvas to quickly select it.

Edit: Ahh, too slow

#9

Good to know, and thanks!!

I was wondering how people did those uber detailed renders with eleventy bazillion parts. The more I learn, the more I learn that there’s more TO learn! :wink:

#10

Since I have your guy’s ears…

Is there a setting in the deformation tool so the operations are relative to the tool being edited, instead of the “world”?

Here’s my issue: I import an obj that is centered, and save it as a ztool. I load that ztool, and place it where I like.a

Then I use say, rotate y on it. When I rotate it, instead of it rotating on it’s own center, it swings off as if its rotating off the world center instead of its own center.

(Even if I use the rotate tool, I still always get that world rotation swing effect.)

Hmm… I see the same behavior if I scale as well… the object scales and appears to move away from a universe scale location.

#11

Think I answered my own question. It looks like you have to import a obj, and then use the “unify” deformation button to center it in zbrush world. Then you can scale it and save it out as a ztool so when loaded as a tool, the deformation sliders work on it properly.

#12

Hey! congratulations, you hit the nail right on the head. Give that man a cigar!:smiley:

#13

Nice to see that things are making sense now!