ZBrushCentral

Some very basic questions....

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I just got zbrush, and there are a few things that I cannot figure out how to do (even when looking through the help menu).

  1. After I import my model, I have the option to edit it in very important ways: I can scale it, move it, and rotate it. However, once I start to use any other tool, such as the Depth or Fiber tools, I exit out of Edit/Transform mode, and I can no longer resize or rotate my model (which is very frustrating! how else can I edit the back of his head?). How do I get back into the Edit/Transform menu for my model?

  2. Is there any way to render a nice, smooth image (like the awesome ones I see posted on this site!) without going through all of that displacement mapping and re-rendering in 3ds max? It would be convenient to just render a smooth image directly out of zbrush, and I wanted to know if such a thing was possible.

any help is greatly appreciated!

#2
  1. Essentially when use those tools and go out of edit mode you “drop” the tool/mesh to the 2.5d canvas, this is for people creating images or a scene made of many tools/meshes on the canvas…

to get back to edit mode, clear the canvas by pressing CTRL + N and re-draw your tool onto it and press T to go into edit mode again!!

if you want to use things like some of those tools you use “g” to go into projection master (tick deformation ON) paint and sculpt using the layer brush etc then pick it up again using “g” again the details will be transferred to your model. but you cant move while in projection master but its quick to drop, sculpt, pickup after a bit :wink: also bear in mind that things like the fibre brush wont be picked up precisely by your 3d mesh because it depends on how subdivided your mesh is!! Have a play around and try out the various brushes and read the practical manual if you get time as it explains a lot of this stuff way better than I can :wink:

  1. You create a canvas thats twice the size of intended image, draw you tool onto it, T to go into edit model, position it, light it and a material etc then choose AA HALF (CTRL + 0) on the right panel, this will halve the size of your canvas and antialias the edges etc then you can press Render>Best to render it, save the document or simply printscreen and paste into a 2D to crop it etc…

Hope that helps a bit :wink:

#3

That was helpful, thank you - but there are still some problems:

  1. When I use the Ctrl + N / Redraw Tool method, it just redraws the original tool without any of the changes. Is there any way to update the tool, so that when I redraw it, it will have those changes?

  2. When I use projection master for the depth and bump brushes, it tints the skins a few shades darker, thus ruining any illusion of skin deformation. How can I prevent this? Also, what options can I enable so that when I PickUp the object, the details shown in the projection master remain in tact. (I’m still a little confused by this programs methods of subdivision).

  3. When I use the AAHalf and Render Best, the individual polygons are still visible - it is not like a Turbo smoothed model. Am I forgetting something, or is that the best I can do without exporting back to Max?

thanks for the help so far!