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Zbrush 4 on a Convertible Tablet PC (Video Demo)

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#41

well it looks like I’m out of luck with the bezel buttons. Mine are actually working but Autohotkey wasn’t able to ID them.

It could however ID the DVD buttons on the back edge of the bezel. Unfortunately they don’t work well. The two i assigned shift and ctrl to don’t fire properly. The command fires but doesn’t “stick.” The one I assigned Space to works fine if I use ~ in the script.

I was also able to map the stylus button to Alt like you did in your vid Drkdrv

Now I’m trying to set up WinLIRC to work with 'the tiny remote that came with my TX 2000. But WinLIRC won’t run. I’m guessing I need to change the port config. Hopefully the docs will help me figure at the correct settings.

#42

I have pertinent information for this thread- “mod to make your own Cintiq clone” wacom-tablet-into-cintiq-clone the price for the kits are a knockoff but the idea is solid. if you want to draw on the screen but don’t mind being tethered to the machine running the application. I was working on modding a cheap laptop so i could use it wireless with usb over lan and send the video using MaxiVista Pro

#43

I’ve been waiting for someone to do a proper review of zbrush on a tablet PC for ages now. It’s been something that really piqued my interest, but of course I’ve not been willing to drop the money myself and be a guinea pig. So thank you very much, you covered a lot of important points! :slight_smile:

I only wish there were a proper mobile-workstation class convertible tablet with a highend video card as well (think a tablet version of the dell precision m6500)

#44

It seems like it definitely should be. And that would be a great option. Is there some kind of configuration software for the remote or is it hard coded or something?

Otherwise, I’m sure there are a bunch of programmable USB keypad peripherals you could use with Autohotkey to make it work.

Just as a side note, I’ve found what seems to be a consistent bug where if I save my custom config as the startup config Zbrush will seem to function naturally but will reliably crash any time I try to save the file/tool I’m working with, but it never crashes if I startup with the default config and load my own afterward… weird. It doesn’t do that on my main PC either, just the tablet.

Are you making them only with Zbrush or do you use Maya or Max or something on it as well? I’m sad that mine doesn’t really run Modo too well, but it seemed to do fine with Maya.

Hey, my pleasure! I just wish more people knew how great tablets are for artists.

Even if it can’t ID them, why not just set them to be normal keyboard keys you don’t use in Zbrush and use AHK to remap them to shortcuts? All I did was set the buttons to function keys (F1-F8) in the normal button options, and then use Autohotkey to remap the function keys to shortcuts when Zbrush was in focus. Are you not able to change the buttons’ actions in the first place?

I’ve been waiting for someone to do a proper review of zbrush on a tablet PC for ages now. It’s been something that really piqued my interest, but of course I’ve not been willing to drop the money myself and be a guinea pig. So thank you very much, you covered a lot of important points! :slight_smile:

I only wish there were a proper mobile-workstation class convertible tablet with a highend video card as well (think a tablet version of the dell precision m6500)

I’m glad it was helpful. I only wish that too. Hopefully if more artists start seeing the benefits of using tablets the companies making them will take notice and start making better ones.

#45

Drkdrv I couldn’t figure out how to get WinLIRC to capture my remote commands. To be fair I was really tired when l tried. I’ll have to start fresh & see if I can get it going. As for the bezel buttons, I don’t think they’re designed to be retargeted. So assigning function keys to them may not be an option. I’ll double check.
MDGeist How do you connect the wiimote to the PC? if it’s via USB or bluetooth that will be better than using the PC’s IR remote because it won’t require line of sight.

#46

ok, so I’m failing miserably. I can’t figure out how to configure WinLIRC; and there seems to be no simple way to reassign the bezel buttons. Can anyone help? Thanks.

#47

Well, from my limited research it seems like you are out of luck with the bezel buttons and remote, but I did have another idea that might be worth considering.

What about getting one of those wireless USB slideshow presenters and programming the buttons through Autohotkey? There are a crap load of those on the market, (some really cheap too) and most seem to emulate pretty generic keyboard keys that Zbrush doesn’t need, like page up, page down, left/right arrow, etc. So you could set Autohotkey to remap those keys when Zbrush is in focus. It would be like a simpler version of the Wiimote trick.

#48

Cool idea. But wouldn’t the wiimote be better (cheaper with more buttons)? I still don’t know what it takes to hook up the wiimote, but I know it can be done since MDGeist did it with the same model I have. MDGeist, can you fill us in on the process please?

#49

Whoops! More buttons but not neccesarrily cheaper. Just noticed the pointer prices are in $ not £.

#50

I’ve been overlooking the “obvious!” My remote is firing recognizable commands that I can remap. I don’t need to capture the IR signal.

I now have an autohotkey script that mimics what Drkdrv’s toggle button does, using the arrow and OK buttons on the remote.

2 minor problems:

  1. The remote button don’t seem to work as held buttons. I have to work them like toggles via the ~ option.
  2. The aforementioned line of sight requirement for the remote.

So a USB pointer device or (I guess) a wiimote will probably be better suited than the IR remote. For now, I’m good though!

#51

Oh sweet. Yeah I guess I should have thought of that too… Too bad about the line of sight thing. I wonder if they make a bluetooth replacement remote or something… It would be nice to have one that fit in the computer slot for storage.

#52

drkdve
I missed where it may have been mentioned what brand/model of tablet pc you are showing. As you mentioned in your video~ a big issue for me is having a tablet PC that has an assortment of customizable tablet buttons. Ive been looking at the Lenovo 201t… Im wondering if its button setup is similiar to the one shown

#53

It’s a Lenovo X60 convertible tablet. Very handy to have that 4-way. The 201t seems to have a number of single buttons, which you could probably program, but not a “directional pad” unfortunately.

#54

drkdve- thank you for the reply. The biggest hold up for me buying an X201 is being unsure if there are enough programable buttons… and now I find out that an earlier model had a perfectly good button input device. All I can say- Damn you business man market! You are taking working machines and dumbing them down so they can’t do anything except run itunes and excel spread sheets. Damn you! (Read that last part with the voice of Charlton Heston)

#55

No problem. It does suck doesn’t it. Someone should create a good 17" penabled convertible tablet with a decent video card and some good bezel controls (like the Wacom touch strip/circle things) and make a zillion dollars off of artists who would jump all over it.

Sorry, I already read the last part with the voice of Sean Connery…

#56

Hi there,

thanks to your post and videos i got myself a X61t a few days ago :wink: . These tablet are selling for a few hundred euro now so i had to order. It’s a brilliant tool. Sketchbook and all.
What I’m struggling with is setting up autohotkey. Scripting is just one thing i can’t get my head around.
Would you mind explaining a little how you set this up to run.

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#57

Hey, glad I could help! Autohotkey is pretty great, and it can do pretty much anything, but luckily button programming/key replacement is one of the easiest things to do.

    There are basically 2 steps, first you need to change your tablet buttons to fire regular keyboard keys.  I choose to use Function keys F1-F8 since I never really use them, especially while in Zbrush, and because they are numbered it's easy to remember which buttons do what. For me it goes Left=F1 Right=F2 Up=F3 Down=F4 Middle=F5 Esc Button=F6 Tools Button=F7 and Pen Button=F8.  The directional buttons change by orientation, so for example the "Up Button" relative to a landscape orientation becomes the "Left Button" when you switch to primary portrait mode: 
  
    [attach=230460]TabletButtons.jpg[/attach]
    
    Then, assuming you know how to get Autohotkey running, and how to edit the script, you just need a few lines of code:

;Zbrush
        #IfWinActive ahk_class ZBrush
        F1:small_orange_diamond:^z
        F2:small_orange_diamond:Space
        F3:small_orange_diamond:Control
        F4:small_orange_diamond:Tab
        F5:small_orange_diamond:Shift
        F6:small_orange_diamond:^+z
        F7:small_orange_diamond:^z
        F8:small_orange_diamond:Alt

    Basically the "IfWinActive" line recognizes whatever program is running in the foreground, and remaps those buttons only when it's in focus, the rest of the time they will fire the Function keys you set up originally.  With this method you can make the buttons do different things for every program you use.  For example, here are a few of mine:

;SketchBook Pro
        #IfWinActive ahk_class com.alias.TpWin32SketchWindow
        F1:small_orange_diamond:^z
        F2:small_orange_diamond:^y
        F3:small_orange_diamond:s
        F4:small_orange_diamond:Space
        F5:small_orange_diamond:Tab
        F6:small_orange_diamond:x
        F7:small_orange_diamond:y
        F8:small_orange_diamond:s 
       
        ;Firefox
        #IfWinActive ahk_class MozillaUIWindowClass
        F1:small_orange_diamond:Backspace
        F2:small_orange_diamond:+Backspace
        F3:small_orange_diamond:Send, {Up 5}
        F4:small_orange_diamond:Send, {Down 5}
        F5:small_orange_diamond:#a
        F6:small_orange_diamond:F11
        F7:small_orange_diamond:^+t
        F8:small_orange_diamond:Click right
        
        ;Picasa viewer
        #IfWinActive ahk_class ytWindow
        F1:small_orange_diamond:Left
        F2:small_orange_diamond:Right
        F3:small_orange_diamond:Up
        F4:small_orange_diamond:Down
        F5:small_orange_diamond:Enter
        F6:small_orange_diamond:Escape
        F7:small_orange_diamond:
        F8:small_orange_diamond:Alt
        
        ;Photoshop
        #IfWinActive ahk_class Photoshop
        F1:small_orange_diamond:^!z
        F2:small_orange_diamond:^+z
        F3:small_orange_diamond:^NumPadAdd
        F4:small_orange_diamond:^NumPadSub
        F5:small_orange_diamond:Space
        F6:small_orange_diamond:Tab
        F7:small_orange_diamond:Escape
        F8:small_orange_diamond:Alt

    To get the crucial ahk_class attribute, you need to open the autohotkey "window spy" tool by right-clicking the autohotkey icon in the system tray.  It will figure out the class of any window in focus, then you just type that into your code for each program's key remapping.
    
    [attach=230467]WindowSpy.jpg[/attach]
    
    Then at the very bottom of your script file you should probably add this line:


         #MaxHotkeysPerInterval 200

    I think that solves an issue with too many commands being sent for windows to interpret when you hold buttons for long intervals.  Anyway.  I hope that's helpful.  If you have any other questions, just fire away.

Attachments

TabletButtons.jpg

WindowSpy.jpg

#58

This is great. I’ve been on it the whole day and only managed to get the autohotkey working globally for all programs but this will help to also get the active window thing working. Thanks a lot for the help. Having a blast with this new tablet.
btw. did you make the layout for ZB yourself or can we download that someplace?

Again thanks for the effort writing a howto guide for me.

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#59

No problem, I’m glad it helps. I did make the layout myself, but I’ve changed it a lot since the video, and will probably change it again. I’ll attach the one I’ve been using recently so you can try it out.

It looks like this:

drkdveLayout.jpg

#60

Thank you again for this. I was just getting to grips with the layout customization but this is great as it looks like you put a lot of thought into the elements that need to be on screen and all. I will try this later tonight.

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