Alpha and Texture Loader

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These two plugins to enable you to browse and load images from your own library of alphas and textures.

  • Quick access thumbnails of all your Alphas and Textures
  • Uses your own folder and file names
  • Up to 250 images per tab - 2,500 images in all for each loader
  • Search for files by name
  • Add files to 'Favorites' tab for batch loading by hotkey.

As the loaders use your folder and file names, you can organize your library in a way that is meaningful to you, speeding your workflow. Tabs can be cleared at any time, so that new 'project' folders can be added as necessary. Files can be quickly loaded or selected as Favorites for batch loading at the start of a ZBrush session.

Instructions

After installation you will find two new buttons: a LoadAlphas button in a new submenu Alpha Library in the Alpha palette, and a Load Txtrs button in a new submenu Texture Library in the Texture palette.


Adding files to the Loader

Use the Add button to add files to the Loader. Select a file or SHIFT+click to select multiple files. Up to 100 files can be added at a time. (Selecting over 100 simply means that the first 100 only will be added.)

The Loader will then create thumbnails of the files. This may take a few minutes for a number of large files. For the Alpha Loader, thumbnails will be black & white even if the originals are color.

The thumbnails are added to a tab. The tab name will be the name of the folder containing the files. Folder names over about 17 characters may not display correctly. There’s no need to select a tab before adding files. If you have already added files from a particular folder then the Loader will automatically add to that tab. If you reselect files that have been added before these files will be skipped.


If ZBrush can’t load a file (such as a grayscale .jpg), then it will return an error. This may mean that some or all of the files you selected are not added to the Loader (including the problem file), or that there are thumbnail errors. If this happens you may need to clear the tab and try adding the files again, avoiding the problem file. Tip: When a single file is selected in the Import Image dialog, ZBrush usually displays a thumbnail. If you only see the gray ZBrush logo it’s likely that the file won’t load.


Up to 250 files can be added for each of ten folder tabs - 2,500 files in all. However, because of the way ZBrush handles image files it is best not to add more than about 200 files at a time. When there are over 400 images [textures or alphas and their thumbnails] in the cache there will be a warning message and it is best to restart ZBrush before continuing.

Note on file types: Only files with the extensions .psd, .tif, .jpg and .bmp are used. Duplicate names should be avoided: when there are two files with the same name but different extensions the Loader will use the .psd one first, irrespective of which file you selected. If you use a Mac and select a file with an extension other than .psd, .tif, .jpg or .bmp then the Loader will create a duplicate with a .psd extension. If you are adding files to the Alpha Loader this duplicate will be black & white even if the original is color.

Using the Loader

  • Click on a tab to select that folder and use the scroll buttons << >> to browse the thumbnails 25 at a time. Clicking on either a thumbnail or the large image will load that file. To load more than one image at a time, press the Thumbtack icon to pin the Loader open.
  • To enlarge a thumbnail click on the Magnify button.
  • Click the Favorites button to add the large image file to the Favorites tab.
  • Click the Delete button to delete the large image file from the current tab. Your original file is unaffected.
  • Click the Clear button to clear a tab of all files. You will then be able to select a new folder and files to add to the Loader. Only the Loader records are deleted - your original files are unaffected.
  • Click the Search tab to search for a file by name. You must use more than three characters. Up to 250 results will be returned. The search is preserved until the tab is cleared using the Clear button. A new search can then be made.
  • Click the Favorites tab to view your selected Favorites. When Favorites is the current tab clicking the Load Favs button will load all the files.

All the Loader settings are preserved between ZBrush sessions. You can quickly load any files in the Favorites tab by using a hotkey. You will need to assign hotkeys to the buttons by Ctrl+clicking the button and then choosing the hotkey. Try SHIFT+A for Alphas, SHIFT+X for Textures.


Download the Alpha and Texture Loader plugins from the Download Center

For plugin installation instructions see here.

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