Picker Palette
From ZBrush Info
The Picker palette controls how a new brush stroke will interact with the existing orientation, depth, color, and material values of the pixols on the canvas. Like the Stroke types, choosing different picker combinations will change the behavior of each tool, effectively giving you hundreds of tools to use.
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Brush Stroke Properties
The Picker palette allows you to control aspects of four different properties of your brush stroke; the color, material, depth, and orientation. For more details on colors and materials, see the Color Palette and the Material Palette. Below, we explain further about the depth and orientation properties.
ZBrush brush strokes affect not only the color of the pixols they pass over, but also the depth—distance from the viewer—of the pixols. This leads to the question of how the depth is calcuated for each pixol. Is it absolute? Is it relative to the pixol underneath? The Picker palette allows you to choose between these in various ways.
Brush strokes can also orient themselves with respect to the angle of the surface underneath. This is most obvious when drawing with 3D tools. For example, use the SimpleBrush to draw some depth on the canvas, and then pick the Cylinder tool and the DragDot Stroke type (see the Tool Palette and Stroke Palette for further information on these), and drag an instance of a cylinder over the painted surface to place it. If the Picker settings are at their default, you'll see the cylinder's orientation change in response to the orientation of the underlying surface. The Picker palette gives you other ways of setting a stroke's orientation.
As shown above, the Picker palette contains four groups of controls that affect four different properties. These are discussed by group, below.
Controls
Layer Controls
ZBrush offers multiple layers of pixols. (See the Layer Palette for more details.) When drawing a stroke that takes properties from underlying pixols, we might want to choose which layers are evaluated when looking for those properties. In addition, there is a nonobvious but important question of how the dynamic action of painting should affect picked properties. The layer controls address these issues.
Active: When active, only the active layer is evaluated when assigning values to a stroke. To put it another way, this causes property picking to behave as if all layers but the active layer are invisible, and properties are picked only from what is visible (the active layer). ----
Other: When active, all other layers (but not the active layer) are evaluated when assigning values to a stroke. For example, if you are picking colors with this setting on, the active layer is blue, and there is one other layer that is green, then your brush strokes will be green—even in areas where the active layer hides the inactive layer. This allows you to bring up properties from "underneath" the active layer.
All: This is the most intuitive setting. When active, all layers are evaluated when assigning values to a stroke, so properties are obtained from the pixol underneath the brush, whatever its source.
Example of Active/Other/All
The following illustration shows the effect of the Active/Other/All settings. In all three images, the three spheres are on different layers, and a single stroke is drawn from left to right across the three spheres, with the depth setting set to follow the depth underneath the brush. (See the Z Cont setting below).
In the first case, Active is set, and the depth of the stroke only follows the green sphere in the active layer. So, it goes behind the other two spheres. In the second case, Other is set, and the stroke only follows the spheres in the other layers, so it is behind the green sphere in the active layer. In the third case, All is set, and the stroke follows the depths across all layers and so appears on top of all spheres.
Dynamic: When making a stroke, ZBrush can evaluate one of two images to assign values to the stroke. ZBrush retains an image before the stroke and an image as the stroke is being made. When Dynamic is on, information is taken from the image as it is being made, meaning that changes occuring as the stroke is being made affect the picking of properties for that stroke. If this setting as off, then all picking takes place from the copy of the original (pre-stroke) canvas.
This is particularly noticeable with depth. If Dynamic is on, then a continous stroke can "heap depth" upon itself, meaning that simply by drawing the brush across an area multiple times, you can build up the depth at that area. With dynamic off, the depth does not do this. This can be visible even in simple strokes, as below.
A single stroke with the SimpleBrush, with Dynamic off (left) and on (right).
Orientation Controls
The orientation section of the picker determines how new brush strokes and objects align themselves to the existing pixols on the canvas. Default = Continuous.
Once Ori: Orients the new stroke perpendicular to the surface at mouse down and keeps that orientation throughout the stroke.
Cont Ori: Evaluates the pixols under the cursor and orients the stroke perpendicular to them continuously.
Constant Orientation Selector: Orientation is determined by this "virtual pencil" tool and stays constant throughout the stroke. All objects and strokes will be created at this orientation. Click and drag on the pencil tool to turn on Constant orientation and set the angle.
Note:By default, the constant orientation selector is perpendicular to the canvas, which means you see only the eraser of the pencil; so initially, this thumbnail appears to contain just a pink circle.
Example of Orientation Controls
The same stroke with three different orientation settings. In all cases, the stroke goes from top left to bottom right. In the first case (Ori Once), the stroke is perpendicular to the surface of the sphere only at its start, and maintains the same orientation thereafter. In the second case (Ori Cont), the stroke is continuously perpendicular to the surface of the sphere. In the third case (Constant Orientation Selector), the orientation of the stroke is constant and independent of the surface of the sphere.
Depth Controls
The Depth section of the picker determines how new brush strokes and objects position themselves relative to the depths of existing pixols. Default = Continuous.
Once Z: Aligns to the surface depth at mouse down and keeps that depth throughout the stroke.
Cont Z: Continuously evaluates the pixols under the cursor and adjusts to their depth.
Z(constant depth setting): This is a switch, slider, and picker, all in one. If it is on, then depth of the stroke is determined by the value of this slider. You can enter a value numerically, by sliding, or click and drag to the canvas and “pick” depth values from it.
Example of Depth Controls
In the illustrations below, the 'S' stroke was drawn across the sphere in a continuous motion, from top left to bottom right. In the left, Once Z was chosen, so the stroke was at a continous Z-depth determined by its start; it is visible only when it comes out of the sphere at the same depth. In the middle case, it was drawn with Z Cont on, so the depth of the stroke follows the surface of the sphere. In the last case, the stroke is at a constant depth set by the Z slider, and the slider is closer to the camera than is the sphere's surface under the start of the stroke.
Color Controls
The Color section of the picker determines how new brush strokes and objects are colored relative to the existing pixols color. Drag from the color thumbnail onto the canvas to select a color from the canvas.    ----
Once Col: Evaluates the surface color at mouse down and keeps that color throughout the stroke.
Cont Col: Continuously evaluates the pixols under the cursor and takes on their color.
Color Picker: This is both a switch and a picker. When on, color is determined by the main color set in the Color palette, regardless of what is underneath the mouse. You may click and drag from this patch to any other point in the ZBrush window to select the color at that point.
Example of Color Controls
In the illustration below, the 'S' is drawn from top right to bottom left. In the first figure, Once Col is on, and the stroke maintains the color under its starting position throughout the stroke. In the second figure, Cont Col is on, and the stroke takes the color of whatever pixol is under the mouse cursor as the cursor moves. In the third figure, the Color Picker has been used to set a color that is independent of the underlying color.
Material Controls
The Material section of the picker determines how new brush strokes and objects are assigned material properties relative to the existing pixols material.
Once Mat: Evaluates the surface material at mouse down and keeps that material throughout the stroke.
Cont Mat: Continuously evaluates the material under the mouse and uses that material in the stroke at that point..
Material Picker: This is both a switch and a picker. When on, the stroke uses the material selected in the Material palette, regardless of what is under the mouse. You can click and drag from this patch to any point on the canvas to select the material at that point. This is not a popup selector; you will not get a material inventory popup by clicking on it.
Example of Material Controls
In the examples below, a single stroke was drawn across all three spheres, from left to right. In the leftmost case, Once Mat was set, so the stroke used the material of its starting point throughout. In the middle case, Cont Mat was set, so the stroke changed its material to match whatever was underneath the mouse. In the final case, the Material Picker was used to pick the same material as used in the first sphere, and that material was therefore used for the entire stroke.
