ZBrush4R2 FAQ
From ZBrush Info
Turn on Wax Preview
For Wax Preview to work you need to have options set in both the Material and the Render palette:
- For the selected material, set the Material > Wax Modifiers > Strength slider to greater than zero.
- Turn on the Render > Render Properties > Wax Preview option.
Additional control is available through the Render > Preview Wax menu (for global effects) or on a per-material basis for embedded materials in the Material > Wax Modifiers menu.
Render Transparency using BPR
In ZBrush 4R2 you don't use the intersect option on the subtool anymore. Go to 'Tool > Display Properties' and turn on 'BPR Transparent' button. This can be set for each subtool.
Dynamesh makes holes in my mesh
For an explanation about how to solve this see Dynamesh and Surfaces/Restrictions.
Isn't Dynamesh the same as Remesh in ZBrush 4?
- DynaMesh is a new technology.
- DynaMesh is capable of re-meshing shapes that could not have been re-meshed by previous versions.
- DynaMesh is capable of re-meshing the interior of the mesh even if it is hidden from view (See the 'Create Shell' function).
- DynaMesh is more accurate and faster than any previous re-meshing code.
In other words... Z4 re-meshing was very good but Z4R2 DynaMesh is far superior.
Change the Brush hotkeys (pop-up palette)
Here is what you have to do:
- Click B to bring up the brush palette.
- Then click the letter that you want to narrow down to, in this example click C.
- With C clicked all you will see is the brushes that start with C. This is when you will see the next letter that selects the brush.
- At this point you can hold CTRL+ALT to change the shortcut to whatever you want by just clicking on the brush and then click your new shortcut.
NOTE: Keep in mind that when you do this ZBrush automatically replaces the shortcut of another brush if you select a shortcut that is already assigned.
Get Tool palette items to appear in my Custom UI
If your custom UI has missing Tool palette buttons then you need to install a small plugin utility which is available in the ZBrush 4R2 Troubleshooting FAQ.
Get Noisemaker sliders to accept Keyboard Input
The complete NoiseMaker module has not yet been released. It will be released separately, and when it does, you'll be able to use the keyboard to enter precise values.
The WWW search features in LightBox don't work
The companies that we use to gather the search results from are currently updating their remote search protocols. We will not be able to update the WWW search features until this has been done. No ETA is possible at this time.
Open ZBrush 4R2 files in ZBrush 4
This is not possible directly. What you can do is export your highest subdivision level, import that into ZBrush 4 and then reconstruct the subdivision levels. Use the GoZ Complete Binary file format (available in the File Save dropdown) as this will also export any polypaint and masking. Note that any HD Geometry will be lost.
Below are questions relating to ZBrush 4 (but which may also be useful with ZBrush 4R2).
Get ZBrush to keep my Group Names
It is easy to restore your group names before exporting your finished sculpt. This means you don't have to worry about preserving the groups while you are sculpting:
- Go to the lowest subdivision level.
- Store a morph target. (If there is already a morph target delete it first).
- Import the original OBJ which has the group names.
- Switch the morph target.
- Export the OBJ which will have the group names restored.
Solve strange Masking issue
When masking part of a mesh another part will become masked as well. To correct this so that masking works as expected:
- Shift+Ctrl+drag over a portion of the model to select. Release the mouse button. The area enclosed in green will remain visible and the rest of the mesh will be hidden.
- Shift+Ctrl+click the canvas background. The whole mesh will become visible and the masking issue should now be resolved.
Get GoZ to correctly update topology in ZBrush
Sometimes when using GoZ to return to ZBrush the topology update will produce undesired effects.
Most likely what you will need to do is adjust your Projection Dist (Tool>SubTool>Dist slider). There is no way to have a default setting that will work with every model. By default the distance is set at 1. A good start may be a Dist setting between 0.02-0.09. But this is something that you will need to do a trial and error on. There is no sweet number that will work with every model.
All you have to do is adjust the Projection Dist and then GoZ from your other app. If it does not work do one undo, change your dist again, and then GoZ from the other application.
For more information see here on the GoZ page.
Avoid the Warning message when picking Mask or Selection/Clip Brushes
If you hold Ctrl when selecting a Masking brush, and hold Shift+Ctrl when selecting a Selection/Clip brush then message won't appear. You may find it easiest to Ctrl+click (or Shift+Ctrl+click) the Current Brush thumbnail on the left of the UI rather than calling the large popup using B.
Stop Random Zooms when navigating the Viewport
When navigating the model, particularly when zoomed in close, the model will suddenly zoom out or disappear completely.
Solution:
- Turn off Preferences>Interface>Rightclick Navigation and save the configuration (Shift+Ctrl+i).
Load Spotlights from Lightbox
- Create a new folder in the ZBrush 4.0 main folder called ZSpotlights
- Save your Spotlights to this folder and they will appear in Lightbox under the Spotlight tab.
- You will then also be able to create a new folder from the Lightbox Spotlight tab if you wish
Sculpt while using Spotlight as Reference images
- In the Brush>Samples menu turn off Spotlight Projection. You will then be able to sculpt with all the sculpting brushes, and have the images visible.
- To sculpt with a reference image in front of your model, adjust the Opacity of the image using the Spotlight dial opacity function.
