ZBrush4 Transpose
From ZBrush Info
TransPose is the action line, activated by being in Edit mode and turning on Move, Rotate or Scale. Its main usage is to create quick poses by mixing topological masking and the position of the action line to do bends, twists, moves and scaling. These transformations can be symmetrical if desired.
TransPose can also be useful to simply manipulate your Tools or SubTools in space without deforming them.
ZBrush 4 brings several enhancements to TransPose:
Contents |
TransPose Units
TransPose Unit in action, with Head units.
TransPose can now display graduations on its line to do measurements. The graduations are enabled by default and can be changed in the Preferences >> TransPose Units menu.
The purpose of the units in ZBrush is to let you easily verify the dimensions of an object while working on the proportions of a model. At any time you can set the units value to one of your choice and initialize the length of the action line to 1 unit. Then when you increase or decrease the length of action line, you will be able to measure in the defined units.
To give you an example, load the DemoSoldier project. Activate Move and draw on the model to create a action line that has the length of the head. After setting this length to 1 unit in the preferences and naming the units “Heads” (see below), you can increase the length of the action line from the top of the head to the foot to see that the demo soldier is 7.8 Heads in length!
TransPose Units Preferences
Changes the TransPose Units preferences to fit your needs, depending of your project:
- Unit Scale: Sets a scale factor to the current units. When calibrating the units it is advised to set this slider to 1 first.
- Set Units: Click on this button to enter your units. As it is virtual units, enter any text you want: cms, inches, heads, light years, clicks, rocks, etc. Press Enter to validate your unit.
- Minor Ticks Per Units slider: This is the number of small graduations between the Major ones, like millimeters marks between centimeters or 8ths of an inch.
- Major Ticks Per Units slider: This is the number of main ticks in the action line, like the half inch marks on a ruler.
- Calibration Distance slider: Display the distance of the action line, from one extremity to the other. Change this value to calibrate the action line.
Calibrate TransPose
The steps below will calibrate TransPose to suit your needs:
- Switch to TransPose by clicking on Move, Scale or Rotate while in Edit mode.
- Move the ends of the TransPose line to define the beginning and end what will be the unit length.
- Open the Preferences >> TransPose Units menu.
- Change the Units Scale slider value to 1.
- Click on set units and enter the unit name of your choice.
- Change the Major Ticks Per Unit slider value to 1.
- Change the Minor Ticks Per Unit slider to a value of your choice, like 2. The line will display a mark between each major tick.
- Change the Calibration slider value to 1. This sets the current action line length to 1 unit length.
Now drag an end of the action line to increase its length. Notice that new tick marks will appear. Also, the total length will be displayed in the status bar.
Various changes and additions
- The action line can be moved while creating it by holding the spacebar. Release it to continue drawing the action line.
- While in Move or Scale (not Rotate) you can hold the Alt key before clicking on your 3D object. This will execute the operation directly without drawing the action line.
- When in Move mode you can change the model’s Z depth. Do this by holding the Alt key, clicking on the mesh and releasing Alt before you start to drag the cursor. Dragging back and forth will now change the depth.
- When drawing the action line, tap the CTRL/Command key once to launch the Move, Scale or Rotate operation. When using Rotate or Scale, the center of the operation (scale center or rotation pivot) will be located on the part of the action line that is opposite from your cursor.
