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ZBrush 4R2b what’s new guide

ZBRUSH 4 R2b

WHAT’S NEW DOCUMENTATION

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WELCOME

Welcome to the ZBrush 4R2b What’s New documentation. While much of ZBrush 4R2b is very similar to version 4 and 4R2, there are quite a few new features to help make your ZBrushing even more productive and creative. We hope that the information you find here helps you understand the differences between this release and previous versions of ZBrush.

This document only covers what’s new in version 4R2b. To learn more about the features introduced in ZBrush 4 and 4R2, we invite you to read the ZBrush 4 /4R2What’s New Guides, located in the ZBrush 4R2/Documentation folder.

You’re invited to visit our ZClassroom for a huge database of free high quality movies explaining all the main features of ZBrush. Here you will also find the Artists Spotlight, where famous 3D Artists explain how they use ZBrush, helping inspire you to create like the pros.

Don’t forget to subscribe for free to our ZBrushCentral community with over 300,000 members to discover tips, view artists’ creations, locate useful help for all things related to ZBrush or post your works-in-progress!

We encourage you to regularly visit our ZBrush Blog where you will find all the news related to the ZBrush universe, from the most recent Interview to new plugins or gallery additions.

ZClassRoom Portal: http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/

Artist Spotlight: http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/artistspotlight/

ZBrushCentral: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/

ZBlog: http://www.pixologic.com/blog/

Pixologic.com: http://www.pixologic.com

The Pixologic Team

© 2012 Pixologic, Inc. All rights reserved, Pixologic and the Pixologic logo, ZBrush, and the ZBrush logo are registered trademarks of Pixologic, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of

their respective owners.

http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/

http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/artistspotlight/

http://www.zbrushcentral.com

http://www.pixologic.com/blog/

http://www.pixologic.com

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MAC OS X & WINDOWS VERSION OF ZBRUSH

Instead of the Windows Ctrl key, the Macintosh uses the Command (Apple) Key. This documentation will always refer to using the Ctrl key name, although it may sometimes list both as Ctrl/Command. When the Ctrl key is mentioned anywhere in the documenta-tion a Macintosh user will want to use the Command key instead.

The same is true for the Windows Enter key, which the Macintosh calls Return. When seeing the Enter key mentioned anywhere in this documentation, a Mac user will want to use the Return key instead.

The Close/Quit, Hide, Minimize and Maximize buttons are located on the top right in Windows and at the top left on Mac OS X.

ZBrush 4R2b Documentation - version 1.00

This documentation has been written by Thomas Roussel, Paul Gaboury, Matthew Yetter, Solomon Blair and Louie Tucci.

For all documentation questions and inquiries, please contact us at [email protected]

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I ABOUT ZBRUSH 4R2B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

II INSTALLATION, UPGRADE & ACTIVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1. Minimum requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83. Activation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94. Re-activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115. Deactivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126. Activation Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137. Upgrade Process to 4R2b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

7.1 Upgrade process on Windows: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147.2 Upgrade process on Mac OSX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

8. GoZ and ZBrush 4 and ZBrush 4R2/R2b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159. Un-installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1610. Support Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

III FIBERMESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1. About the FiberMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182. Fiber Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193. Fibers Sub-palette Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214. FiberMesh UV’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275. Additional Information About FiberMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

IV MICRO MESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

1. About MicroMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292. MicroMesh and Millions of Polygons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303. MicroMesh Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

V BRUSHES AND BRUSHES SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

1. New Groom Brushes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331.1 room Hairtoss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341.2 Groomer Strong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341.3 Groom Blower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341.4 Groom Clumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351.5 Groom Turbulence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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1.6 Groom Fast Lengthen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351.7 Groom Root Colorize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361.8 Groomer Magnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361.9 Groomer Twist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361.10 Groom Twist Slow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371.11 Groom Hair Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371.12 Groom Hair Ball Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371.13 Groom Spike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371.14 Groom Spin Knot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371.15 Groom Spin Knot Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2. Brush Fiber Mesh Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383. New Brushes for General Sculpting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3.1 Spiral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.2 Fold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.3 Layered Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.4 Curve Multi Lathe and Multi Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4. Brushes Twist Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405. Auto mask FiberMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

VI TRANSPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

1. TransPose Curve Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422. TransPose Smart Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

VII ALPHAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

1. Surface Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442. Seamless Slider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443. Create from Noisemaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444. Alpha with TransPose to Create Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

VIII MASKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

1. Mask by Surface Smoothness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462. Fiber Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473. Shrink and Extend Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484. Transpose Smart Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485. Masks Based on Polygroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

IX WORKING WITH YOUR MODEL & TOPOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

1. UnClip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502. Group Mask and Group UnMasked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

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3. Edgeloop Mask Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

X RENDER AND MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

1. Mixer: By Cavity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522. Global Shadow Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523. Global Ambient Occlusion Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534. Global Ambient / Diffuse / Specular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535. Reuse Existing Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536. BPR Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537. Cast BPR Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

XI NEW BPR FILTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

1. Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552. BPR Filters Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

XII OTHER ADDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

1. Morph target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572. Expert images and textures as JPG files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573. Export ScreenGrab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574. Visible Symmetry Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585. Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

XIII IMPROVEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

1. Stored Ambient Occlusion and Shadows Information:. . . . . . 592. Preview of Mesh Extract before validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593. Perspective improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594. MorphDist Slider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605. Coverage Group Visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606. Render adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607. Wax Preview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608. Material in Project files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

XIV SPECIAL THANK YOU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

XV NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

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I ABOUT ZBRUSH 4R2B

ZBrush 4R2b not only implements various minor enhancements and polish to exist-ing features, it also introduces major new features which can dramatically enhance your ability to create major models or illustrations fully in ZBrush.

These new functions and workflow enhancements will help you push beyond the lim-its of your creativity. It will also help you be more of an artist and less of a technician by helping you focus only on the visual aspects of your art without worrying about complex iterations to achieve your desired results.

ZBrush 4R2b is packed with new and exciting features, additions and changes de-signed to fit your needs and the way you work.

• FiberMesh to create fiber, fur and hair which may be sculpted in real-time.

• New set of dedicated FiberMesh “Groom” brushes and corresponding new Brush settings.

• MicroMesh support to replace Fibers or individual polygons with any selected 3D object during a Best Preview Render.

• New set of BPR Filters and operators to greatly improve your final ZBrush ren-ders.

• BPR Global Shadow and Ambient Occlusion settings make render setup easier than ever.

• New Cavity Mixer which is able to define different materials based on the mesh surface.

• TransPose enhancement for improved creation of small details through precise Alpha and Mask with Alpha placement.

• Surface Smoothness detection accounts for surface curvature when creating Masks.

• New global deformation with TransPose Curve deformation and UnClip.

• Improved mask operations with Shrink and Extend.

• Topology editing additions with the new Group Mask and Edgeloop Mask Border.

• New JPEG Exporter with crop, preview and adjustment settings.

• Numerous improvements such as storing shadow information based on the cam-era point of view, mesh Extraction preview, Auto Adjust mode for perspective and a lot more.

We look forward to seeing your ZBrush 4R2b creations and comments on our users forum: ZBrushCentral.com!

http://www.zbrushcentral.com

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II INSTALLATION, UPGRADE & ACTIVATION

This is the useful information that you will need to know when installing ZBrush on your computer. This chapter also describes the activation and de-activation process.

1. MiniMuM requireMents

Recommended:

• OS: Windows Vista, 7 or newer, 32 bits or 64 bits; Mac OS X 10.5 or newer. (ZBrush 4 is a 32-bit application, but can use up to 4 GB of system RAM)

• CPU: Pentium D or newer (or equivalent such as AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer) with optional multithreading or hyperthreading capabilities.

• RAM: 2048MB recommended for working with multi-million-polys.

• Monitor: 1280x1024 monitor resolution set to Millions of Colors.

• Pen tablet: Wacom or Wacom compatible.

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows XP; Mac OS X 10.5.

• CPU: P4 or AMD Opteron or Athlon64 Processor. (Must have SSE2 -- Streaming SIMD Extensions 2. All CPU’s from 2006 or later support SSE2.)

• RAM: 1024MB. (2048 MB recommended)

• Monitor: 1024x768 monitor resolution set to Millions of Colors.

2. installation

Installation process:

1. After purchasing ZBrush 4R2b through our web store (powered by Cleverbridge) or when receiving your upgrade to it a serial number and a download link will be provid-ed to you. Save this information for your records! You will need your serial number any time you install ZBrush 4R2b.

2. Download the ZBrush installer file and double-click on it to run the Install Wizard. Follow the on-screen steps to be guided through the installation. You choose from a default installation with the most common options or a custom install that will allow you to specify the destination path and other options.

3. When the installation process is done, double-click on the ZBrush shortcut creat-ed on the desktop or launch it through the Program Files (x86) >> Pixologic >> ZBrush

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4 R2 >> ZBrush.exe on Windows. For Mac OS X it will be the application located in the Application >> ZBrush 4R2 OSX >> ZBrush folder.

4. For Windows Vista or 7: On first launch ZBrush will need to be run as an Admin-istrator. Right-click on the desktop shortcut for ZBrush or on the ZBrush.exe file in the root ZBrush 4R2 folder and choose “Run as Administrator”. A Windows popup will then ask you to allow this.

Notes (should not be necessary, but are provided in case the installer fails to configure ZBrush correctly for your environment):

If ZBrush displays a Windows error on first launch, please install the vcredist_x86_VS2008_sp1.exe located in the TroubleshootHelp folder. It may also be necessary to disable DEP as described in the text file found in the TroubleshootHelp folder.

If you are a Mac user and receive a virtual memory error upon launching ZBrush, the permis-sions will need to be changed. Get Info on the ZBrush 4R2 folder and change permission for the Everyone group to “Read & Write”. Also click the gear icon underneath the permissions group and select the option to apply to enclosed items.

Please check that a “vmem” folder is available on the root of ZBrush 4R2 folder, and also a “TempFiles” folder in the ZStartup folder.

DO NOT ever attempt to run ZBrush in compatibility mode for an earlier version of Windows. Doing so will prevent activation or will break activation on a copy that was previously running.

3. activation

This step must be completed in order to launch ZBrush successfully.

The single-user ZBrush license allows you to have ZBrush activated on two of your computers, provided that both copies are not actually used at the same time. For ex-ample it may be activated on a workstation and a laptop. Please keep in mind that only one copy of ZBrush should be run at any given time.

Volume licenses allow only the number of activations for which seats have been purchased.

Floating licenses do not use activation and can ignore this section.

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ZBrush activation window.

• Launch ZBrush.

• From the splash screen, select your desired activation method.

• If your computer is connected to the internet (or can be temporarily connected), use Web Activation. This activation method is faster and more accurate. After ZBrush has displayed the End User License Agreement window, your web browser will be opened to a page that requests your serial number, the email address associated with your account, and a description that you can use to identify this computer should you ever need to see a list of your activations. Upon submitting this form you will be given an activation code. Click the button to select the code, then press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac) to copy it. Switch back to ZBrush and click the button to “Enter Activation Code”. A new window will open with a red text line. Click in that line and press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac) to paste the activation code. Now press Enter/Return to complete activation.

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The Web activation form

Or

• If your computer cannot be connected to the internet, use Phone Activation. PLEASE NOTE THAT DURING THE WEEK FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF VER-SION 4R2b, HIGH CALL VOLUME MAY MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO REACH SUP-PORT FOR PHONE ACTIVATION. After ZBrush has displayed the End User License Agreement window, a new screen will open with your request code and a phone num-ber to call. Please have your serial number ready before calling! When you call you will be asked for your serial number, request code, email address and desired computer description. An activation code will be created and sent to the email address on record for your account. If you cannot conveniently check your email, the phone representa-tive will be able to read the 32-letter activation code to you. To enter your activation code into ZBrush, click the option to “Enter Activation Code”. Click in the red text line within the window that will open, type your activation code and press Enter/Return to complete your activation.

• Instead of calling, you may follow the steps above but write down the request code that ZBrush gives you. You may then shut down ZBrush. From any computer that has internet access you can submit a Support ticket at https://support.pixologic.com. In your ticket, provide the following information: The request code from ZBrush, your serial number, your email address, and your desired computer description. You should receive a response to your Support ticket within one business day (often within one or two hours) containing your activation code. At that point, launch ZBrush and choose the option to “Enter Activation Code”. (Note: Do not start a new Phone Activation.) Click in the red text line within the window that will open, type your activation code and press Enter/Return to complete your activation.

• Once activated, ZBrush will start immediately.

4. re-activation

ZBrush 4R2b will count against your serial number as a new activation, even if you already have the previous version of ZBrush installed and activated on your computer. (This is different from the upgrade to version 4R2 which counted as the same activa-

https://support.pixologic.com

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tion as ZBrush 4.) For this reason, it is highly recommended to deactivate your existing ZBrush 4R2 before updating to ZBrush 4R2b.

Please note that single-user licenses allow two activations per user. This is mainly to let you have ZBrush running on your workstation and as an example, on your laptop. However, this is for your personal use and it is a violation of the license to run both cop-ies at the same time (such as you on one machine and your friend on another). Volume licenses only allow a number of concurrent activations equal to the number of seats that have been purchased. They allow several artists to use ZBrush simultaneously.

On entering the license information, the Activation process can offer you a license re-activation.

5. Deactivation

Launch ZBrush and go to the Zplugin >> Deactivation menu. There are two options: Web Deactivation and Manual Deactivation.

The Deactivation plugin in the ZPlugin menu.

Deactivation process:

If your computer has internet connection, use Web Deactivation. This will launch your browser to a page that asks for the email address associated with your ac-count. Submit that form and then click the confirmation button to instantly complete your deactivation of ZBrush.

or

If your computer cannot be connected to the internet, you will need to use Manual Deactivation. In this case you will be given a deactivation code. You may either call the number on the screen to deactivate by phone (only available during normal business hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday) or you may submit a Support ticket at https://support.pixologic.com. Please note that by either method you will also be required to provide the email address that is associated with the account.

Note:

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Once deactivation has been started, it is not possible to stop it. The moment you press the button for your desired deactivation method, ZBrush will shut itself down and will not be able to be restarted without a new activation. However, the deactivation will not be credited back to your serial number until you have submitted the Web Deactivation form or contacted Support with your manual deactivation code.

6. activation troubleshooting

“Activation Failed” after entering activation code:

• Make sure you are not trying to use your serial number as an activation code. Serial numbers are 16 characters in length, with both letters and numbers. Activation codes are longer and have all letters. You will never enter your serial number directly into ZBrush. It is always used via Web or Phone activation to create an activation code.

• Make sure you are not trying to use an outdated activation code. Any time you install ZBrush you must begin with a new Web or Phone activation to create a new activation code. Codes from previous activations cannot be reused.

• Make sure that your system clock is set to the correct date, including year. If the date is wrong, activation will fail. After correcting the date you will need to start the activation process over from the beginning.

• Make sure that you are logged into the computer as an administrator when install-ing and activating ZBrush. After it has been activated it may be run by any user on that computer, but the initial installation and activation must be done under an admin account.

• (Mac Users) If you launch ZBrush and immediately receive an error message (such as a virtual memory error) that must be resolved before activation can be done successfully. This error is typically caused by permissions. For most environments, simply get info on the ZBrush OSX 4R2b folder. Unlock permissions and then assign Read & Write permission to the “Everyone” user group. Next, click the gear icon un-derneath the users list and choose the option to “Apply to Enclosed Items”. When the process completes you should be able to launch ZBrush without an error message and may then proceed to activation.

If the above troubleshooting items do not resolve your issue, please contact Pixologic Support for assistance. Make sure to state from the beginning that you have already tried activation and it failed. Phone activation uses the same system as Web activation, so if Web activation failed you will have the same problem with Phone. We need to resolve the issue rather than just trying under a different method.

7. upgraDe process to 4r2b

Note:The Upgrade portions of these instructions only apply to users who are upgrading from an

earlier version of ZBrush. People for whom 4R2b is an original purchase should skip to the “Acti-

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vation Process” section.ZBrush 4R2b is provided as an updater for users who already have ZBrush 4R2

installed.

Note:If you currently have ZBrush 4 or an earlier version you will need to upgrade to version 4R2

before you will be able to update to 4R2b. To do this, please submit a Support ticket at https://sup-port.pixologic.com. Be sure to include your purchase and/or license information so that we may locate your account and upgrade you in a timely manner. After upgrading to 4R2 you will then be able to use the 4R2b updater.

ZBrush 4R2b also includes enhancements to the activation system. Because of this, it is highly recommended that you deactivate version 4R2 prior to installing the update. To do this, launch ZBrush and click the Zplugin >> Deactivation >> Web Deactivation but-ton and then enter your account’s email address in the web page that will open.

Note:Failure to deactivate 4R2 prior to updating to 4R2b will cause 4R2b to count as an additional

activation against your serial number and may require you to contact Pixologic Support before you will be able to successfully activate 4R2b.

The upgrade process will automatically add and remove files within your existing installation of ZBrush in order to transform your ZBrush 4R2 to a fresh new ZBrush 4R2b.

Original files created by you will not be affected, but if you modified a legacy file of ZBrush 4R2 (such as a default brush setting which has been saved to overwrite the original brush it was created from) the update to version 4R2b will revert that item to its original default settings. This applies to Brushes, MatCaps, Alphas, default Project files and of course your customer User Interface settings.

Please BACKUP ALL OF YOUR CUSTOM ITEMS before updating. This may be done simply by making a copy of your ZBrush 4R2 folder.

7.1 upgraDe process on WinDoWs:

• If you are using ZBrush 4.0 (or earlier), you must upgrade it to 4R2 before updat-ing to ZBrush 4R2b.

• Deactivate your copy of ZBrush 4R2 by launching it and clicking Zplugin >> Deac-tivation >> Web Deactivation. This will launch your web browser to a page that asks for the email address associated with your account. Submitting that information and then confirming the deactivation will remove this computer from your activation list so that the machine won’t be counted twice after activating 4R2b.

• Quit ZBrush 4R2 if it is already running.

• Make a backup copy of your ZBrush 4R2 folder.

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• Put the “ZBrush 4R2 upgrader.exe” file in the root folder of your ZBrush applica-tion. (If you installed 4R2 using the default settings, you will place the updater in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Pixologic\ZBrush 4R2 folder.)

• Run the ZBrush 4R2 upgrader.exe application and follow the instructions. Be sure to read the information windows as they appear.

• When the process is done, you can delete the updater or save it for your archives.

• Run ZBrush and proceed with its activation. Please read the “Re-Activation” chap-ter below for more information regarding this process.

• As a precaution, the updater will create a Backup folder within the ZBrush 4R2b folder. This folder will contain a copy of all files which have been removed or replaced by the process. After running ZBrush 4R2b for a few days without issues you can safely delete this folder and its contents. But if you find that you need to revert any legacy files, you will find them here.

7.2 upgraDe process on Mac osX

• If you are using ZBrush 4.0 (or earlier), you must upgrade it to 4R2 before updat-ing to ZBrush 4R2b.

• Deactivate your copy of ZBrush 4R2 by launching it and clicking Zplugin >> Deac-tivation >> Web Deactivation. This will launch your web browser to a page that asks for the email address associated with your account. Submitting that information and then confirming the deactivation will remove this computer from your activation list so that the machine won’t be counted twice after activating 4R2b.

• Quit ZBrush 4R2 if it is already running.

• Make a backup copy of your ZBrush OSX 4R2 folder.

• If the ZBrush OSX 4R2 folder has been moved to another location than the default Mac OSX Applications folder, please temporarily move it back to its default location. (Applications/ZBrush 4R2 OSX/)

• Execute the ZBrush 4R2b Upgrader.pkg file. Read the information windows as they appear and follow their instructions.

• When the process is done, you can delete the updater or save it for your archives.

• Run ZBrush and proceed with its activation. Please read the “Re-Activation” chap-ter below for more information regarding this process.

8. goZ anD Zbrush 4 anD Zbrush 4r2/r2b

ZBrush 4 and ZBrush 4R2/R2b can be used together with GoZ as main compo-nents are remaining the same, but it’s not possible to work on the same project between

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ZBrush 4 and ZBrush 4R2 at the same time. It’s only possible to take files from ZBrush 4 into ZBrush 4R2; the opposite is not possible as ZBrush 4 can’t open ZBrush 4R2 files.

If you start a project with ZBrush 4R2/R2b or if you open a ZBrush 4 file in R2/R2b and then save it, you will not be able to open the file in ZBrush 4 by any method – not even through GoZ.

9. un-installation

This process completely removes ZBrush from your computer.

Un-installation process:

1. In the ZPlugin menu, choose Web Deactivation and proceed with the license de-activation as explained in a section above. If you do not deactivate prior to un-instal-lation, the un-installed machine will continue to count against your serial number and potentially prevent you from reactivating!

2. On Windows, use the Windows Control Panel uninstall utility and follow the steps. On Mac OS X, simply move the ZBrush folder and the Users/Public/Pixologic folder to the Trash.

3. Check the location where ZBrush was installed for extra files which haven’t been deleted by the installer. You can delete those folders if you do not intend to use ZBrush on this computer again.

Note:

With the exception of GoZ, ZBrush doesn’t write files outside its own folder.

10. support registration

Beginning with ZBrush 3.5 it is now required to have a current Support account at http://support.pixologic.com in order to receive technical support for ZBrush. This account is free.

Activating an earlier version of ZBrush is not the same as having a registered Support account. The Support system is an independent platform. It does not use any existing log-ins that you might have for ZBrushCentral, Cleverbridge or any other ZBrush-related sites.

If you have not already registered on the Support site:

1. Go to https://support.pixologic.com.

2. Click the Register icon.

3. Enter your email address and whatever password you would like to use for the Support site. These will become your login info for the future.


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4. Fill in your system information. We need this info in order to respond to your sup-port requests more efficiently.

5. Also provide your ZBrush 4 serial number and the Cleverbridge reference number for your copy of ZBrush 4R2/4R2b. This information identifies you as someone who has actually purchased a ZBrush license.

6. After you submit the form you will receive a confirmation email at the address you used to register. Follow the instructions in that email to complete your registration.

If you have already registered on the Support site:

7. Go to https://support.pixologic.com.

1. In the box on the right, use your email address and password to log in.

2. The box on the right will now have a “My Account” button. Click this to manager your account.

3. Update your account to make sure that your system information is current.

4. Also update your account to have your new ZBrush 4/4R2/4R2b.

Once your Support account is current with your ZBrush 4/4R2/4R2b license informa-tion you will be able to submit tickets to receive technical support. You will also be able to call for phone support. All phone support calls will create a support ticket, which you will then be able to follow up on via the Support system or by email.


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III FIBERMESH

1. about the FiberMesh

ZBrush 4R2b brings a new specialized mesh generation tool: FiberMesh. You may already be familiar with the Fiber material from previous versions of ZBrush. FiberMesh is different because it is not a render process. Instead, FiberMesh creates real geometry on the fly which is added to the existing model as a new SubTool.

You will find FiberMesh in the Tool >> Fibers sub-palette.

Depending on your settings within the Fibers sub-palette, you can generate totally dif-ferent shapes for fibers, hair, fur and even vegetation. Thanks to these fibers being a real geometry, you then have the ability to sculpt your hairs with ZBrush’s powerful feature set. This includes the default sculpting brushes, Masks, TransPose, etc. as well as being able to paint them through the PolyPaint system. ZBrush 4R2b also introduces a number of “Groom” brushes designed specifically for use with the FiberMesh feature.

Of course, because these fibers are real geometry, they are also able to be exported to your application of your choice. Export the fiber geometry with or without UVs where each fiber will allow a texture to be applied to the individual fibers.

FiberMesh geometry is optimized for performance which includes specific attributes that allows the ZBrush groom sculpting brushes know that they are being used on a

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FiberMesh. Any 3D brush can be adjusted to edit fibers with new settings available in the Brush Palette. However, if you do something that changes the topology - like slicing the fibers or adding subdivision levels - ZBrush converts the FiberMesh into a classic PolyMesh3D. From that point forward, the sculpting brushes will behave exactly like they would for any normal mesh object

2. Fiber WorkFloW

Fibers must be generated on a mesh surface. They cannot simply be created out of empty space. Before generating your fibers, you must prepare the model that the fibers will be grown from. There are two main elements to this and of course, the Fibers set-tings:

• To color your fibers either use the Tip and Root color selection in the FiberMesh sub-palette or apply PolyPaint to the source model with the colors of your choice. When the fibers are generated, they will (depending on the Fibers settings) draw their coloration from that of the underlying surface. Even after fibers have been created you can continue to use PolyPaint to adjust your colors. With a combination of the new fiber masking options in the Tool >> Masking sub-palette you will have complete control to apply color anywhere on the fiber geometry. (See the New Masking section of this document.)

Note:The fibers can only use PolyPaint information. They cannot use the color information from a

texture. You would need to convert your texture to PolyPaint to use it for FiberMesh color informa-tion.

• Draw a Mask to define where you wish to have your fibers grow from on the model. The intensity of the Mask will modulate the density and the length of the fibers. It is advised to change the Mask intensity by modifying the RGB Intensity of the Mask brush and/or by blurring your Mask after it has been drawn. Lower intensity will create a less dense area of fibers with a short length. At full Mask intensity the fibers will take on the full attributes defined in the Tool >> Fibers sub-palette.

Note:When modifying a Mask brush setting, you must hold down the CTRL key while changing its

setting. Otherwise, you will affect the current sculpting brush settings instead of the Mask brush.

For better fibers distribution and overall best results, it is recommended to generate your model’s fibers in several passes. This will allow you have better control over the results rather then generating all your fibers at once.

• Once the surface’s PolyPaint and Mask have been defined, modify the Fibers set-tings according to the style you are looking for. Now press the Preview button. Your fibers will appear as a non-editable preview. At this stage, if you move your point of view or orientation of the model, the fibers will disappear until you release your mouse cursor. While in Preview mode, changing any of the Fibers settings will instantaneously

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update the fibers on your model without the need to cancel your operation and start from scratch.

• To evaluate your Fiber with complete shading, press the BPR button at the top right of the interface or use the Shift+R hotkey. This will render your FiberMesh so that you can be sure you’re happy with the results before proceeding to the sculpting and styling phase. Picking the right Material is also a key factor in your FiberMesh render, we recommend starting with one of the new Hair Materials that is included in ZBrush4R2b.

• Once you are satisfied with your results, press the Accept button to generate your FiberMesh as a new SubTool.

• You may now repeat the above steps with a different Masked area or different settings. In this way, a single surface can have many different types of Fibers effects.

Note3D brushes cannot be used on the preview fibers. You must click the Accept button, then

select the new Fiber SubTool that is created in order to use any 3D brush with the FiberMesh feature. When Accept is pressed ZBrush will create a new FiberMesh SubTool that is ready for sculpting and detailing.

• Once your fibers have been generated, select the resulting SubTool in the Tool >> SubTool sub-palette. You may now start using the different sculpting brushes to alter the fibers, including their colors.

• ZBrush 4R2b includes a wide variety of predefined Groom brushes dedicated to FiberMesh sculpting. These allow you to style the FiberMesh to the exact form and aspect that you wish. New settings have also been added to the Brush Palette for these brushes. (See the New Brushes section of this document.)

• In addition, all traditional sculpting brushes like Inflate, Pinch, Soft Concrete, Nudge (with the Picker set to Once Origin) and Move can be used to produce interest-ing results. Be aware that as these brushes were not designed specifically for use with Fibers, they can affect the shape of the fibers and the deformation can become extreme. In order to maintain fiber length when editing with none Groom brushes the new Preserve Length in the Brush>FiberMesh sub-palette must be turned up all the way. Learn more about the FiberMesh brush settings Brush FiberMesh Settings of this document.

• To restore your fibers to their default width or length (but not position) you can use the new Tool >> Morph Target >> Morph width slider and Tool >> Morph Target >> Morph length slider. Please refer to this document’s Morph Target section for more information.

• As with a traditional PolyMesh 3D, you can use the Mask brushes to protect cer-tain fibers. A unique feature when masking fibers is that when the mask is painted on any portion of a fiber, ZBrush will mask the entire fiber.

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An example of using a texture-based Mask a PolyPaint to generate colorful fibers.

3. Fibers sub-palette settings

FibersMesh fibers are composed of several settings which affect their shape, form and distribution. Most settings have an additional “variation” slider which will add some randomness to the corresponding setting in order to avoid a “too perfect” look in your fibers.

The FiberMesh sub-palette settings.

• Preview: By clicking on the Preview button, ZBrush will generate a temporary FiberMesh based on the current settings, explained below. While in this state you can change your Fibers settings and see the results updated in real-time. You may also

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generate a render with BPR to evaluate your final result. While Preview is active, rotat-ing or moving the model will temporarily hide the fibers until you release the mouse button. Changing your support model’s topology, Masking or PolyPainting information will disable the Preview. The fibers will disappear until you press Preview again. To completely turn off the fibers that are being displayed click on Preview again.

• Accept: Generates the FiberMesh as a SubTool to the support mesh. At this stage, the fibers will become a SubTool which may now be sculpted, styled and paint-ed. Except for the BPR render options for fibers all other Fibers sub-palette settings will not affect a FiberMesh once it has been converted to a SubTool. These settings only work in Preview mode.

• Max Fibers: Defines the maximum number of fibers generated. ZBrush will popu-late your model based on the other settings below. Values are in thousands of fibers.

Note:A human head typically has between 80,000 and 140,000 hairs, depending on hair color, thick-

ness and baldness.

• By Mask: Defines how strongly the Mask influences where fibers are to be cre-ated. The higher this slider, the more ZBrush will use the Mask as a guide to populate fibers. If there is a less intense Mask on your surface then ZBrush will populate fewer fibers with a shorter length. This slider’s effect is also calculated with the By Area slider so that the two sliders complement each other.

• By Area: Defines the fibers based on the underlining mesh topology. Fibers on large polygons will be longer and thicker than fibers on smaller polygons. This feature is important because it also considers the shape of the FiberMesh support surface and produces more natural fibers on models with orientation variations and breaks in the shape.

• Imbed: Defines if the root of the fiber will be directly on the underlying surface, hovering right above the underlying surface or imbedded deeper into the surface. This latter result is useful if you create your fibers on a low resolution surface and later will be subdividing the support mesh (causing it to contract slightly). Imbedding the fibers will ensure that they remain “attached” to the surface rather than end up floating above it.

• Length: Defines the overall length of the fibers. The individual length of each fiber is then modulated by the Mask intensity and the By Area slider settings.

• Coverage: Increases or decreases the width of the Fibers.

• Flare: Locally increases or decreases the width of the each Fiber so that it has a wider tip or root. The position of the Flare is determined by Flare Center (below).

• Flare Center: Defines the location of the Flare on the individual fibers. A positive value will increase the size of the tip while a negative value increases the size of the fiber’s root.

• Flare Exponential: Defines how the Flare progresses along the segments mak-ing up the length of the Fiber. A low value will define a fast progression of the Flare

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while a higher value will Flare progress more gradually along a greater portion of the fiber’s length.

• Scale Root and Scale Tip: Adjust the scale of the corresponding part of the fiber. These settings can be combined with the Flare settings above, giving you more control over the shape of the fibers.

• Slim: Defines the ratio between the width and height of the fiber section. Negative values flatten the fiber’s width while positive values flatten its depth.

• Twist: Applies a twist effect to each individual fiber.

Note: The Twist setting gives a better specular look when combined with the Anisotropic settings.

When using Fibers to create hair, it’s advised to use a little bit of Twist when possible to improve the visual appearance.

• Gravity: Causes the ends of the fibers to droop. The direction of the gravity is controlled by position of the model relative to the canvas’ working plane. For example, if you loaded the DemoHead.ZTL facing down with the top of his toward the camera the fibers direction will be dropping toward the front of the face.

Note:It’s important to first set your model’s orientation before setting or updating the Gravity value.

• Horizontal and Vertical Tangent: Alters the direction of the fiber by changing the Normal value of the support mesh in a vertical or horizontal direction. These settings are primarily used for generating fibers on top of a FiberMesh SubTool. Both settings can be helpful to create feather-like fibers by combining a fiber on the top of an existing FiberMesh. As this setting uses the polygon and the vertex order of the support mesh, it works better with FiberMesh objects than on normal meshes.

• Clumps: Attracts the tips of fibers together when grown from the same support polygon. Moving this slider to a negative value will separate the tips more such as with hair plugs.

• Base Color: Colors the base of the fibers using the color selected in the corre-sponding color patch to the slider’s left.

• Tip Color: Colors the tip of the fibers using the color selected in the correspond-ing color patch to the slider’s left.

• Morph Target Guided: Generates Fibers by comparing the current state of your tool to a previously stored morph target.

1. Select your Tool or SubTool.

2. Store the Morph Target by clicking on Tool >> Morph Target >> StoreMT.

3. Create sculptural change.

4. Click Tool >> Morph Target >> Switch.

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5. Activate the FiberMesh Preview using Tool >> FiberMesh >> Preview.

6. Click the Morph Target Guided button. ZBrush will generate Fibers by calculat-ing the difference between your model’s current state and the Morph Target.

The Morph Target Guided function in action.

• Profile: Defines the number of sides for each fiber. The default value is 1 which will create a strip of one sided flat polygon(s). Increasing the value to 3 or 4 will create a fiber that is capped off at the end. Increasing this value to higher numbers will create rounded fiber sections, but it will also drastically increase the FiberMesh polygon count.

When the value is adjusted higher than 1, ZBrush will warn you that you can alternately use the BPR Sides setting located in the Fibers sub-palette to increase the number of sides at render time rather than having to work with a high number of poly-gons during sculpting. We recommend keeping this value at 1 and use the BPR Render options when creating fibers that are intended for hair, fur, fabrics for clothing, and etc. Only use Profile when you’re going to be exporting your FiberMesh.

• Segments: Defines the number of segments along each fiber’s length. (Number of polygons per fiber per side.) A high value will create smoother angles but will also increase the total polygon count.

• Fast Preview: This allows you to modify and sculpt the fibers with more ease as ZBrush will only display the overall shape of the each fiber.

Note: Some settings like Flaring are not visible when in Fast Preview mode.

The Fast preview mode isn’t restricted to the current Fiber preview, but to the selected Fiber-Mesh SubTool after its creation.

• Preview Fiber Visibility (PRE Vis): Defines the number in percentage of fibers to display when the Fast Preview mode is enabled.

• Root and Tip Anisotropic: The Anisotropic value affects the surface normal of the root of the fiber or its tip. Increasing the values will producing a more natural looking fibers. When these values are raised the normals of the fiber will follow the path which allows the normals to lay flat on top of each other.

Note:Some settings like Flaring are not visible when in Fast Preview mode.

Unlike other Fibers settings, Fast Preview mode isn’t restricted to the current Fiber preview. It

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is instead applied to the selected FiberMesh SubTool after creation.

• Preview Fiber Visibility (PRE Vis): Defines the percentage of fibers to display when the Fast Preview mode is enabled. This can be used to speed up performance while working with your FiberMesh. Fibers that are invisible due to the Pre Vis value will still be affected by sculpting and painting.

• Root and Tip Anisotropic: The Anisotropic value affects the surface normal of the root of the fiber or of its tip. Increasing these values will produce more natural-looking fibers. When these values are increased, the normals of the fiber will follow a path that allows them to lay flat on top of each other.

Note:These settings are different than the material Anisotropic settings as they affect the geometry

surface aspect itself. As a result, you don’t need to change this setting in the Material settings. It is important to consider this point as some materials like MatCaps don’t have Anisotropic settings.

• Subdivision: Defines the number of times each fiber should be subdivided at render time. This operation subdivides the fiber in the same manner as traditional sub-division smoothing and makes the fibers look more natural.

• Sides: Defines the number of sides that each fiber will have when rendered. This setting is only available when the Profile slider value was set to 1 at the time the fibers were created.

• Radius: Increases the radius of the fibers when they are rendered, giving them volume without needing to increase the amount of actual geometry.

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Some examples of a FiberMesh created with the default settings and then sculpted using different Groom Brushes.

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4. FiberMesh uv’s

Once your Fibers have been generated as a FiberMesh it is possible to generate UV’s. The same UV map will be assigned to each individual Fiber, allowing you applying a texture to all of them. This provides additional possibilities for the look and style of your Fibers, especially when using them to create complex plants.

Due to the large amount of memory required for these UV’s, this feature isn’t auto-matic. Even though it’s the same map for all Fibers, these UV’s must still be associated with the individual vertices. When you have hundreds of thousands of Fibers (usually with many polygons each), that can become an exponentially large amount of data!

On the left, the original fibers. In the middle, creating the Fibers UV’s and selecting a texture. On the right, the final result.

Follow these steps to create UV’s for your Fibers and apply a texture to them:

1. Create your Fibers. For the memory reasons explained above, try to use a low Max Fiber setting.

2. By default, ZBrush will advise you to use Preview mode. In order to preview tex-tures, however, it is not recommended to use this mode.

3. Once your FiberMesh has been created, select its SubTool.

4. Go to the Tool >> UV Map sub-palette and click on FiberUV to generate the map-ping. Your UV’s will automatically be “per Fiber” which means that all Fibers will share the same UV’s. This button is enabled only when a SubTool composed of Fibers is selected.

Note:If the button is grayed out while having a SubTool composed of Fibers selected in the SubTool

sub-palette, it’s because you have modified the Fibers topology and transformed them to a default

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Polymesh3D. Operations like Slice Curve or applying a subdivision-level transformation to the FiberMesh topology will cause this to happen.

5. In the Tool >> Texture Map sub-palette, select the texture of your choice.

Note:You can use a texture with pure black color to define transparency. The Fibers will be rendered

corresponding to this transparency information. Keep in mind, however, that the transparent por-tions of the Fibers will still cast shadows just as if they didn’t have transparency.

5. aDDitional inForMation about FiberMesh

Several brushes are “fiber aware”, which means that they have a dedicated default behavior when used on a FiberMesh. By using a fiber aware brush you ensure that the attributes your Fiber was originally created with will be maintained. The exception is if you use a Groom brush that is designed to alter Fiber parameters such as how the Groom Length brush is meant to lengthen the Fibers.

• The Smooth Brush will reduce Fiber size, only affecting its thickness.

• The Mask brushes work on the full Fiber and propagate along it. It’s helpful to pro-tect groups of Fibers to shape them more accurately or even simply PolyPainting them.

• Each “classic” sculpting brush can become “fiber aware” by enabling the settings located in the Brush >> FiberMesh sub-palette. Please refer to the corresponding chap-ter for more information about these settings.

• For your most common needs when modifying Fibers, simply use the Groom se-ries of brushes as they were designed specifically to work with Fibers.

Note:The Groom brushes are mainly traditional brushes with Brush >> FiberMesh settings enabled.

• When Fibers are created and accepted, ZBrush stores a Morph Target. This al-lows you to use the various Morph settings to alter or revert your fibers. It also allows you to use the Morph brush to selectively revert the sculpting on your Fiber shapes.

• When Solo mode is enabled ZBrush will only display the FiberMesh together with its underlying support surface.

• When a FiberMesh preview is accepted, the created SubTool will be inserted just below the supported mesh SubTool rather than at the bottom of the SubTool list.

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IV MICRO MESH

MicroMesh is a BPR render feature which allows you to replace a FiberMesh object’s fibers or the individual polygons of an object with another 3D model. In other words, a model’s Fibers or separate polygons are rendered as if they were actually instances of the selected 3D model.

This solution is a great way to create rich renders with more details very quickly and easily. For example, you could put individual feathers on a bird or scales on a lizard.

1. about MicroMesh

MicroMesh replaces a predefined PolyMesh3D model at render time through the BPR render. The predefined PolyMesh3D will replace all single polygons with itself when a BPR render is executed. To do this you need to select a model to use as your Micro-Mesh by clicking Tool >> Display Properties >> Select MicroMesh.

The MicroMesh selector, located in the Tool >> Display Properties sub-palette.

As soon as the MicroMesh is selected, a preview will appear on each polygon of your current SubTool. This MicroMesh will replace all polygons at render time. The preview will allow you to have an idea of how your MicroMesh will render before doing your BPR render.

The orientation of the MicroMesh is defined by the pivot point position and orientation defined for the inserted model in the Tool >> Preview sub-palette. The size and orienta-tion relative to the support surface are then modulated by the support mesh polygon size and orientation.

1. Use the Tool palette to select the model that will be inserted as a MicroMesh.

2. Use the Tool >> Preview to set the model’s pivot point and orientation.

3. Use the Tool palette to select the model that will receive the MicroMesh.

4. Use Tool >> Display Properties >> Select MicroMesh to choose the model from step 1.

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To get an understanding of how your MicroMesh will be viewed relative to a polygon we recommend temporarily appending the Plane3D to your defined MicroMesh in Step 1 above. Use this to evaluate if the MicroMesh will be clipped by any one polygon. You can then delete the Plane3D SubTool so that you’re ready to move to step 2.

The MicroMesh feature will replace every polygon of any standard mesh. However, when using MicroMesh with a FiberMesh object, the MicroMesh will be stretched along the individual fiber regardless of the number of segments that are in each fiber.

To protect portions of your model from the MicroMesh you will need to split the object into separate SubTools.

To instruct BPR to render your MicroMesh you must enable the Draw MicroMesh op-tion, located in the Render >> Render Properties sub-palette.

Note:MicroMesh can’t be generated as real geometry. It is only visible at render time through BPR.

This is because the total polygon count from converting a MicroMesh into actual geometry would very easily exceed what ZBrush or your computer is capable of handling.

2. MicroMesh anD Millions oF polygons

It is important to keep in mind that a MicroMesh can be instanced hundreds or thou-sands of times on your surface. Depending on the polycount of the support mesh and the number of polygons in the MicroMesh, rendering can take some time. For example, if you apply a MicroMesh with just 1,000 polygons on a FiberMesh containing only 10,000 fibers the rendered result will be 10 million polygons! Be mindful of this as is quite easy to reach billons of polygons at render time when using the MicroMesh feature!

On a non-FiberMesh, as mentioned above, an instance of the MicroMesh will replace every single polygon in the selected mesh. If you load the default Cube project, the base mesh is already 24,500 polygons. That means that a MicroMesh would be applied to the cube is 24,500. Multiply this by the number of polygons in the selected MicroMesh to de-termine the final number of polygons ZBrush will need to render. In this case, that same MicroMesh with just 1,000 polygons would result in a render of over 24 million polygons.

3. MicroMesh WorkFloW

The first step before using the MicroMesh is to have two 3D objects: the MicroMesh itself, and the mesh which will be replaced by the MicroMesh. Both items must be Poly-Mesh 3D objects. (You cannot use parametric objects, DynaMesh, ZSpheres or other object generators as a MicroMesh, although you can convert such objects to PolyMesh 3D and then use them as a MicroMesh.)

Note:ZBrush will automatically convert a Primitive 3D to a Polymesh3D when selected as the Micro-

Mesh.

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The MicroMesh support object can be a single model or one of its SubTools. Several SubTools can have a MicroMesh however, the MicroMesh itself cannot have multiple SubTools. If you wish to use a model with multiple SubTools as a MicroMesh you will need to first merge its SubTools.

• Select the support SubTool which will have its polygons replaced by a MicroMesh at render time.

• Go to Tool >> Display Properties and click on the Select MicroMesh button. A selection window will appear, allowing you to select the 3D object that will become the MicroMesh.

• ZBrush displays a preview of the MicroMesh on the selected SubTool. This allows you to evaluate if any changes need to be made to the MicroMesh (such as proportion or shape) so that it will fit the result you are looking for.

• Before rendering, you must enable the MicroMesh feature by activating the Ren-der >> Render Properties >> Draw MicroMesh option.

• Do your BPR render by clicking the Render >> BPR Render button or using the Shift+R hotkey.

• When render computation is complete, your support mesh will be replaced by the FiberMesh model.

Note:The MicroMesh model can be saved in the ZBrush Project (ZPR) or the ZTool (ZTL) file.

In the left image you can see that any polygon can be substituted with another mesh (MicroMesh). The image on the right shows how you can use FiberMesh with a MicroMesh and how the Micro-

Mesh is then stretched along the individual fibers.

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On the left, the support mesh for the MicroMesh, where all polygons will be replaced by the selected model (shown in the middle). The figure on the right shows the resulting render with the

duplicated model.

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V BRUSHES AND BRUSHES SETTINGS

To complement the new FiberMesh feature, ZBrush 4R2b introduces a series of Groom brushes. These brushes are dedicated to the sculpting of FiberMesh objects. These brushes are derived from traditional sculpting brushes and have their behavior optimized to avoid unexpected results when working with Fibers.

1. neW grooM brushes

To complement the new FiberMesh feature, ZBrush 4R2b introduces a series of Groom brushes. These brushes are dedicated to the sculpting of FiberMesh objects.

These brushes are derived from traditional sculpting brushes and have their behavior optimized to avoid unexpected results when working with Fibers.

Below is a list of some new Groom brushes but ZBrush includes many more.

Note about the Groom Brushes:Some brushes such as Groom Spike work best by using a large Draw size brush and first ac-

cumulating fiber within the brush before moving it in the desired direction. This allows you to more readily groom the fibers in the desired direction.

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1.1 rooM hairtoss

Most useful for moving long hair with a smooth sweeping. This brush is taking ad-vantage of the new Brush>Modifiers>Strength Multiplier which is multiplying the brush strength by what is set in this slider.

1.2 grooMer strong

A standard groom brush with no forward or inverse propagation. This brush will influ-ence most of the fiber to be implemented with only the root to be protected.

1.3 grooM bloWer

Simulates a hair dryer on the fibers by separating the fibers as if they were being blown around by wind.

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1.4 grooM cluMps

This brush will clump the tips of the fibers together or cause the tips to flare out, de-pending on the brush modifiers.

1.5 grooM turbulence

Deforms the fibers to have a slight turmoil. This is great to put a little of bit mess to hair.

1.6 grooM Fast lengthen

Deforms and moves your fibers in the direction of your stroke. This brush also chang-es the length of your fibers without increasing the number of segments. Use this for “quick and dirty” shaping.

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1.7 grooM root coloriZe

This brush will only Polypaint the roots of the selected fibers.

1.8 grooMer Magnet

Deforms the tip of fibers to assimilate together.

1.9 grooMer tWist

Rotates the fibers around the brush, exactly like twisting a lock of hair.

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1.10 grooM tWist sloW

Similar to the Groomer Twist brush except that it operates more slowly. It is best with low speed strokes.

1.11 grooM hair ball

Creates a ball-like clump at the tips of the fibers.

1.12 grooM hair ball strong

Similar to the Groom Hair Ball, but with a stronger effect.

1.13 grooM spike

Squeezes the majority of the affected fibers’ lengths together to create spikes.

1.14 grooM spin knot

Similar to Groom Spike except that the Twist settings in the Brush palette are set to a low rate to create a smoother effect. Great for creating sweeps in the fibers.

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1.15 grooM spin knot strong

Similar to the Groom Spin Knot brush, but with a stronger effect.

2. brush Fiber Mesh settings

All sculpting brushes can be made “Fiber Aware” so that the fiber attributes that were originally set are maintained. To make any brush “Fiber Aware”, modify the settings de-scribed below. These settings are found in the Brush >> FiberMesh sub-palette. These settings also make it possible to only affect the roots or the tips of the fibers.

• Preserve Length: This setting preserves the length of your fibers during styling. A value of 100 fully preserves the fiber length while a lower value allows the fibers to become longer as they’re styled.

• Forward Propagation: Affects the fiber root and propagates any adjustment along the fiber without affecting the tip.

• Inverse Propagation: Affects the fiber tip and propagates any adjustment back-wards along the fiber without affecting the root

• Stiffness: Tries to keep the fibers from breaking up in order to maintain straight-ness. Higher settings will be more resistant to fiber bending.

• Springiness: Subtly tries to bring the fiber back to its original position while main-taining stiffness. Only active when Stiffness is turned on.

• Front Collision Tolerance: Helps prevent fibers from breaking through the vis-ible SubTools during sculpting. Imagine it as a force field that surrounds the visible

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SubTools. The slider value defines how many screen pixels thick this force field will be. So a value of 10 would allow you to come quite close to the surface if zoomed in close to the model but will keep the fibers progressively farther away the more you zoom out.

This setting is enabled by default with all the brushes. It is a global setting, which means that turning it off for one brush turns it off for all.

• Front Collision Variations: Will maintain a variation in the fibers when being edited to have less of an overlapping of the fibers. This will work in conjunction with the Front Collision Tolerance.

Note:It is important to remember that this setting is FRONT collision detection, only. In other words,

the fibers can only sense the portion of your surface that is visible to the camera. As a result, this feature does not support symmetry.

3. neW brushes For general sculpting

In addition to the Groom Brushes, ZBrush 4R2b introduce several new brushes which are based on new settings and functionality.

3.1 spiral

Creates a spinning stroke in a Fold style. Press the ALT key to reverse the direction of the spin.

3.2 FolD

Creates fold-like strokes over your model. Using a low Z intensity value combined with pen tablet pressure can create a smoothly folded result.

3.3 layereD pattern

Applies an Alpha pattern on the model without affecting its depth.

3.4 curve Multi lathe anD Multi tube

These two Curves are similar to the Curve Lathe and Curve Tube brushes, except that you can create multiple lathes or tubes at the same time. You can keep editing each created object Curve to edit the shape, until such time as you use another brush or per-form another action on your model.

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4. brushes tWist settings

The Twist settings go beyond brush orientation to add a set of extra control to the spin aspect of your brushes. These settings are primarily for the Groom brushes, but sev-eral new brushes do use these features. Simply put, they allow the movement of points around the center of your brush. Use the Twist Rate, Centrifugal, and Radius settings to achieve various results.

• Twist Rate: Affects how fast the twist will orbit around your brush when applying a stroke to the surface.

• Centrifugal: Determines how much of the surface will be pulled or pushed as the twisting is happening.

• Radius: Controls the falloff of the twist rate.

5. auto Mask FiberMesh

The Brush >> Auto Masking >> AutoMask FiberMesh button allows your brush to control a specific segment of each fiber that will be affected by the brush as you sculpt or paint. The curve below this button allows you to control how the Auto Mask will be applied to the individual fibers.

Bottom to top represents Mask intensity. Left to right is the span of the fiber from root (at left) to tip (at right). There is no end to the control you have by using this curve with Groom Brushes to work with your fibers.

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Note:Auto Masking does not actually paint a Mask on your model. Instead, it treats the mesh within

your brush radius as if it has already been Masked based upon the Auto Masking settings.

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VI TRANSPOSE

1. transpose curve DeForMation

The TransPose Action Line can now bend only the portion of your surface that is located between the two furthest circles of the action line.

Begin by applying an Action line. Make sure that you are in Move mode. Next, hold the ALT key and drag the Action Line’s center circle to bend surface. While moving your cursor the Action Line will be temporarily hidden so that you can clearly visually control the deformation.

Quickly deform your models with the TransPose line. The deformation is controlled by the position of the TransPose line and its Curve settings.

The deformation is modulated by the Brush curve settings, located in the Brush pal-ette.

2. transpose sMart Masking

The TransPose Smart Masking feature must be selected in the Brush palette and doesn’t have the same behavior as the default TransPose Action Line as it is used to create a Mask based on the object’s curvature.

To use it, simply hold the Ctrl key while dragging the Action Line. A short TransPose line will have a low detection of the surface’s curvature, perfect for small areas and complex shapes. A long TransPose line will have a higher tolerance, making it the best solution for large areas with distinct borders.

You can combine different Masks in the same action by pressing the Shift key to add a Mask to the previously created one. Like with all Mask operations, you can use the ALT

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key to unMask the existing Mask.

Note about TransPose brushes:When selecting a new TransPose Brush mode (like TransPose Smart) it becomes the default

TransPose mode and will be reactivated any time you return to TransPose until such time as you select a new TransPose Brush mode.

Smart Masking easily detects areas of the model by analyzing its surface.

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VII ALPHAS

Alphas are grayscale image patterns which form the core of your Sculpting brushes. ZBrush 4R2b introduces several new additions which make the creation of fine details more powerful.

1. surFace MoDe

This new Alpha >> Alpha mode automatically defines the best middle grey value of your alpha. It allows you to add your details from the alpha without destroying details already on the surface.

Surface mode, located in the Alpha palette.

2. seaMless sliDer

By changing the Alpha >> Seamless slider, ZBrush will transform the selected Alpha to a seamless pattern. A high value will make large changes to the alpha to make it seam-less while a low value will create minor changes.

Depending on the complexity of your alpha, you may need to increase or decrease this value. Most alphas require a unique setting for best results.

Note:The Seamless operation fits perfectly with the usage of the Stroke >> Roll mode, combined

with the Stroke >> Lazy Mouse settings.

3. create FroM noiseMaker

ZBrush can now generate procedural alphas using the NoiseMaker. Clicking on the Create from Noisemaker Button (located in the Alpha >> Create sub-palette) opens the NoiseMaker window and allows you to its powerful features to create a specialized brush for your needs.

When done, ZBrush will automatically convert the noise pattern to a grayscale alpha.

The Alpha resolution must be defined before using NoiseMaker. This is done with the Width and Height sliders, located in the Alpha >> Create sub-palette.

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4. alpha With transpose to create Masks

When using the TransPose action line together with the Move, Rotate or Scale mode, you can now select an Alpha from the Alpha palette (or its selector located to the left of the canvas in the default user interface). Holding the Ctrl key then applies the selected Alpha to the TransPose Action Line. The Alpha image appears between the two controls points at opposite ends of the Action Line to create a Mask.

When increasing the size of the TransPose line, the Mask will keep it proportional size. Decreasing the size of the TransPose line will apply a non-uniform deformation.

You can combine different Masks in the same action. You do this by holding the Shift key to add a Mask to the previous created one. Like all Masking operations, you can also use the ALT key to unMask. In this case it will have the effect of subtracting the new Alpha pattern from the existing Mask.

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VIII MASKING

1. Mask by surFace sMoothness

The Tool >> Masking >> Mask by Surface Smoothness feature creates a Mask based on the object curvature. This is similar to the way the new TransPose Smart Masking operation works.

Before pressing the Mask by Smoothness button, define the Range and Falloff sliders settings. The Falloff setting defines the intensity of the Mask based on the surface curva-ture while the Range will define how this Mask will spread across the surface.

With the Range set higher the Mask will cover more of the surface from any point where ZBrush determines that the surface calls for a Mask. A lower setting will keep the Mask closer to edges where the surface changes.

If Falloff is set lower then there will be more of a blur to the Mask along the surface change. If the slider is higher the Mask will be sharper along the surface change.

At the top, the original mesh. At the bottom, the result of the Mask by Surface Smoothness opera-tion, showing how easy it becomes to select chamfer-like areas.

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2. Fiber Mask

When a FiberMesh is created ZBrush will automatically assign Masking to the root of each fiber. This automatic Masking is controlled by the Brush >> Auto Masking >> Auto Mask FiberMesh button discussed earlier in the documentation.

This new Tool >> Masking >> FiberMask will allow you to use the curve seen in the image below to Mask off any part of the fibers. With the curve representing the root to tip from left to right, you can create any combination of Masking on the fibers.

Once the curve is set, click the FiberMask button for ZBrush to apply the Mask.

The FiberUnmask button will unmask already masked fibers based on the curve. The benefit to this is allow you to mask out sections of fibers and then still apply a gradient mask based on the curve.

On the left, some fibers have been masked. On the right, they have then been locally UnMasked based on the Curve setting.

Use the FiberUnmask to specify central soft masking of the fibers.

Note:Remember that when you make a mask on fibers the entire fiber is masked out.

Below are examples of Masks you can generate based on the curve.

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Masking Curve allows you to control how the Fibers are masked. From left to right: Mask every-thing but the Fiber root, Mask only the middle of the Fiber, Mask only the tip of the Fiber.

3. shrink anD eXtenD Mask

The Tool >> Masking >> Shrink and Extend Mask functions are similar to the previous Blur and Sharpen Mask functions, except that :

• The Extend function will add a blurred Mask around the existing outline of the Mask, thus extending it. The part of the model that is already fully masked will remain fully masked.

• The Shrink function will soften the mask around the existing outline of the masked area without affecting the non-Masked portions of the model.

• The Blur function on the other affects masked and non-masked areas equally. It softens the edges of the Mask by averaging. As a result, portions of the mask become more softly masked while the area immediately next to it also becomes lightly masked.

Simply put both of these new commands do not affect the existing mask (Extend) OR un-masked (Shrink) areas of the model. They only extend the corresponding masked or non-masked area.

The CTRL+Click and CTRL+ALT+Click shortcuts are now assigned to the Extend and Shrink Mask functions rather than to the Blur and Sharpen Mask functions.

4. transpose sMart Masking

Please see the chapter of the same name in the TransPose section.

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5. Masks baseD on polygroups

When CTRL+Clicking on a polygroup, the generated mask will apply to the entire polygroup at 100% intensity. In previous version of ZBrush, the border of the polygroup was only Masked at 50%.

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IX WORKING WITH YOUR MODEL & TOPOLOGY

1. unclip

The UnClip action cancels the most recent Clip action that has been generated by a Clip Brush. However, it retains any sculpting details added to the surface after the Clip was made.

It is very useful to add details or accurate strokes on a clean surface that was tempo-rarily flattened by a Clip brush. Once these details have been added, using UnClip will restore the surface to its curved shape and move the new details to match.

The UnClip feature can be found with all other Clip brush options the Brush>>Clip Brush Modifiers sub-palette. You can also access this sub-palette by pressing CTRL+Spacebar, which will pop up a floating menu.

The new unclip feature will allow a quick way to add detail along an irregular surface.

2. group Mask anD group unMaskeD

In addition to the existing Tool >> Polygroup >> From Masking function from earlier versions of ZBrush, it is now possible to use the Tool >> Polygroups >> Group Mask function to create a unique polygroup based on the existing Mask drawn on the model.

The original From Masking function replaces the existing polygroups with a set of new ones. The Group Masked function just adds a new created polygroup.

The Group UnMasked function has the same behavior except that a polygroup is cre-ated based on the non-Masked areas of the model.

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3. eDgeloop Mask borDer

The Tool >> Geometry >> Edgeloop Mask Border creates an edge loop on the bound-ary of the existing Mask. This will also create a new polygroup within the Mask area.

The topology generated by this operation is similar to the one created by the Slice brush introduced in ZBrush 4R2. The difference is that the Slice brush was created to cut all the way through a volume while Edgeloop Mask Border operates on any portion of a surface.

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X RENDER AND MATERIALS

ZBrush 4R2b provides several major enhancements to your final render through new BPR Filters settings, new enhancements to the material mixer and new global settings which will directly affect the overall render.

1. MiXer: by cavity

The Material >> Mixer now integrates a Cavity setting that will mix the selected mate-rial with the previous material(s) based on the model’s surface cavity. This is somewhat similar to the Cavity detection feature for MatCap materials but can work with any mate-rial. Like all Mixer operators, it can be combined with an Exponential setting.

2. global shaDoW strength

This slider, located in the Render >> BPR Shadow sub-palette allows you to adjust the amount of shadow being applied to your entire model without needing to change the Material >> Environment >> Shadow slider settings separately for each material used.

Keep in mind that this slider is an exponent to all Material >> Environment >> Shad-ow slider settings so that you can adjust that value separately for various materials to fine tune the shadows as necessary. For example, if one of your materials’ Environment Shadow is set at 100 but then you move the Global Shadow Strength to 0.50 then only 50% of the 100 value will be used on the material.

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3. global aMbient occlusion strength

This slider, located in the Render >> BPR Ao sub-palette affects the amount of Am-bient Occlusion applied to the entire model without the need to change each shader’s Material >> Environment >> Ao slider setting. This works exponentially in the same way as explained for Global Shadow Strength above but affects AO instead.

4. global aMbient / DiFFuse / specular The three sliders Global Ambient, Diffuse and Specular, located in the Render >>

Render Properties sub-palette let you define at render time the amount of specular, ambi-ent and diffuse information you wish to apply to your final render.

Unlike a BPR filter, to observe the result of changing these settings you must do a new render.

By using these sliders, you can easily execute several render passes which each only have the ambient, color or specular information of the final render.

5. reuse eXisting Maps

With this button enabled ZBrush will reuse the previous shadow, AO, and SSS maps for the render passes.

6. bpr visibility

This slider, located in the Tool >> Display Properties sub-palette lets you define the amount of transparency that will be displayed for the current SubTool when rendered using BPR. The Transparent setting in Render Properties must be active in order for this slider to have an effect on the mesh.

7. cast bpr shaDoWs

This slider, located in the Tool >> Display Properties sub-palette lets you define the amount of shadow cast by the selected SubTool. The slider must be adjusted for each SubTool separately.

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XI NEW BPR FILTERS

ZBrush 4R2b introduce new BPR Filters, located in the Render >> BPR Filters sub-palette. These new settings bring new real-time effects to your rendering. They allow you to create high quality images by compositing more and more filters as a post-render effect. This means you do not need to perform render after render as you try new things.

These filters work the same way you’re already familiar with from ZBrush4R2.

Note:For new ZBrush users it is recommended to first read the ZBrush 4R2 New Features PDF,

found in your ZBrush 4R2b Documentation folder.

The BPR Filters now have 12 slots which can each host a single filter. This allows you to create thousands of advanced render effects simply by combining up to twelve individual filters. You can also put the same filter in multiple slots with different settings.

The BPR Filters sub-palette (located in the Render palette) is pictured on the left with its new operators. The picture on the right shows the list of Filter types.

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1. Filters

The list below details the new filters added in this ZBrush release:

• Negative: With the color patch set to mid-grey and a strength setting close to 1, this filter adjusts your render to look more like a film negative.

• Gamma: Applies an exponential of the color intensity. It lightens the overall image without washing out detail.

• Additive: Offsets all colors in the image to be brighter or darker by an equal amount.

• Paint: Applies the selected color from the patch over the BPR render. Combined with the Mask and Fresnel settings, it can produce non-photorealistic rendering (NPR).

• Contrast User Color: Allows you to modulate the contrast of the render using the Color information defined with the color patch available below the Strength slider. This color will be added with the colors from the final render. A darker color will create a much more contrasted render and lighter color will provide less contrast.

For better results you can mix this contrast with the Mask modulator.

• Contrast Auto Color: Similar to the Contrast User Color, but ZBrush will find the best color from the final render.

• Contrast Auto Gray: Similar to the Contrast User Color, but the contrast will use a neutral grey. This results in a neutral colored contrast.

2. bpr Filters operators

In addition to the new filters, ZBrush 4R2b introduces new Operators which are able to mix your BPR filters together.

• Red, Green and Blue Components: Display only the red, blue or green compo-nent channels of the image.

• Depth Slider: Use this slider to determine how strong the filters are applied rela-tive to the depth of each pixel within the rendered image.

• Depth A and B: These sliders modulate the Depth operator to let you define the starting and ending point of the render depth. Depth A defines where the filter will begin to affect the image with a slow exponent and Depth B represents where the filter will be applied at 100% intensity.

Note:These slider values are easily set simply by clicking one and then dragging your cursor over

your render to pick a point in the image that has the desired A or B depth value.

• Depth Exponent: This controls falloff between Depth A and Depth B. The higher the value the more harsh the transition will be from Depth A to Depth B. Lower values

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will have a slow, soft transition.

• Cavity: Applies the current filter to the portions of the render detected as being surface cavities. This is similar to the way a MatCap can use cavities to display two different shaders. The Cavity filter can be modulated by the cavity radius detection and sensibility detection, which can drastically change the transition across the surface’s geometry.

The evolution of a BPR Filters render, from top left to bottom right: The original render, a paint-over modulated by a Fresnel setting, followed with Contrast by User Color, then Cavity detection and

finally, a Sharpen Filter. Image courtesy of Ryan Kingslien.

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XII OTHER ADDITIONS

1. Morph target

Tool >> Morph Target >> Morph Width and Height: Revert the width or the height of the current model, but not its length. The effect is dependent upon the value of the cor-responding sliders.

These settings have mainly been added to benefit the FiberMesh feature and Fiber-Mesh objects automatically have a Morph target created when the FiberMesh is accepted

2. eXpert iMages anD teXtures as Jpg Files

ZBrush 4R2b introduces the ability to export using the JPG format. Previously, it was only possible to export images using the non-destructive BMP or PSD file formats. While these formats retain all image data, they’re also very large files and cannot eas-ily be posted online or sent via email. This previously meant having to use a third party application to convert the image if you wanted to (for example) share your creation on ZBrushCentral.

When you decide to export an image (via Document >> Export or Texture >> Export) a new exporter window allows you to select the JPG format. If you choose this format the window will give you options to select a compression amount and preview the results. It will also display the estimated final file size.

This new exporter also allows you to crop your image by manipulating the corre-sponding sliders or by dragging the red circles in the corners of the cropped region. ZBrush will only export the area within the red circles.

If you wish to navigate, you can simply click and drag on the image to pan it inside the window. The image will always display the final render at 100% scale.

3. eXport screengrab

This new function, located in the Document palette exports a screenshot of your en-tire ZBrush interface -- including your document -- in the file format of your choice.

The function makes it easy for you to quickly export your screen for all kinds of use, without the need to go through an external 2D software.

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4. visible syMMetry center

The Visible Symmetry Center mode, locate in the Transform palette allows you work using the local symmetrical axis of whatever portion of the object is currently visible. It doesn’t matter whether or not the visible portion is centered on the world axis.

Keep in mind that this symmetry mode is based on the center of the visible object’s bounding box and doesn’t use Topological Symmetry. As a result, it can have unexpect-ed behavior or only provide approximate symmetry if the visible area is not symmetrical to begin with.

5. preFerences

Automode has been added to the Preferences >> Performance sub-palette. This will automatically set the Multithread step value to provide the best setting as a wrong value can have a negative impact on your ZBrush performance.

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XIII IMPROVEMENTS

1. storeD aMbient occlusion anD shaDoWs inForMation:In ZBrush 4R2, shadow and Ambient Occlusion information were stored only as long

as the model position and orientation remained unchanged. This let you re-render much more quickly, but the data was lost if you needed to move the model for any reason (or did so accidentally).

The computing solution is stored in a way that lets the data be reused even if you move the model, so long as the model is returned to its exact original position prior to rendering.

This means that if you use the Timeline to store your model position, do a render and then change the model position as needed. When you are ready to re-render, simply click the keyframe again to put your model back in its original position. Now when you render, the previously calculated shadows and/or AO will be reused.

2. previeW oF Mesh eXtract beFore valiDation

When using Tool >> SubTool >> Extract the model now instantly creates a preview of the resulting mesh. You can then click the Accept button to finalize the extraction and create a new SubTool, or you can adjust the settings as necessary.

This change allows you tweak the Extract settings and values at will without the need to delete the created SubTool and start over.

3. perspective iMproveMent

If you disable Local mode and zoom into your model, ZBrush will keep the current perspective settings. This is different from the default perspective calculation in which ZBrush will visually adjust the camera to the model as you scale it. In simple terms:

• Under the old behavior, ZBrush will attempt to avoid camera clipping by adjusting the perspective on the fly.

• With the new setting, ZBrush will not adjust perspective as the model is scaled, which allows you to go inside the model if you zoom close to your object.

Auto Adjust Distance: This setting allows the camera to adjust perspective in order to avoid clipping. Disable to make use of the new behavior.

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4. MorphDist sliDer

Improved the MorphDist slider to now work on PolyMesh3D (not only ZSpheres). This slider equlize the distance between vertices in the current mesh to the distances in the morph target mesh. This is useful for cloth surfaces to restore the original surface area of the mesh.

5. coverage group visible

It allows random regrouping when the slider is set lower then 1.

6. renDer aDJustMents

Movie playback will not account render adjustments.

7. WaX previeW

Max Depth Tolerance slider was added to Render >> Wax Preview sub-palette.

8. Material in proJect Files

Now, when saving a Project, all custom Materials which have been assigned to any Tool or SubTool will be included in the ZPR file.

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XIV SPECIAL THANK YOU

You will find new models and images that have been shipped with ZBrush4R2b. We would like to take the time to thank a few artists that were kind enough to share their artwork with the community. Thank you for being so generous with our community and inspiring all.

Nick ZuccarelloModel Contribution: Nickz_humanMaleAverage.ZTLWebsite: http://nickzucc.blogspot.com

Caroline DelenModel Contribution: Julie.ZTLWebsite: http://www.carolinedelen.com

Ryan KingslienModel Contribution: RyanKingslien_Female_Anatomy_Figure.ZTL Website: http://www.zbrushworkshops.com

Arnaud KotelnikofModel Contribution: Kotelnikoff Earthquake.ZPRWebsite: http://www.kotelnikoff.com

Bob GroothuisImage Contribution: ZBrush 2_Pulchri_by_BobGroothuis_8k.jpgWebsite: http://www.pulchri.nlImage created by Dutch Skies 360º HDRI - http://www.bobgroothuis.com

Pixologic would like to thank everyone who has participated as a beta tester for ZBrush 4R2b.

Happy ZBrushing, and thank you again!

The Pixologic Team

http://nickzucc.blogspot.com

http://www.carolinedelen.com

http://www.zbrushworkshops.com

http://www.kotelnikoff.com

http://www.pulchri.nl

http://www.bobgroothuis.com

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XV NOTES

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