zbrush4 r6 whats new

1ZBrush 4R6 - Welcome

ZBrush 4R6 Whats New Guide

ZBRUSH


WelcomeWelcome to the Whats New documentation for ZBrush 4R6. While much of

ZBrush 4R6 is very similar to other releases in the version 4 series, 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 whats new in version 4R6. To learn more about the fea-tures introduced in previous releases of ZBrush 4, we invite you to read the other ZBrush 4 Whats New Guides, located in your ZBrush installations Documentation folder.

Youre 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.

Dont forget to subscribe for free to our ZBrushCentral community with over 250,000 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 as well as our social media outlets 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

Pixologic Social Media: Facebook - Google+ - Twitter - Pinterest

The Pixologic Team

2013 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.


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 Documentation Guide - version 1.0

This documentation has been written by Thomas Roussel, Paul Gaboury and Matthew Yetter

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

4ZBrush 4R6 - Important Notice

important notice - ZBruSh fileSZBrush manages all temporary and configuration files in a dedicated public folder.

On Windows, this is the C:\Users\Public\Documents\ZBrushData folder. For Mac OS X it is the Users/Public/ZBrushData folder.

The files stored in this folder include your custom interface and hotkey configuration. This simplifies reinstallation or upgrading ZBrush, since it will not be necessary to first move or backup these files.

Another purpose of this change is to reduce issues with file permissions which can affect some installations.

The path of the public ZBrush folder cant be changed.

It is possible to change the location where ZBrush will write temporary files when compacting memory. When working with ZBrush, it is often necessary for the operat-ing system to manage very large amounts of data with frequent read and write access. (Approximately 4-8 GB of data.) If your system drive isnt the fastest on your computer, you can set ZBrush to use a different drive instead. This is done by editing the ZBrush-ScratchDiskPath.txt file located in the C:\Users\Public\Documents\ZBrushData folder on Windows or Users/Public/ZBrushData folder on Mac OS X.

5ZBrush 4R6 - About ZBrush new additions

aBout ZBruSh 4r6ZBrush 4R6 continues to improve and enhance ZBrush functionality. Various new

features have also been added to the already large ZBrush toolset.

Before we go into these new ZBrush 4R6 features in depth, here is an overview of what to expect as the main additions:

ZRemesher: An evolution of ZBrushs automatic retopology tool brings this pro-cess to a new whole level. It analyzes the curvature of your mesh to produce a very natural polygon flow. Yet it also achieves these better results in significantly less time. Of course, when you want more control you will also find features such as local density management, curve flow orientation and Exact mode polycount targeting. You might never use time consuming manual topology again!

Trim Curves Brushs: These new brushes work much like the current Clip Brush-es, but instead of pushing the geometry to the drawn stroke, ZBrush deletes all geom-etry outside the Trim Curve line and closes the resulting hole.

Bridge Curve Brush: Create a polygon bridge between surface holes, Poly-Group borders or even creased edges - all in a couple of clicks! You can use this brush with closed or open curves.

Creasing Brush: With this brush you will no longer need to rely on topology or PolyGroups to define a creased edge. This brush allows a freely drawn curve to define where an edge crease will be applied.

Brush Radius option extended: Available for the Trim and Slice brushes, this option creates a thin path of topology or even surface thickness.

Visibility Expanded: The various Slice and Close Holes brushes will now work with partially hidden geometry to create unique slices or control which holes to close and which ones to keep open. DynaMesh now also has the capability to operate on partial geometry.

New Curve Framing: All brushes that have CurveMode enabled will automati-cally detect the openings in any surface, creased edges and also PolyGroups. This opens several avenues to quickly and easily create with brushes like CurveBridge, Curve Tri Fill, MultiTube and more!

DynaMesh Retains PolyGroups: All existing PolyGroups from your original model or inserted meshes will be preserved when applying DynaMesh to the model, as well as any time you re-DynaMesh. Combined with existing features like Panel Loops, Group Loops and Polish By Feature, this gives you a startling number of new ways to create hard surfaces within ZBrush.

Group Front: This new PolyGroup assignment function will create a new Poly-Group from the cameras point of view. It assigns a single PolyGroup to all visible polygons facing the camera.

New Solo Dynamic Mode: Keeps only the current active SubTool visible when manipulating it in front of the ZBrush camera. This improves 3D navigation and makes it a breeze to work with complicated models.

UVs Smoothing: When smoothing a models UVs, ZBrush will now freeze their borders. This creates a seamless map process for external rendering applications.

6ZBrush 4R6 - About ZBrush new additions

Smoothing of UVs will also be maintained regardless of what subdivision level youre at or how often you have moved between levels.

Panel Loops: Two new options for the Panel Loops feature ensure that you can work quickly by providing one-button solutions to either reassign the panels Poly-Groups or topology loops.

New Masking: You can now mask or unmask any visible geometry border with a single click thanks to the new Mask by Border options.

We look forward to seeing your ZBrush 4R6 creations and comments on our user forum: ZBrushCentral.com!

7ZBrush 4R - Table of Content

TABLE OF CONTENT

8ZBrush 4R6 - Table of Content

ABOUT ZBRUSH 4R6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

INSTALLATION UPGRADING & ACTIVATION . . . . . . . . . .10I Minimum requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11II Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12III Deactivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14IV Activation Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15V GoZ and ZBrush 4 and ZBrush 4R2-R6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16VI Un-installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16VII Support Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

ZREMESHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18I ZRemesher Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20II The Concept of Adaptive Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21III Partial Mesh Retopology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24IV Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26V Working with Curves: the ZRemesher Guide brush . . . . . . . . . . . 27VI ZRemesher and High Polycount models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28VII Transferring high polygon detail to a remeshed model . . . . . . . . . 29

Freeze Subdivision Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Duplicating your SubTool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

VIII ZRemesher functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ZRemesher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Freeze border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Freeze Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Adaptive Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Use PolyPaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Color Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Target Polygons Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Half, Same, Double . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Adaptive Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Curve Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

IX Tips and tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

BRUSHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37I New Curve Frame Mesh Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Curve Frame Mesh in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Extending the Curve Stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

II Trim Curve brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

9ZBrush 4R - Table of Content

Stroke options for Different Trim Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Important Note About the Shape of the Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Creating or Removing Thickness With the Trim Curve Brush . . . 42

III Crease Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Creating a double crease around the curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

IV Curve Bridge Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Creating a bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Bridge Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

V Other Brush changes and additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Slice Curve Brush BRadius Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Partial Slice Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

DYNAMESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49I DynaMesh with Polygroups Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50II Partial DynaMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

TOPOLOGY & GEOMETRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52I Topology Unwelding and Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Unweld Group Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53II Panel Loop Regroup Panels and Regroup Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Regroup Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 ReGroup Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

III Polygroup additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Group Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

IV Close Holes in Partial Visible Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

OTHER ADDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57I Undo History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58II AutoSave/Quicksave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58III Solo and Dynamic mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58IV Mask by Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58V Misc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

THANK YOU! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

10

ZBrush 4R6 - Installation, Upgrade and Activation

INSTALLATION UPGRADING &

ACTIVATION

All the steps you need to start ZBrush.

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This is the information that you will need to know when installing ZBrush 4R6 on your computer. This chapter also describes the activation and de-activation process.

i minimum requirementSRecommended: Operating System: Windows Vista or newer. Mac OS X 10.5 or newer. (32-bits or

64-bits for either platform.) CPU: Pentium D or newer (or equivalent such as AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer)

with optional multithreading or hyperthreading capabilities. 6 GB recommended. (ZBrush 4 is a 32-bit application, but can use up to 4 GB of

system RAM.) Disk Space: 750 MB for ZBrush, plus 16 GB for the scratch disk. Pen tablet: Wacom or Wacom compatible.

Notes:The scratch disk may be a different drive from where ZBrush is installed.

Having ZBrush and its scratch disk running on an SSD drive will result in improved perfor-mance.

Minimum System Requirements:

Operating System: Windows Vista or newer. Mac OS X 10.5 or newer. (32-bits or 64-bits for either platform.)

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

RAM: 1024 MB (2048 MB required for working with multi-million-poly models). Disk Space: 750 MB for ZBrush, plus 8 GB for the scratch disk. Monitor: 1280x1024 monitor resolution set to 32-bits or Millions of Colors.

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ii activationFor new installations of ZBrush 4R6 (not an upgrade) 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.

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

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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.

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 4R6, 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.

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iii deactivationIf you plan to move ZBrush to a new computer or if you are going to reinstall your

operating system, you can make everything easier by first deactivating your current in-stallation of the software.

To do this, 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: Once deactivation has been started, it is not possible to stop it. The moment you confirm

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 deac-tivation code.

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iv activation trouBleShootingActivation 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 4R6 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 Pixolog-ic 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 re-solve the issue rather than just trying under a different method.

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v goZ and ZBruSh 4 and ZBruSh 4r2-r6ZBrush 4 and ZBrush 4R2-4R6 can be used together with GoZ as their main compo-

nents remain the same. However, it is not possible to work on the same project between multiple versions of ZBrush. Once a file has been created or saved in a newer version of ZBrush, it may not be opened by any earlier version.

For example, if you have a file that youd been working on with ZBrush 4R4 and then save it using ZBrush 4R6, it will no longer be possible to open it in version 4R4.

GoZ cannot get around this restriction. It can be used to open files from earlier ver-sions of ZBrush but it cannot be used to send files to an earlier version. The only way to get a file into an earlier version of ZBrush than it was last saved in is through the OBJ format.

vi un-inStallationThis 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 havent 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 doesnt write files outside its own folder.

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vii Support regiStrationIt is 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.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 4x serial number and the Cleverbridge reference num-

ber for your copy of ZBrush. This information identifies you as someone who has ac-tually purchased a ZBrush license. (If you have upgraded from an earlier version of ZBrush 4, your serial number will remain unchanged. All versions of ZBrush 4x use the same serial number.)

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:

You do not need to change any information.

At any time, you can go to https://support.pixologic.com to view your past tickets or create a new one.

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ZBrush 4R6 - ZRemesher

ZREMESHER

Automatic retopology taken to a new level.

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On the left, the original Unified Skin generated from a ZSketch. On the right, the ZRemesher reto-pology applied with default settings. One button automatic retopology!

ZRemesher is a new evolution of the ZBrushs automatic remeshing/retopologizing function which offers topology quality that takes the sculptural elements of your mesh into consideration. In addition, the computing time has drastically been improved. As with UV Master (the automated UV mapping plugin for ZBrush), ZRemesher has a number of user controls to enhance its automated retopology systems.

The ZRemesher solution will create a new polygonal structure for your model, with a controlled edge flow and a global polycount value. In just a few seconds you can convert a 200,000 polygon DynaMesh to a 10,000 poly retopologized model with polygons that follow the surface in a natural way. From there you can project all the fine details from your original sculpture, easily generate UVs with UV Master and ultimately create your Vector, Displacement, Normal and Diffuse maps.

ZRemesher is a fully automatic solution which gives incredible results, but there will of course be times when you might want more control. For this reason, ZRemesher lets you control local polygon directions by drawing control curves on your original model to influence its polygon flow and edge loops.

ZRemesher can be found in the Tool >> Geometry sub-palette. It requires a Poly-Mesh3D object such as an imported mesh, DynaMesh or ZSphere adaptive skin. If you wish to use it on a parametric primitive you will need to first use the Make PolyMesh 3D feature. If your model is a ZSphere or a ZSketch in preview mode, you must first create an adaptive or unified skin before you can use ZRemesher.

ZRemesher does for your topology what UV Master did for UV mapping. It removes yet another creative barrier that often stands in the way of true artistic freedom. With ZRemesher you can focus even more on the creative process of model creation and leave the technical hurdles behind!

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i ZremeSher highlightSThis is a quick overview list of what ZRemesher offers:

True one-button retopology. Click the ZRemesher button without changing the parameters for an automatic optimal retopology.

The topology generated by default by ZRemesher offers a flow of polygons that is much closer to what a human eye would reproduce.

ZRemeshers speed has been tested so as to be as optimized as possible. It is able to produce low polygon models from even high polygon sources in a fraction of the time required by other retopology tools.

ZRemesher offers more than one option to compute symmetrical meshes, giving the user high level control.

ZRemesher offers considerable polygon density control that can be used to re-duce polygon counts or even increase counts if you wish. All through PolyPainting.

The Freeze Border option can keep the exact polygon structure openings in your mesh while performing retopology on everything else. This means that you can use ZRemesher on multi-part models where its important for their edges to still line up.

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ii the concept of adaptive SiZeThe Adaptive Size slider is an important parameter for ZRemesher, even though its

default value is the best one to use in most scenarios. This setting defines the polygon distribution for your model and can drastically increase the quality of the topology by giv-ing more flexibility to the algorithm.

Adaptive size defines a vertex ratio based on the curvature of the mesh. To maintain the original mesh shape, ZRemesher may need to increase the topology density in cer-tain areas or produce triangles rather than quad polygons.

On the left, Adaptive Size is set to 0. On the right its at 50 (default) with a polygon count set to 5000. Notice the variation in polygons size and shape, making the right model more detailed even

though the polygon count is the same. For this illustration, Exact mode was enabled.Model courtesy of David Richardson.

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A low Adaptive Size setting will result in:

Polygons which are as square as possible.

Polygons which are approximately the same size.

A polygon count which better respects the set polygon target. The flip side is that theres a risk of topology irregularities where the polygon count is kept low in areas with small extrusions.

Note:Please refer to the Adaptive Density mode setting if you wish to force the number of polygon to

be close to the value you defined for the Target Polygon Count setting.

A high Adaptive Size setting will result in:

Polygons which can be more or less rectangular in order to best fit the meshs curvature.

Polygon density which can vary throughout the model. ZRemesher is allowed to create smaller polygons where necessary (such as with fingers or toes) and larger polygons where less detail is needed (like the top of a head).

Less control over the polygon count, in order to better respect the meshs original shape.

Note:Please refer to the Adaptive Density mode setting if you wish to force the number of polygon to

be close to the value you defined for the Target Polygon Count setting.

To summarize: By increasing the value of the Adaptive Size slider, you will increase the quality of your retopology. However, ZRemesher will need to be more flexible regard-ing the target number of polygons.

The reason for this is simple. When targeting a specific polygon count, ZRemesher first distributes them equally across the model. ZRemesher then analyzes the mesh cur-vature deforms polygons and/or changes their density to produce a result that matches the models original shape.

To best respect the number of polygons defined by your Target setting, simply set Adaptive Size to zero, resulting in a uniform distribution of square polygons. If this pro-duces undesirable results in areas such as fingers, disable the Adaptive Density mode instead. This forces ZRemesher to get as close as possible to the Target Polygon Count setting.

Note: If the target polygon count is too low, the algorithm wont be able to keep finer details or cur-

vature since it wont be allowed to create smaller polygons or non-square polygons where needed.

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From left to right and top to bottom: The original model, retopology of 40K, 20K, 10K, 5K and 3K polygons. Regardless of polygon count, using the Adaptive Size setting always provides good

results. Model courtesy of David Richardson.

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iii partial meSh retopologyZRemesher has the ability to retopologize only the visible portion of a partially hid-

den model. In this case ZRemesher will automatically maintain integrity with the hidden portions.

To accomplish this, ZRemesher can use two different connection algorithms. The default is quite similar to ZBrushs Mesh Fusion feature. ZRemesher will treat the new topology as an inserted mesh and connect it to the hidden topology via a polygon bridge. The second method uses the Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher Freeze Border option. When this is enabled, ZRemesher will begin with the edges of the visible mesh and build the new topology out from there to create a perfect connection.

Partial mesh retopology requires a few simple steps:

1. Use the Marquee or Lasso selection tool (Ctrl+Shift hotkey) to isolate the poly-gons that you wish to retopologize. ZRemesher will ignore all hidden portions of the model.

2. In the Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher sub-palette, set the desired ZRemesher options and Target polygon count. This is especially necessary if you wish to use the Freeze Border option to define the connection algorithm.

3. Click the ZRemesher button. When the computation completes, the entire model will be made visible with the new topology inserted.

Its key to understand that when FreezeBorders is enabled, the first priority for the ZRemesher is to create the vertex points along the border so as to ensure proper weld-ing. With this in mind, the Target Polygon value will be less of a factor. If your mesh is relatively high in polygon count then ZRemesher must match the borders with the hidden portion of the mesh before finishing the inner topology.

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The orange circle shows the polygons which have been remeshed with Double on. In the red circle Half was on.

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iv SymmetryZRemesher can evaluate your models volume and create its topology symmetrically,

even if the original topology is not symmetrical -- such as when using scan data. This option uses ZBrushs standard symmetry controls rather adding additional settings to ZRemeshers options.

If you want your retopology to be symmetrical across the models X axis, simply make sure that Transform >> Symmetry is turned on, with the X axis active. If you need dif-ferent settings or even no symmetry, simply adjust the Transform >> Symmetry settings accordingly.

ZRemesher includes two symmetry algorithms, which will alter the way the model is analyzed and can have an impact on the topology result; in particular on the symmetry working plane. If you wish to try the alternative symmetry algorithm, hold the Alt key while clicking the ZRemesher button.

On the left, the default symmetry algorithm and on the right the alternative one. The differences across the symmetry plane are clearly visible. Model courtesy of David Richardson.

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v Working With curveS: the ZremeSher guide BruShThe topology produced by ZRemesher tries to respect your models shape as much

as possible. However, no program can have the same understanding of your model and its needs as you the user. For this reason you can help ZRemesher by drawing curves on the model. These curves are used as guides to refine the natural flow of your model. The result is that you can ensure that the new topology will have edges exactly where they are needed.

The Tool >> ZRemesher >> Curve Strength slider lets you control how you wish your curves to be used to more or less rigidly guide the flow of the polygons.

The lower the Curve Strength slider value, the more flexibility ZRemesher will have when calculating the new topology. In this case, the curves serve as guides. The higher the slider value, the more rigidly ZRemesher will adhere to the guide curves. In this case, the guides become rules.

In ZRemesher, the automatic computing of natural polygon flow has a strong influ-ence, even over the curves. This means that if you wish to really change the direction of the flow of polygons in a way that ZRemesher would be unlikely to consider natural, you need to define curves to force a less efficient flow of the polygons. The larger the area where you wish to drastically change the flow of polygons, the more curves will be needed.

To draw these curves on your model you must use the ZRemesher Guide brush. This brush works similarly to other Curve brushes, but has certain caveats: These curves cannot be edited except to extend them or to connect a new curve to the end point of an existing curve. The curves can, however be deleted by holding the Alt key and drawing another curve perpendicularly over the one you wish to delete.

On the left, guides created with the ZRemesher Guide brush and associated with a density varia-tion. On the right, the resulting low polygon mesh with loops around the mouth and eyes.

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vi ZremeSher and high polycount modelSZRemesher is designed to create new topology over nearly any existing model. It can

be a model with many subdivision levels, a scanned model of all triangles or even one that is a mix of quads and triangles such as from a DynaMesh model. ZRemesher has a maximum polygons limit that you can input into its algorithm. Keep in mind that complex mathematic formulas are required, which means a large amount of memory. The more polygons in your model, the more memory will be needed for computing.

If your computer has enough memory, ZRemesher can work with models up to 8 million of vertices. This requires 4Gb for ZRemesher itself, plus additional memory for ZBrush, your operating system and any background applications. Attempting to work with more polygons could alter the stability of ZRemesher and ZBrush.

If your model input has a polygon count higher than this limit (or if your computer doesnt have enough RAM), go to a lower subdivision level or decimate your model with the Decimation Master plug-in before using ZRemesher.

Keep in mind that your ultimate goal with ZRemesher will usually be to retopologize your model to a lower polygon count for exporting, creating a mesh for multiple subdivi-sion levels, or for cleaning up the model for better sculpting flow. We recommend that for the sake of speed you reduce your polygon count to a manageable level before using ZRemesher.

Please refer to the Tips and Tricks section below for more information.

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vii tranSferring high polygon detail to a remeShed modelThere will be times that you wish to retopologize your model while keeping all the

detail that has been sculpted on the model. There are two approaches to achieve this. Choose the one that best fits your model:

Freeze Subdivision Levels

1. Select the SubTool you would like to retopologize with ZRemesher.

2. Click the Freeze Subdivision Level button located in the Tool >> Geometry sub-palette (right below the SDiv slider). This will freeze all subdivision levels and drop your selected SubTool to level one.

3. If level one doesnt have enough polys to maintain the sculpts form, we encour-age you to first choose the subdivision level with the desired silhouette and then use the Del Lower button. This will make the selected level the lowest one, after which you can return to the highest and Freeze Subdivision Levels.

4. Use ZRemesher with any desired settings.

5. Once the remesh is complete, click the Freeze Subdivison Level button again. ZBrush will now recalculate your subdivision levels and project the details onto the new mesh topology.

Note: The projection quality is controlled by the various settings in the Tool >> SubTool >> Project All

UI group.

Advantage with this technique:

You are able to retain your subdivision levels and details with just a couple mouse clicks. This feature prioritizes your original polygon count over how many subdivision levels your model originally had. If your new topology has a very different polygon count compared to the original base subdivision level, your final model after using ZRemesher may have more or fewer subdivision levels.

Duplicating your SubTool

1. Duplicate your selected SubTool by clicking Tool >> SubTool >> Duplicate.

2. Hide all other SubTools, including the duplicate. The only one that should be vis-ible is the one that you will use ZRemesher on.

3. Use ZRemesher with any desired settings.

4. Turn on the copy of the SubTool that has the sculpted details. Make sure that this SubTool is at the highest subdivision level.

5. With the remeshed model still selected, click the Tool >> SubTool >> Project All

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button. The controls in the Project All UI group can be adjusted to refine the projection as you work. The Dist slider is the one that you will most likely use the most.

6. Subdivide the remeshed model to create level 2. Project All again.

7. Repeat step 6 until until you have the desired number of subdivision levels and all of your sculpted detail.

8. You can now delete the original version of the SubTool.

Note: Its recommended that after each projection you turn off the detailed SubTool and check to

ensure that you are happy with the projected results. If you arent satisfied, press Ctrl+Z to undo and then modify the Project All settings before projecting again.

Advantage with this technique:

By copying the detail one subdivision level at a time, you will have more control over the projected results. This process can be faster than the Freeze Subdivision Levels approach.

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viii ZremeSher functionSWhat follows is the list of the ZRemesher settings which can change to more precise-

ly control the results of your retopology. All settings are found in the Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher UI group.

ZRemesher can of course produce very high quality results with its default settings. However, depending on the needs of your specific model, you may find that changing these parameters can improve the results.

The ZRemesher functions.

ZRemesher

The Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> ZRemesher button launches the retopology calculation for the visible portions of the selected SubTool.

The generated retopology is modulated by the ZRemesher options, which can drasti-cally change the resulting mesh.

Freeze border

When enabled, Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> Freeze Border mode forces ZRemesher to maintain the same vertex numbers and their positions along meshs open-ings. If the model is partially visible, the retopology will be done only on the visible poly-gons and this result will automatically be connected to the rest of the mesh.

The polygon count may not precisely reach that defined by the Target Polygons count slider. This is because the algorithm must respect both the exact edge vertices and the setting for the Adaptive Size slider.

Note:When Freeze Border is enabled, Adaptive Density mode will be enable internally even if the

mode is currently disabled in the interface.

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On the left, the Freeze Border option has been disabled. On the right, it has been enabled. Notice the increase in polygon density. The first loop of polygons at the neck has been subdivided locally

to preserve the original vertex positions.

Freeze Groups

Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> Freeze group mode retopologizes each Poly-Group independently, keeping their borders frozen and then welding the edge vertices together along each PolyGroup border.

This results in a model with the same PolyGroups, but with a different topology flow within each group.

Adaptive Size

The Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> Adaptive Size slider allows the creation of non-square polygons. It also factors the size of the polygons, based upon the models curvature.

Put another way, it tells ZRemesher to put greater emphasis on the models overall shape rather than rigidly uniform polygon size and distribution. This provides a better polygon flow, especially in your models more tightly detailed areas like the ears, fingers, etc.

This setting increases the number of polygons where necessary to maintain the mod-els original shape. As a result, the final number of polygons generated may not match the Target Polygon Count value.

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Please read the Adaptive Size section above for more information about this setting and the impact it has on model quality.

Use PolyPaint

The Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> User PolyPaint mode tells ZRemesher to pay attention to PolyPaint color when determining local polygon density as it creates the new topology.

How PolyPaint affects the density is determined by the specific color used:

Pure blue specifies a higher polygon density within the painted area.

Pure red means a lower polygon density within the painted area.

White (no PolyPaint) gives ZRemesher total control over polygon density.

Of course, the opacity of the color have an impact of the changes of density: a light blue will slightly reduce the polygons density while a full opacity blue will have a strong reduction of polygons density.

To paint the PolyPainting, simply use the Standard brush in RGB mode only.

To avoid visible steps in the generated polygons density, simply apply a smoothing on the PolyPainting by using the Smooth brush in RGB mode only (and not ZAdd/ZSub mode).

Note:The ColorDensity slider (see below) automatically sets these colors for you. It is not neces-

sary to worry about what RGB values constitute pure blue or pure red.

The opacity of the color gives weight to the results. For example, a light blue will slightly reduce the polygon density while 100% RGB Intensity will reduce polygon density in the painted area by the maximum amount possible.

When painting these colors, simply use the Standard brush in RGB mode only. (No ZAdd or ZSub.)

To smoothly transition between densities and avoid visible steps between densities, simply blur the edges of the painted areas by using the Smooth brush in RGB mode only. (No ZAdd or ZSub.)

Color Density

The Color Density slider sets the factor by which ZRemesher will adjust polygon density when using PolyPaint.

If the slider is set to 4 then ZBrush will paint pure blue and these areas will have four

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times as many polygons as the unpainted portions of your mesh. If the slider is set to 0.25 then ZBrush will paint pure red and these areas of the mesh would have a density that is only that of the unpainted portions.

A setting of 2 doubles polygon density, while a setting of 0.50 halves the density.Note:

This PolyPainting control is exactly the same as that used by UV Master.

Target Polygons Count

The Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> Target Polygons Count slider defines the number of polygons that you would like ZRemesher to produce. It called a target for a reason: Sometimes conditions will not allow a bulls eye and the new topology will have a number of polygons that is different from what was specified by this slider. The Adap-tive Size can especially have an impact on this number.

If having a precise number of polygons is more important to you than polygon optimi-zation, disable ZRemeshers Adaptive Density mode as explained below.

Half, Same, Double

The Tool >> Geometry >> ZRemesher >> Half, Same and Double buttons provide an easy way to set the target polygon count relative to the number of polygons found in the original model.

Half sets a target that is equal to half the models original polygon count.

Same sets the target to match the models original polygon count.

Double will actually tell ZRemesher to create topology with twice as many poly-gons as were found in the original model.

These values can be combined with the Adaptive Density mode (explained below).

Note:As with the Target Polygon Count slider, the numbers of polygons that will actually be gener-

ated by ZRemesher can be different whats specified. The only way to have an exact polygon count is to disable the Adaptive Density mode.

Adaptive Density

By default, ZRemesher gives the Adaptive Size setting higher priority than the Target Polygon Count because of the Adaptive Density mode which is enable by default. But when this mode is disabeled, ZRemesher will adjust its topology calculations to give equal weight to your Target Polygon Count value.

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Put another way, ZRemesher will normally try to hit the target count, but only where doing so will not compromise the topology quality dictated by the Adaptive Size sliders setting. Turning Adaptive Density mode off means that ZRemesher will come in very close to the target polygon count, even if a different count would have produced a more ideal mesh.

Curve Strength

The Curve Strength slider is used in collaboration with the Curves created by the ZRemesher Guide brush to influence the edge loops that will be created by the plug-in.

A low value will attract your topology edges toward the curves, while a high value will strongly guide the polygon flow. Please read the Working with Curves section above for more details on how to use Curves in association with ZRemesher.

As a general rule, the higher you set this slider, the fewer Curves you should draw. Otherwise you risk creating topology restrictions that are impossible to resolve.

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iX tipS and trickSHere are a number of Tips and Tricks to keep in mind when using ZRemesher:

While ZRemesher can work with a very large number of polygons, it is recom-mended to reduce your count before using ZRemesher, if possible. For example, if you have 6 levels of subdivision, you might find that level 4 has enough polygons to maintain the overall shape and the medium details. This will improve ZRemeshers speed without altering the retopology quality -- especially if you are targeting a low polygon count.

Dense meshes without much detail (such as imported scan data or a high resolu-tion DynaMesh) can benefit from using Decimation Master to reduce the number of polygons without altering the models visual quality. Do this before using ZRemesher.

It can also be helpful to minimize the variations of small details, peaks and valleys. This is easily done by using a Smooth or Polish deformation before using ZRemesher. The result will be a better polygon flow in the retopologized mesh.

You can do a retopology over a previous retopology. The second one will have a better polygon flow even if the polycount remains exactly the same.

A reminder about Symmetry: If you are using symmetry and are unhappy with the resulting topology, Undo and then try ZRemeshers second symmetry calculation method. Do this simply by holding the ALT key when clicking the ZRemesher button.

Try to avoid small holes in your mesh! Retopology will keep them and can poten-tially increase the polygon count. Wherever possible, it is advised to do retopology on a watertight mesh or a surface that is free from imperfections. Since scan data and flat surface DynaMesh models can have small, hard to see holes, using ZBrushs Close Holes feature before running ZRemesher will improve your results.

When your model is in DynaMesh mode it can also be beneficial to run the Tool >> Geometry >> Mesh Integrity >> Fix Mesh operation before using ZRemesher.

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ZBrush 4R6 - Brushes

BRUSHES

Trim, Crease, Slice!

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Brushes are at the core of your ZBrush creative process and with each new release, ZBrush adds brushes to take full advantage of the newest features. At the same time, existing brushes continue to improve with the newly available options.

ZBrush 4R6 is no different, bringing several new technologies to your brush toolset.

i neW curve frame meSh enhancementEach ZBrushs brushes uses a Stroke setting to define how the action will be applied

as your cursor is moved across the screen. Several brushes use the various options found within the CurveMode Stroke settings. These options allow any of the 3D brushes effects to be applied along a curve that is drawn on the surface of your model. The Tube Brush or Curve Tri Fill are good examples of brushes using CurveMode.

Any brush that has CurveMode enabled can automatically generated curves to frame any topological edge border, any PolyGroup or even any Creased edge. This provides a quick workflow to create unique sculpts based upon which brush is being used.

Curve Frame Mesh in actionThis is how to use this new ability: (CurveMode must be enabled.)

1. Found within the Stroke >> Curve function, you must enable Frame Mesh detec-tion mode. This allows you to use Shift to command a stroke to detect borders, Poly-Groups and/or Creased edges.

2. Load a model with multiple PolyGroups such as the Demo Soldier from the Light-Box >> Tool menu. Activate Solo mode to easily see only the body of the DemoSoldier. Pressing Shift+F turns on the PolyFrame display mode so that you can see the models wireframe and PolyGroups.

3. Select the Curve Multi Tube brush (hotkeys B, C then F).

4. Draw a stroke starting close to an existing PolyGroup, then press and hold the Shift key. As you cross any of the PolyGroups, ZBrush will detect the border of the PolyGroup and create a curve along that PolyGroups border.

5. Release the cursor and then the Shift key. The tube will be created along that PolyGroups border.

6. This can repeated along each PolyGroup, continuing the tube along the surface.

Curve Frame Mesh can be used with any brush that has CurveMode enabled; most notably with the CurveBridge brush.

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On the left, the original mesh with PolyGroups and openings. On the right, Frame Mesh has been used with the MultiTube brush to detect the outline of the PolyGroups and holes, creating tubes

which fit perfectly the models topology.

Extending the Curve StrokeBy default, the curve detection will be based on the Frame Mesh options, but you can

always extend the current stroke to other items by holding the Shift key as you draw out to the next PolyGroup.

An example of this is when only the Border & PolyGroup option is selected. With this activated, ZBrush will only apply the curve to the border of first PolyGroup that is drawn upon. If you wish to continue on to other PolyGroups simply hold the Shift key and con-tinue with more strokes on other PolyGroups.

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ii trim curve BruSheS

The new Trim Curve brushes (Trim Curve, Trim Lasso, Trim Rectangle and Trim Cir-cle) are similar to the Clip Curve brush by removing the part of the model which is located on the shadowed side of the curve. There is a fundamental difference, however: these brushes totally remove the polygons rather than simply pushing them toward the curve.

The Trim Curves brush is selected by holding Ctrl+Shift and clicking the Brush thumb-nail to access the pop-up selector. Once chosen, Trim Curves will always be activated when holding Ctrl+Shift until changed by choosing a new brush type via the same meth-od.

These brushes work only on models without multiple subdivision levels.

Stroke options for Different Trim ResultsFor optimum predictable results, keep in mind that the position of the stroke over the

model can produce different results.

Open Curve: Your curve must cut through the entire model. If you stop the curve partway through a model then ZBrush will do its best to continue the curve to the edge, following the final path of your stroke.

Close Curve (Lasso, Rectangle and Circle): When the stroke is entirely on the model, a new slice is created at the stroke location. This is exactly like the Clip brushes except that the topology outside the stroke is not pushed to the stroke edge. Instead, it is replaced with new topology, using the optimal number of polygons necessary to close the hole. When the stroke is not completely over the surface of the model then the polygons are cut out along the curve and the borders are filled with new polygons.

Do more with these brushes by enabling the BRadius option in the Brush>Clip Brush Modifiers. See the section below about Creating or Removing Thickness with the Trim Curve Brush.

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The comparison between a Clip Curve brush on the left which pushes the polygons and theTrim Curve brush on the right which removes the polygons and then rebuilds the surface.

Important Note About the Shape of the CurveThe Trim Curve brush removes polygons which are unnecessary for cleanly capping

the remaining mesh.

This hole closing function is able to close complex holes, but it is designed for creat-ing flat caps. This means that the Trim Curve brush will generate optimum results when drawing straight lines or lines with sharp angles rather than rounded curves.

In addition to the TrimCurve brush you can also use the TrimCircle, TrimRect or Trim-Lasso for more control.

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Creating or Removing Thickness With the Trim Curve BrushIts possible to cut away a path of geometry by activating the Brush >> Clip Brush

Modifiers >> Brush Radius (BRadius) option.

This option uses the size of the brush (the brush radius) to keep only the polygons located within the brush radius relative to the curve. In effect, youll be drawing a swath of geometry that is the size of your Draw Size setting.

Holding the ALT key during the curve creation will delete the polygons within the brush radius, keeping the rest of the model instead.

On the left, the original Mesh and Trim Curve. In the center, the result of using the BRadius option. On the right, the same BRadius option, but with the ALT key pressed while releasing the brush

cursor.

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iii creaSe BruSh

The Crease brush will create a polygon slice along the drawn curve, with a crease assigned to it. This is done without adding extra PolyGroups.

As with most brushes, its possible to change from the default (Curve) Stroke type to Circle, Lasso, Rectangle and more. This allows you to create different shapes when creasing.

The Crease brush is selected by holding the Ctrl+Shift key, then pressing the Brush icon to select the Crease brush.

This brush will only work on models without multiple subdivision levels.

The Crease Brush was used on this mesh. The left and right images show the model before and after dividing it so that you can notice the creasing.

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Creating a double crease around the curveActivating the Brush >> Clip Brush Modifiers >> Brush Radius (BRadius) option will

use the Draw Size (the brush radius) to create a double line with a crease on both curves.

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iv curve Bridge BruShThe Curve Bridge Brush creates a polygon bridge between two drawn curves and

automatically welds this bridges edge points to the original surface.

The new polygons that form the bridge receive their own PolyGroup. They can be directly manipulated without affecting the support mesh due to an automatically assigned mask that is applied to the support mesh. This is similar to how a mesh insert automati-cally masks the support mesh.

The Curve Bridge uses the new Curve Frame capability to detect the support meshs openings, PolyGroups and/or creased edges. As soon as two distinct curves have been created, ZBrush will generate a polygon bridge between the two surfaces.

Creating a bridge

A hole inside the head!

Follow these steps to demonstrate how to create a bridge:

1. Load the LightBox >> Tool >> Demo Head.

2. In Tool >> Geometry, click Delete Lower to remove all subdivision levels.

3. Disable Perspective (Hotkey P) then snap the view to the side of the head by hold-ing the Shift key while rotating the model.

4. Select the Slice Circle Curve brush.

5. Press CTRL+Shift to call the Slice Circle Curve brush and draw an ellipse around the location of the ear. You should now have a PolyGroup at the ear location.

6. Press CTRL+Shift and click once on the original PolyGroup (not the ear group). The ears PolyGroup should disappear.

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7. In Tool >> Geometry >> Modify Topology, click Delete Hidden to remove the ears entirely.

8. Turn symmetry off by pressing the X key. Since the holes are already symmetri-cal, it is unnecessary and disabling it will avoid unexpected results.

9. Select the Curve Bridge brush.

10. Start to draw a stroke close to the hole. Press the Shift key and continue holding it until your stroke crosses the first ear hole. ZBrush will detect the opening and create a curve around the hole.

11. Rotate your model until you see the other hole and use the same technique to create a curve around this second hole.

12. As soon as you release the cursor, ZBrush will create the bridge between both holes.

13. Click once on the surface to remove the curves.

14. Clear the mask if needed.

Bridge ConstraintsIt is important to consider that the Bridge function depends on the models existing

topology at the points where the bridge connects to the support mesh. As a result, it can be easy to create topology irregularities if you dont respect some simple rules:

Always do a bridge between two open curves or two closed curves. A bridge be-tween a closed and an open curve is not supported by the Bridge brush and will result a flat circle of polygons at the location of the open curve. You will be left with overlapping polygons and -- more important -- a non-manifold surface.

Curve detection can be restricted via the detection options: PolyGroups, Creases and Border openings. Depending on your topology and/or structure, you may need to perform the curve detection in multiple steps by using the Shift key each time. Or you might be able to simply disable or enable one or more Framing options in the Stroke >> Curve Functions sub-palette.

The Bridge is always created along the shortest (straight line) path between the two curves. This means that if you are connecting two curves on the same plane, the bridge will only create flat polygons. Of course this isnt a problem with open surfaces, but on a closed surface the far and near polygons of the tube will overlap.

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v other BruSh changeS and additionSSeveral brushes have been updated with in improved behavior or to support the new

options available in ZBrush 4R6.

Slice Curve Brush BRadius OptionWhen using the Slice brush and activating the Brush >> Clip Brush Modifiers >>

Brush Radius (BRadius) option, the Draw Size (the brush radius) will be used to create a PolyGroup along the curve with its width defined by the brush size value. In essence there will be two lines created when this option is activated.

On the left, a Slice without the BRadius option and on the right, with the BRadius option enabled.

Partial Slice BrushThe Slice Curve brush can now be used with partially hidden geometry.

With this update, it becomes easier to create accurate and precisely located Poly-Groups on your model prior to the use of features such as the Panel Loops or Group Loops.

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The PolyGroups on the bottom were created while the top of the sphere was hidden.

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ZBrush 4R6 - DynaMesh

DYNAMESH

The last additions to the groundbreaking DynaMesh technology

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i dynameSh With polygroupS SupportDynaMesh now supports maintaining the models existing PolyGroups whenever a

re-mesh operation is performed. This also includes the groups created by using Insert Mesh brushes in either add or subtract modes.

What this means is that you can more easily create complex models by easily com-bining DynaMesh with functions like Polish by PolyGroups or Panel Loops.

On the left, the model with its PolyGroups and on the right, the DynaMesh model with the Poly-Groups preserved.

Note:If PolyPaint is enabled, then that will be maintained but instead of the PolyGroups. You can

preserve one or the other. Be sure to turn off the SubTools brush icon if you wish to maintain PolyGroups..

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ii partial dynameShIts now possible to use DynaMesh with a model that has been partially hidden.

To convert part of a model to DynaMesh follow these steps:

1. Hide parts of the model by using the Select Lasso or Select Rectangle brushes.

2. Take the time to refine the opening because DynaMesh will close the surface to create a watertight mesh.

3. If you are already in DynaMesh mode, simply quit it by clicking Tool >> Geometry >> DynaMesh >> DynaMesh button, then click it again to re-enable DynaMesh.

4. At this point, the visible polygons will be converted to a DynaMesh and ZBrush will restore the model to full visibility with the formerly hidden polygons being masked automatically. (This mask will be invisible.)

5. Modify your new DynaMesh model. You can remove the mask at any time to continue sculpting.

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ZBrush 4R6 - Topology and Geometry

TOPOLOGY & GEOMETRY

When Techniques Bring Creativity!

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i topology unWelding and Welding

Unweld Group Border

The Unweld Group Border function, located in the Tool >> Geometry >> Modify To-pology sub-palette will unweld all the vertices where two or more PolyGroups intersect, creating independent surfaces out of the currently selected Tool/SubTool.

At this point you can assign a new PolyGroup to two or more of these individual pieces. Clicking Unweld Groups Border again will weld those parts back together.

On the left, the original Mesh with two different PolyGroups generated using the Group Front func-tion. On the right, Unweld Group Border was then applied and the torus deformed using the Inflate

Balloon deformation. Notice that each PolyGroup is now split from the others.

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ii panel loop regroup panelS and regroup loopSThe Regroup Panels and Regroup Loops mode, located in the Tool >> Geometry

>> Edge Loop sub-palette will apply the same PolyGroup for all new panels and/or new polygon loops around the panels.

Disabling this mode results in ZBrush creating different PolyGroups for each loop or panel.

Both options can be used independently or at the same time.

Regroup Panels

When enabled, the new panels will be assigned a new PolyGroup.

ReGroup Loops

When enabled, all loops will be assigned the same PolyGroup without affecting the meshs original PolyGroups.

On top, the Regroup Panel feature on and off. At the bottom, the Regroup Loop feature on and off.

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iii polygroup additionS

Group Front

Tool >> Polygroups >> (Poly)Group Front creates a new PolyGroup based on the cameras point of view. A new PolyGroup will be created for all visible polygons facing the camera.

By default, Group Front replaces the current PolyGroups for all polygons facing the camera, even if those polygons are an inner surface. Examples of models with forward-facing polygons that are behind each other would be a torus or a coffee cup. With the torus, there are polygons facing the camera on both the outside and inside surfaces and both groups of faces will be changed. (See image below.)

Its possible to force the addition of this front group to the existing one by enabling the Additive option.

The Angle slider defines the tolerance of the front polygon detection. A low value will detect the polygons which are most directly facing the camera while higher values will push the affected area closer to the point where they are perpendicular to the camera. This would then omit only the polygons that are strictly oriented backward.

Group Front in action: on the left, the original mesh position when the Group Front function is trig-gered. On the right, the same model but with another point of view. Notice the distribution of the

PolyGroups.

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iv cloSe holeS in partial viSiBle meSheSThe Close Hole function located in Tool >> Geometry >> Modify Topology can now

close holes in partially hidden models, after which the entire model will be made visible. As with previous versions, the surfaces created to fill the holes will have a different Poly-Group.

An example of this new capability is that you can easily hide a portion of a model, close the resulting opening and then close holes again with the fully visible model to cre-ate an internal wall.

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ZBrush 4R6 - Other Additions

OTHER ADDITIONS

Because ZBrush has such a rich feature set.

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i undo hiStory

The Preferences >> Undo History >> Optimize option helps reduce the size of the Undo History in your project files. This new option is enabled by default.

Movie recording of the Undo History can now interpolate ZSphere radius chang-es to produce a smoother transition when changing their size.

ii autoSave/quickSaveOnce enough time has elapsed for a QuickSave to be performed, ZBrush will now

wait for specific actions before actually executing the QuickSave. This is meant to avoid breaking your flow when sculpting.

iii Solo and dynamic modeThe Solo visibility option (which displays only the selected SubTool) now has a Dy-

namic option located above its button.

When Dynamic is enabled, only the visible SubTool will be displayed while moving, scaling or rotating the model. Other SubTools will be hidden until you release the cursor to finish your 3D navigation.

The main benefit of this mode is to reduce slowdown when manipulating models with a number of SubTools; particularly those SubTools which are high density meshes..

iv maSk By featureSThe Tool >> Masking >> Mask by Features adds a mask eo either the geometry bor-

der edge, any PolyGroup border and/or any Creased edge along the surface.

Each of the Border, Groups and Crease can be turned on all at once or may be indi-vidually selected.

To see Mask by Features in action:

Load the LightBox >> Tools >> DemoHead.ZTL.

Go to the Tool >> Masking >> Mask by Borders sub-palette and click on the Mask Border.

Only the edges of any openings will be masked.

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v miSc

The Merge Stray Polygroups function has been improved and provides more accurate results.

When SmoothUVs is enabled for generating maps, all UV borders will remain frozen when smoothing.

When the Smooth UVs mode (located in Tool >> Geometry) is enabled, the UV smoothing is automatically updated when the subdivision levels are changed. This re-moves the need to manually re-import a smooth UV version of the model or constantly use the ReUV command.

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ZBrush 4R6 - Thank you!

THANK YOU!

Yes, to you!

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thank you

Pixologic would like to thank everyone who has participated as a beta tester for ZBrush since its beginning. We also thank all the ZBrush users who are making such wonderful artwork, inspiring us to push our limits and offer you new, innovative, artistic and production tools!

Happy ZBrushing, and thank you again!

The Pixologic Team

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noteS

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Thank you!Notes

OtheR AdditionsIUndo HistoryIIAutoSave/QuicksaveIIISolo and Dynamic modeIVMask by FeaturesVMisc

Topology & GeometryITopology Unwelding and WeldingUnweld Group Border

IIPanel Loop Regroup Panels and Regroup LoopsRegroup PanelsReGroup Loops

IIIPolygroup additionsGroup Front

IVClose Holes in Partial Visible Meshes

DynaMeshIDynaMesh with Polygroups SupportIIPartial DynaMesh

BrushesINew Curve Frame Mesh EnhancementCurve Frame Mesh in actionExtending the Curve Stroke

IITrim Curve brushesStroke options for Different Trim ResultsImportant Note About the Shape of the CurveCreating or Removing Thickness With the Trim Curve Brush

IIICrease BrushCreating a double crease around the curve

IVCurve Bridge BrushCreating a bridgeBridge Constraints

VOther Brush changes and additionsSlice Curve Brush BRadius OptionPartial Slice Brush

ZRemesherIZRemesher HighlightsIIThe Concept of Adaptive SizeIIIPartial Mesh RetopologyIVSymmetryVWorking with Curves: the ZRemesher Guide brushVIZRemesher and High Polycount modelsVIITransferring high polygon detail to a remeshed modelFreeze Subdivision LevelsDuplicating your SubTool

VIIIZRemesher functionsZRemesherFreeze borderFreeze GroupsAdaptive SizeUse PolyPaintColor DensityTarget Polygons CountHalf, Same, DoubleAdaptive DensityCurve Strength

IXTips and tricks

Installation Upgrading & ActivationIMinimum requirementsIIActivationIIIDeactivationIVActivation TroubleshootingVGoZ and ZBrush 4 and ZBrush 4R2-R6VIUn-installationVIISupport Registration

About ZBrush 4R6

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Documents

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