[Zbrush] Is there really no way to view windowed ref images?

Dubious_Fellow · Feb 2018

If not, I guess the devs presume that all of their users are using 2 monitors?
Btw: I'm not talking about setting up a textured plane in the document, that's just time consuming madness. That's the technique suggested on Pixologic's site but it just seems insanely complicated -like 11 steps (and gets affected by your camera/canvas view).

Thanks in advance...

cryrid · Feb 2018

Document (Layers):

The document IS an image, so you can just import your reference image on the bottom layer and edit the model on a second layer. You can also draw multiple images onto the document by using built-in tools like Simple Brush or Image Planes (see below). This method won't get changed by your view of the model and only takes a few seconds to use.

Spotlight:

You could also import your images, and just click Texture: Add To Spotlight. You don't just have to use spotlight for stencils just because most tutorials do. Turn off spotlight projection, and you're left with a feature that lets you float multiple images around the screen, quickly resize and rearrange them as needed, and allows you to toggle it on and off as needed with a simple shortcut. This method won't get changed by your view of the model and only takes a few seconds to use.

Image Planes:

You don't have to use image planes as actual image planes (the floor grid has essentially replaced that workflow). Like spotlight, you just have to click on the image in the texture palette and then click Texture: Image Plane: Load Image. This will create a brand new tool with the image on it, letting you quickly draw it onto the document and stamp it where ever you want. Because this uses document pixols, this method won't get changed by your view of the model and only takes a few seconds to use.

OS Windows #1 - See Through:

Depending on the nature of the reference images, you can keep them open underneath zbrush, and quickly drop Zbrush's See-Through slider to lower the opacity in order to see other windows underneath Zbrush. Since these windows exist outside of Zbrush, this method won't get changed by your view of the model and only takes a few seconds to use.

OS Windows #2 - Restore:

You can also resize the zbrush window as needed so that it doesn't take up a full monitor. You can quickly hide the UI by pressing tab to devote more of this window space to the sculpt, or toggle zbrush between fullscreen and this windowed mode with a single clicking of the Restore button. This will give you plenty of screen space for both images and the model -no less space than if you were to float separate windows on top of the program - and this method won't get changed by your view of the model and only takes a few seconds.

floon · Feb 2018

cryrid already pointed out all the options ZBrush gives you. What you could also try, and what I am using on a regular basis, is using a reference board tool like:

Kuadro
or
PureRef (which I prefer)

These let you overlay images over your other applications, not only ZBrush.
In PureRef you can also lower the opacity of the overlay itself. This way you end up with a half transparent image over ZBrush, instead of a half transparent Zbrush over your reference.

Dubious_Fellow · Sep 2018

floon said:

cryrid already pointed out all the options ZBrush gives you. What you could also try, and what I am using on a regular basis, is using a reference board tool like:

Kuadro
or
PureRef (which I prefer)

These let you overlay images over your other applications, not only ZBrush.
In PureRef you can also lower the opacity of the overlay itself. This way you end up with a half transparent image over ZBrush, instead of a half transparent Zbrush over your reference.

Thanks (a little belatedly), PureRef sounds perfect!