Introduction to Zbrush videos
Hey polycounters,
Am looking to get a feel and start doing small experiments with Zbrush, but the interface and controls are quite foreign (Never done anything but open the program, so yea, shows how much time I've spent with it.) Anyone have any good recommendations for videos that get you familiar with the interface and it's tools, shortcuts..etc?
Am looking to get a feel and start doing small experiments with Zbrush, but the interface and controls are quite foreign (Never done anything but open the program, so yea, shows how much time I've spent with it.) Anyone have any good recommendations for videos that get you familiar with the interface and it's tools, shortcuts..etc?
Replies
ZBrush has a TON of buttons. You can pretty much ignore about 95% of them for the time being. If you're just getting into sculpting, you can get away with just familiarizing yourself with the tool pallet, and a few brushes.
Within the tool pallet, learn how to create and manage subtools, how to use dynamesh, and how to divide your mesh and move between subdivisions.
Learn how to navigate the viewport. I prefer to use right-click to rotate the view, but you can also left-click on empty space outside of your model to achieve the same result. Alt+right-click (or left-click outside the model) lets you pan, and Ctrl_right-click (or left-click outside the model) lets you zoom.
While using brushes, know that holding shift will activate the smooth brush, holding alt will reverse the direction of the brush (brushes that add material will now remove it, and vice versa), and holding ctrl will let you paint a mask (you may have guessed holding ctrl+alt will let you erase a mask).
Learn how to vary the size and strength of your brush. I often set the strength (called "Z Intensity" in ZBrush) much lower than the default values for a given brush.
The only brushes I ever use (mostly):
1. Standard - I use this for digging into material and making creases
2. DamStandard - Great for getting sharp edges and cuts
3. Clay Tubes - Great for building up material
4. Move - Just like it sounds, move stuff around (holding alt will move perpendicularly to the surface)
5. Nudge - A lot like move, but will only move parallel to the surface
I think that should be enough to get you started.