FJTools - ZBrush plugin

floon

Hey fellow Polycounters!

FJTools is a Plugin for ZBrush, that will help you to organise your Subtools and speed up your workflow in general. It does so by automating repetitive tasks, or solving them intuitively.
You can find the plugin on ArtStation, Gumroad and Cubebrush.

Disclaimer:

The plugin is designed for ZBrush 2019/2020/2021/2022/2023 and was thoroughly tested on a Windows machine. Mac support was verified as well, but as I do not own a Mac, I could not test it myself.
Previous versions of ZBrush are NOT supported.

Feature breakdown:

All features are explained in a mini video series, which can be found on the plugins’ ArtStation page or YouTube!

Installation:

To install FJTools simply copy the "FJTools_1_5.zsc" file, along with the "FJTools_1_5_Data"-folder into the Zplugs64-folder of your ZBrush 2019/2020/2021/2022/2023 installation. The path should look similar to this:

...\Pixologic\ZBrush 2019[2020][2021][2022]\ZStartup\ZPlugs64

...\Maxon ZBrush 2023\ZStartup\ZPlugs64

Done!

Upgrade:

Should you be upgrading from a previous version, make sure to delete the old .zsc file AND the corresponding data folder first. After that just follow the installation above.

Also be sure to check out thehttps://youtu.be/0ZDVoJCECyY FJTools 1.5 — Feature Highlight video, to see what has changed!

 Special thanks for helping to find a nasty bug:

• Cagatay Ozkan https://www.artstation.com/cagazoid

floon

Awesome! I'm super happy to hear that !
Also thanks a lot for the suggestion, I think the feature really adds a cool facette to the tool set.
The reloading of the plugin (so collapsing and appearing at the bottom of the plugin list), unfortunately is needed to switch to the new swatch icons. I agree though that it's a bit jarring from an UX perspective. (it actually works better in the pop-up menu, so you can already see which colors are in the selected swatch-set, because I can quickly redraw this type of menu ).
Btw if needed you can also create custom swatch sets, if e.g. another client would need a specific vertex color assigned. "All" you would need to do is to duplicate one of the SwatchSet-folders within the plugin data folder. It's quite a cumbersome process though, I just wanted to mention that it IS possible to extend the existing sets by custom ones.


I'll think about your suggestion of combining multiple features, it actually sounds like a fun idea. Thanks again for the input!

floon

When working on a personal project I had an idea how to use the new color range feature to generate random selection (this might also be useful for you @torba!):

- First step is to get individual Subtools, so in case of the example you would need so split them first
- Then colorize the Subtools with the new Range function. The amount of colors determines how many selections you will end up with.
- Use "Merge Visible" to quickly merge all Subtools back again
- As the final step use (Group) "From Polypaint", hereby it's important to set the tolerance to max
- Now you could split your Subtools again if needed

Unfortunately due to the splitting and merging this is a bit of a destructive workflow, but I think it's a neat move nevertheless.
I used it to get some variations in a piece of chainmail quickly

torba

Hi Florian,

Thanks a lot for the tip! You are right. This will work great!

I tested the new features on my latest batch of sculpts and it worked flawlessly. The above addition will only make it better.
It's great it already exists in the app.

On a side note; Do you have any type of buymeacoffe or fiverr etc profile? I couldn't find any.

I wanted to send some euros your way and I was wondering if buying fjtools on gumroad with a nice tip would work for you.

Artstation doesn't allow custom amounts, I think.
Would you prefer a direct paypal transfer? Asking so that you don't lose too much on fees etc.
Let me know

cheers

floon

Glad you like the idea !

You can tip on Artstation, but just having a conversation here and brainstorming about new features is already more than I can ask for. I appreciate the gesture though

torba

Hi Florian,
No problem.

True, I see tips on Artstation. Still, I went with gumroad, because on Artstation the tip was limited to €10.

Thanks again.