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ZSwitcher plug-in

polycounter lvl 17
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fmnoor polycounter lvl 17
Just got an email about this:

http://draster.com/ZSwitcher/get.html

Maya/Max style navigation for Zbrush courtesy of dRaster.

Kinda cool, I don't use Zbrush super often but I've gotten used to the interface. Nice that this exists now.

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  • maze
  • fmnoor
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    fmnoor polycounter lvl 17
    God damn it. I should read the front page every now and then huh :|

    Can this be locked / dleted?
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    In the announcement it is mentioned that:
    It is possible to upgrade for $28.0

    Has anyone successfully upgraded from the personal to the commercial version?
    I see no option to do as much on the dRaster website?
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    Nice! I've been wanting this for a while. Gonna check it out.

    Edit:
    Oh, wait a second, this is the opposite of what I thought. What I've been looking for is zBrush-style navigation within Max. Anyone knows if that exists out there?
  • Jeremy Wright
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    Jeremy Wright polycounter lvl 17
    Bigjohn wrote: »
    Edit:
    Oh, wait a second, this is the opposite of what I thought. What I've been looking for is zBrush-style navigation within Max. Anyone knows if that exists out there?

    Why in the world would you want that? Maybe there's a Maxscript somewhere that will randomly reorder all of your toolbars and interfaces.
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    8FtSpider wrote: »
    Why in the world would you want that? Maybe there's a Maxscript somewhere that will randomly reorder all of your toolbars and interfaces.

    I think people sell zBrush's navigation way short.

    Its detection of silhouette vs negative-space clicks is ridiculously useful. For comparison, zBrush is the only program where I can have the two buttons on my wacom pen actually do something. In all the other ones, like 3dsmax, I have to have those buttons bound to middle and right click just to navigate.

    If I could have zBrush's navigation in all my 3D programs, I would.
  • Bal
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    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    I stopped using Zswitcher cause I get a tiny-freeze when I start any kind of camera movement on complex meshes, it's barely noticeable but becomes quite annoying after a while. Unfortunate as otherwise it's quite good, would have bought it.

    Oh and yeah, I hate Zbrush's navigation, but you get used to it after a while...
  • Autocon
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    Autocon polycounter lvl 15
    I am getting the same thing with the little tiny-freeze when using NEX, another one of Digital Rasters products. It has become extremely annoying to the point where I dont use NEX at all times like I would like to since it makes Maya more Max like in terms of modeling power.

    Sad to hear the Zswitcher has the same little lag hickup. I wonder if there Max switcher with Maya controls has the lag hickup too.
  • Rwolf
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    Rwolf polycounter lvl 18
    We have a front page? I just go straight to the forums everyday.
  • spacemonkey
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    spacemonkey polycounter lvl 18
    I've had problems with Digital Rasters NEx too.. far too many glitches and freezes and no product support. They have great idea's its just not products I feel I can rely on in a development environment. (Max/Maya are flakely enough on their own thanks)
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    btw, A new version was released 6 days ago...
    1.0.1.0 for ZBrush 3.5 and 4.0
    Date Released:
    1/11/2011
    zswitcher-icon-black.png
    Either this new version obliterates that delay ( alluded to by Bal here and on the draster forums )...
    or I jes don't notice it cuz I got a really efffing fast computer.
    But I don't notice any delay with a wireless mouse(R.A.T.) or with a tablet(graphire).
    Could someone experiencing this delay try the new( or have tried the new ) download to verify?
    Also...
    No one has actually tried the upgrade path ( that would be cheaper! ) suggested from the front page article?
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    tic toc tic toc,
    the clock is out on my trial.
    Guess I'll have to find out myself if there is really an upgrade path.
    As no one seems to know for sure ( maybe the email is stuck online somewhere? )

    Done and done.

    nope. ptooey and hogwash. After ordering the personal license I still see no upgrade path.

    I think the mix up comes from someone's interpretation of the
    license recieved when you complete your order, that states:
    [SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]If you plan to use ZSwitcher for non-commercial or educational purposes, you can purchase it for the discounted price of [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]$28. [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/SIZE]
    [SIZE=-1][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Personal licenses have the same exact features as commercial licenses -- the only difference is price.[/SIZE][/FONT]
    [FONT=Arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]This offer is limited to only individuals (not to be combined with company accounts) and is only applicable once per [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]customer.[/SIZE][/FONT]
    [/FONT][/SIZE]

    [FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Which is not a "commercial" license you can purchase for the discounted price of $28.

    It is the NON-commercial license you "have" purchased whose usage is
    being described to you in a confounding tense.
    ( you can purchase something you just purchsed if you run sideways very quickly till the whole space-time continuum rips a hole up the crack of yer .... )

    I don't see no upgrade path.

    edit: ( No one from Digital Raster has e-mailed me back as of yet.)
    I got a response. The Guys at zswitcher have allowed me to upgrade!
    Thanks Digital Raster.
    Till then, I believe the upgrade path was a mis-interpretation. edit( it was )
    [/FONT]
  • Bal
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    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    My Trial is out too, and I don't want to buy it if that delay is still there... I'd get it otherwise.
    Since he never replied on my last post I'm guessing they haven't changed anything (or haven't even been able to reproduce it), but I've seen it on 4 different machines, not taking the risk.
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    Did you get the delay on the new download?
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    :thumbup: Got a response from the Digital Raster Team. They were nice enough to let me upgrade from the personal to commercial. For the price of the difference
    ( It isn't as if the price was outstanding either way )
    :)
  • Kewop Decam
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    Kewop Decam polycounter lvl 9
    Bal wrote: »
    I stopped using Zswitcher cause I get a tiny-freeze when I start any kind of camera movement on complex meshes, it's barely noticeable but becomes quite annoying after a while. Unfortunate as otherwise it's quite good, would have bought it.

    Oh and yeah, I hate Zbrush's navigation, but you get used to it after a while...
    Max switcher which gives you Maya controls in Max doesn't have a hiccup.

    BUT it does break a lot of Max's newer tools. All the new tools in Max 2009 that came from the polyboost intergration that deal with retopping or drawing on a mesh do not work. The plug-in WrapIt doesn't work when Switcher is on also which uses Max's code to draw on a mesh. The issue is with Switcher and not Max or WrapIt and I wrote several e-mails asking dRaster if this issue would ever be resolved and I was ignored every single time.

    Honestly makes me not want to buy their stuff if they're just going to up and ignore people. Any response I would have been fine with, but none... not a fan of that.
  • Autocon
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    Autocon polycounter lvl 15
    Max switcher which gives you Maya controls in Max doesn't have a hiccup.

    BUT it does break a lot of Max's newer tools. All the new tools in Max 2009 that came from the polyboost intergration that deal with retopping or drawing on a mesh do not work. The plug-in WrapIt doesn't work when Switcher is on also which uses Max's code to draw on a mesh. The issue is with Switcher and not Max or WrapIt and I wrote several e-mails asking dRaster if this issue would ever be resolved and I was ignored every single time.

    Honestly makes me not want to buy their stuff if they're just going to up and ignore people. Any response I would have been fine with, but none... not a fan of that.


    wow thats a real shame to hear about the problems with Max and switcher. thanks for the info. was actually going to pick it up soon but now I think I will pass.
  • dRaster
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    dRaster polycounter lvl 17
    @Bal, We fixed the tiny-freeze issue and we're testing it now. If all goes well, it should be available for download within another day or so.

    @Autocon, sorry to hear about any issues you're having with NEX. Can you please reply with more detail as to when it's happening?

    @Kewop Decam, we're still working on trying to make Switcher work with all the Graphite tools. There's a lot of stuff in there so please be patient with us.
  • Mark Dygert
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    Thanks for posting dRaster, its good to know you guys are working on it.

    On a totally unrelated note, do you know of any tools that enable max navigation inside Maya or other apps or is that just something that is horribly improbable and never likely to see the light of day?
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    I'm still curious about getting zBrush navigation in Max.
  • dRaster
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    dRaster polycounter lvl 17
    @Mark Dygert, I haven't seen anything like it yet, but it would be possible as a plug-in. Part of the reasoning behind why we chose to do a Maya style navigation plug-in for 3ds max and ZBrush is detailed here: http://draster.com/ZSwitcher/faq.html#existing_navigation_tools

    @Bigjohn, I hear ya, but I think that's a long shot.
  • tacit math
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    tacit math polycounter lvl 17
    dRaster. awesome job there. cheers guys

    ( ot ) Q : any plans to develop tools and workflows for mudbox ?
  • Mark Dygert
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    ahh yea that does make total sense. Max style nav is the oddball of the group.

    I'm one of those people that is comfortable switching between max maya and mudbox no problem, occasionally I'll slip if I've been working in max and move to one of the others. I really enjoyed using maya-esk nav in max but then the trial ran out and I read of bugs and in compatibilities so I left it default when it expired. There have probably been some changes since I tried it in max2008.

    For a long time I've put off really working with zbrush because the navigation is so wonky and weird. As are the menus and well just about everything else. good thing I bought it about 3 years ago and haven't bothered to really use it... heh

    I'll give zswitcher a go and see how I like it with Maya style nav.

    Thanks again!
  • Fuse
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    Fuse polycounter lvl 18
    I use the maya navigation plugin both at work and at home. It's fantastic.

    The only issue I have with zswitcher is that zbrush has right click hardcoded to brush properties. So once in a while the menu pops up because it didnt register you holding alt while navigating. Is there any way to fix that ? It's super annoying when sculpting.
  • Bal
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    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    EDIT, woops, weirdo double post while editing, not sure how that happened, someone delete this! :D
  • Bal
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    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    dRaster wrote: »
    @Bal, We fixed the tiny-freeze issue and we're testing it now. If all goes well, it should be available for download within another day or so.

    That's great to know, thanks! Looking forward to the next version.

    Fuse, yeah I hate that as well, I hope Pixologic allows us to disable the right click menu, I know it's been asked by a few people on ZBCentral.
  • claydough
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    claydough polycounter lvl 10
    dRaster wrote: »
    Part of the reasoning behind why we chose to do a Maya style navigation plug-in for 3ds max and ZBrush is detailed here: http://draster.com/ZSwitcher/faq.html#existing_navigation_tools

    Closest thing to a viewport navigation "standard" there is.
    Unlike others I get navigation dyslexia very easily.
    ( almost to the point of being incapacitated )

    With zSwitcher I can now open all my dcc tools and Navigate with the comfort of near "standardization".

    "although alt rmb zoom lmb rotate convas and mmb pan in Photoshop would sure be nice."
  • tacit math
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    tacit math polycounter lvl 17
    "although alt rmb zoom lmb rotate convas and mmb pan in Photoshop would sure be nice."

    agreed. custom setups across the board as far as i'm concerned. map any key. combination. or mouse click
  • dRaster
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    dRaster polycounter lvl 17
    We've posted the latest release (v1.0.3.0), it's rock solid in our testing. You can download it here:
    http://draster.com/ZSwitcher/get.html

    @tacit math, no plans for mudbox tools from us yet.
    @Fuse, I'm not sure if you're refering to ZSwitcher, but the right-click menu used to sometimes come up randomly when using ZSwitcher, we fixed that with v1.0.2.0.

    I'll be back with more news regarding Switcher for 3ds max and its graphite tools.
  • dRaster
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    dRaster polycounter lvl 17
    @Kewop Decam, I know this is a ZSwitcher thread, but I promised to come back with news of Switcher once we updated it to work with all the Graphite tools. Good news, Switcher 1.5 has been released yesterday and is compatible with all the new Graphite tools. As I'm sure you already know, some of the Graphite tools make heavy use of many different keyboard/mouse combinations. They all work the same as a default setup except for anything using Alt+Left-mouse-button is remapped to Middle-mouse-button when Switcher is enabled. We had to remap that because Switcher uses Alt+Left-mouse-button for orbiting the camera. We also fixed the bug with snapping with older releases of 3ds max. Finally, Switcher has been updated to be compatible with 3ds max 2012 and all of its new Graphite tools as well.
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