GETTING TO KNOW ZBRUSH

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL SCULPTING

 CONTENTS OF THIS CLASS

User Interface, File Overview, Saving, Primitives, Initializing, Navigation & Brush Basics
 1. QUICK OVERVIEW

In this first chapter, we’re taking a look at your User Interface and how to handle the files from Zbrush. What are all those
different elements, and how do you save them? Zbrush has several file outputs, knowing which one to use is key!
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USER INTERFACE *

1. The Left and Right Trays 1

These are collapsible sections on the outermost left and right sides of the
ZBrush window which can receive a single palette or several palettes
stacked on top of each other. To open or close a tray, double-click the
divider bar (2) that separates the tray from the rest of window. By default,
the right tray is open and the left one is closed/hidden. The user can drag
a palette to the tray of their choice by clicking and dragging this small
icon (*).

3. The ZBrush Palettes

To organize all the tools, utilities and settings, ZBrush has several palettes.
Each palette is dedicated to a single set of related features. For example,
the Tool palette contains all features regarding inventory and
modification of your various Tools (including 3D models). These palettes
are arranged in alphabetic order across the top of the window, right
below the ZBrush title bar, where many other programs have their menu
bar. In the image, the trays to the left and right contain one palette each 2
(Material and Tool). These are exactly the same as the palette in this top
shelf, they’re just docked on the side for easy and quick access.

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USER INTERFACE
5 6
4. Sub-palettes
5. The Left Shelf
Also known as Menus, these are sub-headings within each
This contains the main shortcuts to sculpting
palette, containing different actions, options and settings
and painting elements: The sculpting Brushes,
which can be applied to ZTools (3D objects, 2.5 Brushes,
Strokes, Alphas, Textures, Materials, the color
Primitives, etc.), or to help with workflow. Like with palettes,
Picker, etc. These items all form the building
new menus can be created and customized by the user. They
blocks of what will happen the next time you
can also be added by plugins. Please keep in mind that
click and drag on the canvas.
menus are context sensitive and can appear or disappear
depending upon your current selections. For example, the
6. The Right Shelf
Tool >> Adaptive Skin menu is only present when a ZSphere
is selected due to the fact that the menu’s features don’t apply
This holds the controls for interacting with the
to any other kind of Tool. When it is selected, the Tool palette
canvas or a 3D model. The top section includes
changes to have no menus at all.
features for manipulating the CANVAS: zoom
in/out, scroll, antialiasing, 10% view, etc. Below
these icons are features for manipulating a 3D
4 OBJECT (ZTool): Scale, Rotate, Move and
essential elements for mesh visibility and the 3D
workspace such as grid visibility, transparency,
frame view, Polyframe (wireframe), perspective,
etc. These latter buttons will be grayed out any
time a model is not drawn on the canvas in Edit
mode. It is important to remember that the top
buttons affect your canvas as a whole, while the
bottom buttons affect whatever model you are
currently sculpting.
USER INTERFACE
7. The ZBrush canvas
Unlike other 3D software,
ZBrush doesn’t have a 3D
space scene in which the
camera (the user point of
view) can be moved;
instead 3D objects are
manipulated in front of the
camera, within the canvas.
Think of the ZBrush canvas
as being like a window
within your house, looking
out onto the 3D world
beyond. Objects can be
moved around outside the
window, but you can’t
move the window itself.
This is a key element to
understanding and being
comfortable within ZBrush,
and is actually part of the
reason why ZBrush is able
to work with millions of
polygons in real-time.
8 8. Lightbox
Lightbox is a browser which
can display the content of
folders located on your
hard drive.
To open an element, simply
double click on it. If it’s a
3D model / ZTool, it will be
automatically loaded. If it’s
material, it will be loaded
and selected.
The shortcut to show or
hide Light Box is the ,
(comma) key.
Generally, we will not be
needing the lightbox, so get
used to turning it off. If
7 your program crashes,
there’s a tiny chance it
made a quicksave and it will
be located here.
USER INTERFACE
9. The Top Shelf
+
This contains the main shortcuts to brush settings and ZTool manipulations. This area includes all the
elements you will need on a regular basis to work on your model or painting: Edit mode, the Move, Scale and
Rotate functions, the ZAdd or ZSub modes, the Size and hardness of the brush (Draw Size and Focal Shift), Z
Intensity, access to important utilities (Projection Master, Light Box, Quicksketch) and more.

10. The Title Bar

This is found at the very top of the ZBrush window. On the left side it contains the ZBrush version number,
your hardware ID and memory usage info. On the right are controls for palette visibility, the default ZScript
(which reloads the default startup setup), the Help button, the interface theme colors and UI configuration
presets. At any time, you can switch between UI configurations by clicking on the top right buttons that will
cycle through several presets.

+ Pop-up Windows
When clicking on some elements of the UI, a pop-up window appears which contains the corresponding
functions related to the clicked icon. This example shows the Stroke pop-up window which contains the
settings of your brush movement. Others important elements of the UI like the 3D Brush, ZTool, Alphas,
Textures have the same kind of pop-up window.

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ZBRUSH SAVING

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ZBrush has a couple of saving options that all relate to a different file type. It’s important to know what you’re saving and why.

1. Saving the Document will save the canvas 2.5D content only. This is used for illustrations. Do not use this for this class.

2. Saving the ZTool will save the selected 3D object (including all its subtools, subdivisions, settings, 3D layers, etc.). This is used for models.

3. Saving a Project will save multiple ZTools at once. It results in a much larger file size and so is not a good choice for saving on multiple versions
of a single ZTool.

Most users will save the ZTools and not the Documents if they are using ZBrush only for its 3D features.
ZBRUSH SAVING
AutoSave

The AutoSave feature helps safeguard your work by automatically saving a Project periodically or
whenever ZBrush enters an idle state. If ZBrush then shuts down for any reason you will be able to
restore your work by loading the temporary file created by ZBrush. Because it uses a dedicated
project, the Auto Save feature won’t overwrite any existing copies of your project. Any copies that
you save manually will be completely separate from the Auto Save version.
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The project saved by ZBrush through the Auto Save feature is named QSave000114.ZPR and is
located in the public ZBrush folder. On Windows, this is the
C:\Users\Public\Documents\ZBrushData\QuickSave folder. If ZBrush ever crashes, the next time you
launch it you will be asked if you wish to load the AutoSaveProject.ZPR.

QuickSave File Location and Behavior

The project saved by ZBrush through the QuickSave feature is located in the public ZBrush folder.
On Windows, this is the C:\Users\Public\Documents\ZBrushData\QuickSave folder. These files will
begin with QSave followed by a number sequence which increments with each QuickSave.

You can set the maximum number of QuickSaves that ZBrush will keep by adjusting the
Preferences >> Auto Save >> Max Auto Save slider. These files can be accessed easily through
LightBox where there is a new QuickSave tab. Any QuickSave file that ends with UH is indicating
that this file has Undo History saved with the file. QuickSave settings are in the Preferences >
QuickSave sub-palette.

The default hotkey to QuickSave is 9.

 2. OBJECTS INSIDE ZBRUSH

Next up are the different types of meshes you use in Zbrush, and how to get the right one on your screen. In the beginning it
might be complex to know what you’re dealing with, so a good understanding of what type of tool you’re working with is
important for an easy workflow. We’ll also take a look at how to get started with getting the objects on your canvas, and how
to initialize it correctly. In this chapter, we also take a quick look at the history bar, and why it’s your new best friend.
ZBRUSH FILE HANDLING
ZBrush has a very unique vocabulary when it comes to objects, functions, and file types. When the
developers first started building Zbrush, they had no idea it would evolve into the amazing beast
that it has become. Therefore the interface or vocabulary doesn't match standard 3D programs. In
order to help clear up any confusion, here’s the vocabulary, file types, which to use and when. 1
Let's start with Meshes. If you come from the traditional world of Box-Modeling, you may have
heard the term Mesh. A Mesh is a collection of points, faces, and edges. Zbrush has a tiered
system of containers that hold Meshes. I like to think of the containers like boxes nested inside
of each other.

1. The Small Box Represents a SubTool - A SubTool is a Container for Meshes. A SubTool is 2
essentially a way to organize groups of meshes into an ordered list. You can find the subtool menu
under Tool/SubTool.

2. The Medium Box Represents a Tool - A Tool is a Container for SubTools. A Tool can contain
several subtools that contain several meshes. You may have several Tools loaded into Zbrush at
any one time.

3. The Large Box Represents a Project - A Project is a Container for Tools. A Project holds
everything! A project will hold all of your tools, subtools, and meshes. A project will also hold all of
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your Brush settings for that session. Projects are a nice way to save your progress for you to come
back to, but be warned, projects can get HUGE.

IMPORTANT TIP - It's much cleaner, and file size efficient to save your models as Tools, NOT
Projects.
ZBRUSH ZTOOLS
The Tool palette holds all the 3D Models for a ZBrush project. They are known as “Tools” or “ZTools”.

Copy Tool: The Copy Tool button will copy the selected model to memory, including all its subtools. A Tool
can be copied between projects.

Paste Tool: The Paste Tool button will paste any copied model into the Tool palette.

Import: The Import button imports a 3D mesh from an OBJ file.

Export: The Export Tool button exports a model in a variety of 3D formats, including OBJ.

Clone: Makes an exact copy of the selected model. If the model has subtools, only the selected subtool is
cloned.

Make PolyMesh3D: The Make Polymesh3D button creates a new polymesh object which is geometrically
identical (with the same dimensions and polygon-resolution) to the selected 3D primitive, in its current
deformed state. This new object is added to the Tool palette. If you create your scene from scratch with
a Zbrush primitive (ball, cube, …), always press this button first.

Tool Item Info: This slider lists all ZTools currently loaded into the Tool palette.

R: Restore the palette configuration. When the number of items in the palette grows too large this button
will restore the configuration. All but a few items will be hidden but they may be retrieved by pressing the
large thumbnail and selecting from the pop-up palette.
ZBRUSH SUBTOOLS
SubTool list

SubTools are displayed in a list. Up to eight SubTools are displayed – adjust the scrollbar to the left
to show more SubTools.

From left to right the icons are:

- Arrow: click to group subtools below the selected one. The word START will be shown, and the
number of subtools. Clicking START will hide/show the group. (See Auto Collapse button below.)
To delete the group click the arrow. Groups are not nested so creating or deleting a group below
an existing one will adjusting the numbering.

- Remesh: Add (default)

- Remesh : Subtract

- Remesh : Intersection

- Polypaint on/off. Shift+click the paintbrush icon to turn polypaint on/off for all SubTools.

- ! Visibility on/off. Clicking the eye icon of the selected SubTool will turn off visibility for all
SubTools, click below the icon to just turn off the selected SubTool (it will remain in view until you
switch to a different SubTool). Shift+click the eye icon to turn visibility on/off for all SubTools.
 HOW WILL WE GET STARTED?

ALMOST EVERYTHING WE NEED CAN BE FOUND

IN THIS MENU:

RIGHT NOW, WE CAN SEE THAT THE SIMPLEBRUSH

TOOL IS SELECTED. DRAG YOUR MOUSE OVER THE
CANVAS, SEE WHAT IT GIVES.
 THIS IS CLEARLY NOT THE
EFFECT WE WANT.

CLEAR YOUR CANVAS WITH

CTRL+N TO START AGAIN.

SIDE NOTE: SIMPLEBRUSH IS A

TOOL, NOT A BRUSH. BAD
NAMING ON PIXOLOGIC’S PART.
 1
TO START OUR
SCULPT, WE PICK A
PRIMITIVE FROM THE 2
LIST. THIS IS JUST
LIKE PICKING A BOX
TO START
MODELLING IN
OTHER PROGRAMS.
IT’S THE BASE SHAPE
WE START OFF FROM.

AGAIN, DRAG YOUR

BRUSH OVER THE
CANVAS AND SEE
WHAT THE RESULT
IS.
 CHANCES ARE, YOU
WIND UP WITH
SOMETHING LIKE
THIS.

WE ONLY WANT ONE, YET EVERY TIME WE TRY TO CONTINUE IT JUST

KEEPS ADDING THESE SPHERES. HOW DO WE GET ZBRUSH TO STOP AT
THE FIRST SPHERE AND GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SCULPT ON IT?
CLEAR YOUR CANVAS [CTRL + N], DRAG OUT ONE SPHERE AND CLICK
ON THE EDIT BUTTON ABOVE [T]. WE’VE NOW GONE FROM DRAW
MODE TO EDIT MODE. IN OTHER WORDS: WE DREW AN OBJECT ON
OUR CANVAS AND WE TELL ZBRUSH WE WANT TO WORK WITH IT.

FROM NOW ON, IF WE DRAG ON OUR CANVAS (BACKGROUND), WE’RE

NOT GOING TO BE ADDING ANOTHER SHAPE. IT MIGHT BE HARD TO
SEE ON THE SPHERE, BUT WE ARE ACTUALLY ROTATING.
 FOR A BETTER VISUAL
RESPRESENTATION OF YOUR
ROTATION, CLICK ON THE
DRAW POLYFRAME BUTTON
[SHIFT + F]. THIS WILL SHOW
THE WIREFRAME FOR THE
SELECTED SUBTOOL.
THIS MESH RIGHT NOW IS
WHAT WE CALL A
PRIMITIVE. THIS IS NOT A
SCULPTABLE MESH YET.
THINK OF IT AS IF YOU
HAVE A BUTTON THAT
SAYS: “ARE YOU SURE YOU
WANT TO SCULPT WITH
THIS SHAPE AS A BASE?”.

WE CAN PLAY AROUND

WITH THE BASE SHAPE OF
THIS PRIMITVE BEFORE
MAKING IT SCULPTABLE.
WE DO THIS BY TWEAKING
THE SETTINGS IN THE
INITIALIZE TAB UNDER
TOOLS. THIS TAB CHANGE
WHEN WE MAKE IT A
SCULPTABLE MESH, SO NO
GOING BACK!
 THIS IS THE
ERROR MESSAGE
YOU GET IF YOU
CLICK ON YOUR
SPHERE.
CLICKING IMPLIES
THAT YOU WANT
TO SCULPT ON IT,
BUT WE CAN’T DO
THAT YET
BECAUSE OUR
MESH IS STILL A
PRIMITIVE.
 THE ERROR
MESSAGE TOLD
US EXACTLY
WHAT NEEDS TO
BE DONE TO
MAKE THE MESH
SCULPTABLE.
CLICK ON THE
MAKE
POLYMESH3D
BUTTON.
 NOW WE HAVE A
MESH WE CAN
SCULPT ON. GIVE
IT A TRY!

YOU CAN SEE IT LOOKS LIKE THE ‘COLOR’ CHANGED, BUT OUR MESH
ACTUALLY GOT A POLYGROUP ASSIGNED TO IT, MORE ABOUT THAT
LATER. IF YOU TURN OFF THE WIREFRAME, THE COLOR OF YOUR
MESH WILL STILL BE THE SAME.
TRY GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS FROM START TO FINISH. GO OUT
OF EDIT MODE [T] AND CLEAR YOUR CANVAS [CTRL + N].

1. DRAG OUT A
NEW PRIMITIVE
(CUBE)

2. GO BACK TO
EDIT MODE

3. OPTIONAL:
INITIALIZE IT

4. MAKE
POLYMESH3D

5. SCULPT
 IF YOU WANT TO
UNDO
SOMETHING YOU
MADE, YOU CAN
PRESS CTRL+Z OR
SLIDE IN THE
HISTORY BAR AT
THE TOP. THIS
BAR WILL KEEP
ALL OF YOUR
MOVEMENTS
UNTIL YOU SAVE
AND REOPEN THE
FILE, SO BEFORE
CALLING IT A
DAY, MAKE SURE
YOU DON’T WANT
TO GO BACK
ANYMORE. TO
SAFEGUARD
AGAINST THIS,
SAVE
INCREMENTALLY!
 3. NAVIGATION

The hardest part for new Zbrush users is navigation. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the needed shortcuts and get
comfortable with moving around. Note that we’re not moving our mesh around, we’re moving around our mesh. This is an
important distinction, we’ll learn how to move the meshes in relation to each other later.
START BY MOVING AROUND YOUR OBJECT USING THESE SHORTCUTS
AND SCULPTING A BIT. GET A FEEL FOR ROTATING, MOVING AND
SCALING THE CANVAS.
YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT IF
YOU SCULPT ON AN OBJECT AND
THEN ROTATE, YOU WILL ROTATE
AROUND THE LAST POINT YOU
TOUCHED. THIS IS BECAUSE THE
LOCAL TRANSFORMATION BUTTON
IS ON. SOMETIMES IT’S HANDY,
SOMETIMES NOT. TURN IT ON AND
OFF TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE.
IF YOU’RE REALLY ZOOMED IN AND
CAN’T ACCESS THE
BACKGROUND/CANVAS, YOU CAN
STILL USE YOUR ZOOM
FUNCTIONALITY IN THE WHITE
BORDERED AREA OF YOUR SCREEN.
THIS WILL FUNCTION LIKE YOUR
CANVAS BACKGROUND FOR
NAVIGATION NO MATTER HOW
ZOOMED IN YOU ARE.
 PRESSING SHIFT WHEN ROTATING
WILL SNAP YOUR OBJECT TO A VIEW
(FRONT, LEFT, RIGHT, TOP,
BOTTOM). VERY HANDY!

ALT + RIGHT CLICK

WILL ZOOM ON
THAT LOCATION OF
YOUR OBJECT.
 4. BRUSH BASICS
We know how to move around in our project, how to save it, how to get started,… Now, let’s take a look at the things you can do
with your actual sculpting brush. We’re going to be seeing a lot more about different brushes in the next class, but let’s focus on
what’s the same for all these brushes first.
 MENU FOR THIS WEEK
MENU WITH BRUSHES FOR WITH GENERAL BRUSH
NEXT WEEK MODIFIERS.

BY DEFAULT, YOU’LL START

OUT WITH THE STANDARD
BRUSH SELECTED. SOME
BRUSHES WILL SCULPT ON
YOUR MESH CAMERA
BASED, AND SOME BASED
ON THE NORMAL OF YOUR
POLYGONS.
 WHEN YOU SCULPT
SOMETHING, IT MIGHT
BE A BIT TOO HARSH
AND YOU WANT TO
SMOOTH OUT THE
RESULT. BY HOLDING
DOWN SHIFT, YOUR
BRUSH TRANSFORMS
INTO THE SMOOTH
BRUSH.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO
KNOW THAT ALL
SETTINGS WE LEARN TO
ADJUST ALSO AFFECT
THE SMOOTH BRUSH.
IT’S A BRUSH LIKE ALL
THE OTHERS, AND IT
WILL REMEMBER THE
ADJUSTMENTS YOU
MAKE TO IT UNTIL YOU
NEXT RELOAD ZBRUSH.
NOW IT SMOOTHES!
TO CHANGE THE SIZE OF
YOUR BRUSH, MOVE THE
SLIDER IN DRAW SIZE.

ALTERNATIVELY, YOU
CAN PRESS [S] TO POP
UP THAT WINDOW
WHERE YOUR CURSOR IS.

ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE
IS TO USE THE
BRACKETS [ AND ]. KEEP
THEM PRESSED TO
INCREASE OR DECREASE
YOUR BRUSH SIZE.
 THE DEFAULT ON MOST
BRUSHES IS THAT
THEY’RE ADDING TO THE
GEOMETRY. YOU CAN
SEE ON TOP THAT ZADD
IS TURNED ON.

HOLDING DOWN ALT

WHILE SCULPTING WILL
REMOVE FORM THE
GEOMETRY, BASICALLY
DOING THE INVERSE OF
YOUR BRUSH.
 Z INTENSITY
CHANGES THE
STRENGTH OF YOUR
BRUSH, OR IN
OFFICIAL TERMS:
THE AMOUNT OF
DEPTH
INFORMATION
APPLIED. HOLDING
DOWN [U] WILL
POP UP A WINDOW
JUST LIKE WITH
THE DRAW SIZE.

DON’T JUST KEEP

SCULPTING ON THE
SAME SPOT TO GET
MASSIVE EFFECTS, JUST
CRANK IT UP OR DOWN.
HOW CAN I PRACTICE THIS MATERIAL / PREPARE FOR NEXT CLASS?

Next class we’re going to be seeing a lot more about different brushes. Get comfortable navigating around your mesh, initialize
another mesh and sculpt on it a little bit. If you’re feeling exceptionally brave, open up the brush menu on the left and take a look
at what other brushes are out there. Experiment, look up a youtube tutorial, open up the brush panel, sculpt whatever you
want! It doesn’t have to be good or even look like anything, simply try to get comfortable with Zbrush. Not practicing until next
week will cause you to fall behind quickly, so try to at least take an hour or two to sculpt something weird. Enjoy!
CREDITS

PIXOLOGIC

SHANE OLSON

MICHAEL PAVLOVICH

KURT PAPSTEIN

The information in these slides was compiled out of existing

information made by these companies and artists.