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Zapplink 4 Manual: For Zbrush 4
Zapplink 4 Manual: For Zbrush 4
ZAppLink 4 Manual
for ZBrush 4 -
© 2010 Pixologic, Inc. All rights reserved, Pixologic and the Pixologic logo, ZBrush, and the ZBrush logo are
registered trademarks of Pixologic, Inc. Various patents pending. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
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ZAppLink Guide
I Introduction
ZAppLink 4 is a ZBrush plugin that allows you to seamlessly integrate your favorite
image editing software into your ZBrush workflow. Call up your image editing pack-
age while in ZBrush, use it to modify the active ZBrush document or tool, and then go
straight back into ZBrush.
ZApp Link 4 can be accessed from your Document palette. ZApp Link 4 will allow
the artist to do the following:
II Installation
1. Quit ZBrush
2. Extract the zip file to a temporary folder.
3. Copy the ZAppLink_4.0.zsc to your ZPlugs folder. With a default PC installa-
tion this will be found at C:\Program Files\Pixologic\ZBrush4\ZStartup\ZPlugs. With a
default Mac installation this will be in /Applications/ZBrush 4 OSX/ZStartup/ZPlugs.
4. Also copy the ZAppLinkData_4.0 folder and its contents to the ZPlugs folder
5. Launch ZBrush.
6. Open the Document palette where you will find the ZAppLink button. Press the
button to launch ZAppLink.
Notes:
If you already have ZAppLink installed, remove first the ZAppLink.zsc file and ZAppLinkData
folder first.
ZAppLink must not be installed in the ZBrush 4/ZData/ZPlug folder but in the ZBrush 4/
ZStartup folder.
IV Painting on Views
ZApp Link 4 allows you to store views for front, side, top, bottom... Its very easy to
store a view. Simply position the model and then press the corresponding view.
If the transform is already defined, and you want to change it, then first press the
Clear To switch followed by the button of the transform to clear. Then press the trans-
form button again to store it. The LEDs should indicate which views have transforms
stored.
Use the Save Views button to save the .vws file for your tool, that way you can use
the Load Views button to get them back if you need them later.
Once you store a view the ZAppLink Views switch will be turned on. This will tell
ZBrush to export all of your views when
going to Photoshop. Turn this off if you only want to export your current view.
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ZAppLink Guide
Character Strip allows the artist to quickly create a .PSD document with all the
views stored for the model.
You can import an Alpha Channel selection from Photoshop® and have it automati-
cally become a stencil in ZBrush.
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ZAppLink Guide
ZAppLink can create a connection between ZBrush’s 2.5D canvas and your image
editor of choice. To do this you can not
have a model in 3D edit mode on the canvas. Make sure to turn Edit off to send just
canvas information.
When you add a new layer in your image editor, and then go back to ZBrush,
ZBrush looks for a number embedded in the layer name to determine which ZBrush
layer the external layer is imported into. For example, if the name of your layer in Pho-
toshop is “Squid11”, the image in that layer will be imported into ZBrush’s layer 11
Note:
When creating a new layer in your external image editor, make sure the number in its name
is higher than the highest-numbered existing layer in ZBrush. Otherwise, you may import the new
image over top of an existing ZBrush layer.
The Z values of the new layer’s pixols will be chosen to place it before all layers
that are beneath it. Any parts that are hidden by layers above will be pushed behind
those layer’s pixols. This makes all visible new layer parts have the same Z depth.
When you accept the new layer, it will be applied with blending. You will also be
given the options of reapplying the new layer without blending.
Note:
The Flat material will be used for any new layers created outside of ZBrush.
X Deleting Layers
If you delete a layer, you will be asked whether to delete it when returning to
ZBrush. If you delete a layer, then add a new one; be sure to make its number larger
than the existing ZBrush layers that were transferred so that the new layer is not inad-
vertently matched to an existing layer.
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ZAppLink Guide
XI ZDepth
When exporting all of ZBrush’s layers, ZApp Link will include an 8 bit depth mask of
your canvas for Depth of Field and
other post-processing effects.
XII Restrictions
If you want to merge layers, it’s better to do this in ZBrush, as the pixol depth will
more properly be taken into account there. Merging layers externally will cause one
layer to be deleted, and the other layer to accept the edited values at a fixed Z depth,
for areas over the background, and at the existing Z depth, for areas that overlap the
existing layer.
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ZAppLink Guide
XIII Notes