ZBrush 2021 - ZModeler Additions

Free Angle

Free angle

The extrusion can be any angle to the polygon of the starting edge. Holding the Shift
key can be used to snap in 5 degree increments. While drawing out the new extruded
edge, tapping the Shift key will swap between all three angle options. (Free Angle, Planar
Angle and Perpendicular)

Planar Angle

Planar Angle

Continues the extrusion on the same plane of the polygon of the starting edge. While
drawing out the new extruded edge, tapping the Shift key will swap between all three
angle options. (Free Angle, Planar Angle and Perpendicular)

Perpendicular Angle

Perpendicular Angle

The extrusion is perpendicular to the polygon of the starting edge. While drawing out
the new extruded edge, tapping the Shift key will swap between all three angle options.
(Free Angle, Planar Angle and Perpendicular)

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Free Sides

Free Sides

The sides of the newly extruded polygon can be an angle determined by cursor
movement.

Extend Sides

Extend Sides

Extends the perpendicular edges of the extruded edge along the same angle of the
edges from the original polygon.

Parallel Sides

Parallel Sides

The sides of the newly extruded polygon are parallel

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Taper Sides

Taper Sides

The sides of the newly extruded polygon can be tapered by cursor movement up/
down

Single Row
The extrusion is a single polygon of any length

Num Rows
The extrusion is divided by the number set in the slider. The polygons lengths will be
determined by the extrusion. When this is enabled the CTRL key + moving your cursor
back/forth can be used to interactively adjust the rows.

Row Size
The polygons are the length set in the slider and will be repeated as necessary along
the extrusion

Free Move
The extrusion is free in space.

Snap To Surface
The extrusion will snap to the surface of underlying subtools.

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Smart Attraction
Will actively try to merge with existing points.

Normal Attraction
Will try to merge points with existing points but only within a threshold that is
determined by the average edge length.

No Attraction
Will not try to merge points with existing points, unless they are extremely close.

NOTE: A small shake of mouse or pen will force no attraction for extrusion until the mouse or
pen is released.

Force Symmetrical
This postprocess will ensure that edge points extruded from symmetrical edges will
themselves be symmetrical. It will also do its best to connect points on the symmetrical
plane when needed.

Don’t Force Symmetrical

Symmetry is only considered for finding input edges. The actual extrusion algorithm
will not apply any specific process to make the resulting points symmetrical.

IV EDGE >> EXTRUDE MOVE

Edge Actions >> Extrude Move extrudes the edge by duplicating it. It is basically
a simpler version of Edge Extrude. It has the following modifiers, which are identical to
Extrude Edge: Single Row/Num Rows/Row Size; Free Move/Snap To Surface; Smart
Attraction/Normal Attraction/No Attraction; Force Symmetrical/Don’t Force Symmetrical.

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V Edge >> Inset >> Equidistant

On the left, the result of Inset >> Equidistant.

On the right is Inset:Standard, showing the change in profile.

While standard Inset works as in previous versions and tends to distort the mesh,
Inset Equidistant will maintain the shape profile and smoothness of the mesh.

VI Inset >> Modifiers

Center And Border

Will create a separate polygroup for the border and center.

Border Only
The inset will be the border and the center will be deleted.

Center Only
The inset will be the center and the border will be deleted.

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Inset Region
The selected polygons will be inset as a whole. Giving equidistant insets along all
of the faces.

Inset Each Poly

Each polygon in the selected area will be inset separately

Equidistant
The inset will be created equidistant all around the area, without changing the
topology profile. Extra edges may be added to achieve this but the Custom Equidistant
Snap (see below) can be used to limit the newly created edges where applicable.

Standard
The inset may change the profile but no extra quads/triangles are added.

Legacy
The inset doesn’t change the profile but will not necessarily be equidistant. Extra
quads/triangles may be created.

No Size Limit
The inset can be any size

Default Size Limit

The inset will stop at the default size

Custom Size Limit

The inset will stop at the size set in the slider

Default Equidistant Snap

ZBrush will keep existing geometry and will intersect it around the edges to inset
equidistantly at the standard distance. ZBrush will also precisely handle the intersection
of inset segments. An additional point is added in the faces intersecting the median

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planes of vertices along the contour to be inset.

This is an equidistant snap threshold of any new intersecting points that can be
snapped together and will work in most cases. This option will only work when Equidistant
is enabled.

Custom Equidistant Snap

ZBrush will keep existing geometry and will intersect it around the edges to inset
equidistantly at the desired distance. ZBrush will also precisely handle the intersection of
inset segments. An additional point is added in the faces intersecting the median planes
of vertices along the contour to be inset.
If the default threshold is creating more edges than desired, this slider gives a user-
defined value for snapping. A higher value will limit the number additional edges that
may need to be added to create an equidistant inset. This option will only work when
Equidistant is enabled.

VII Point >> Move >> Snap to Surface

A new Point Action Move mode Modifier has been added - Snap to Surface. When
moved close enough, the point will snap to the surface of underlying subtools.
In Move mode, points can be snapped together to form triangles.

VIII Polygon >> Camera Perpendicular

A new Polygon Action has been added that will set the camera perpendicular to a
given face.

IX Camera Perpendicular >> Modifiers

Recenter View
ZBrush will adjust the camera to face the clicked face and it will also recenter the
camera to the center of clicked face.

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Do Note Recenter View

ZBrush will rotate the camera so that it is facing the clicked face. The face’s center
will be used as the rotation pivot, keeping the face center in place.

X Alt selection in ZModeler

• Alt+click or Alt+drag on any “unselected” face allows selection of one face or

several faces.
• Alt+click or Alt+drag on any “selected” face will deselect one face or several
faces.
• Alt+double-click on a “selected” face will allow to deselect all faces.

Note: When deselecting faces, ZBrush will try as much as possible to retrieve the original
PolyGroup from before the face was selected. However, this may not always be accurate.

XI Working with Subdivisions

Any ZModeler functions that do not change the mesh topology will now work on a
model with subdivisons. So, for example, masking polyloops is now possible using a
single click.

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ZBrush 2021 - NanoMesh Edit Mesh

NANOMESH
EDIT MESH
Work with subtool instances with real-time update

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When you have several versions of the same object in your scene it can be tedious
and time-consuming when you need to update them.
With the revised NanoMesh Edit Mesh functionality this is now easy - work on the
original and see the copies update in real time.

On the right, editing the original mesh. On the left, the duplicates update in real time.
ZBrush artist: Joseph Drust

I How NanoMesh Edit Mesh works

To set things up you use the same NanoMesh method as in earlier versions of
ZBrush:

1. Append the mesh you want to use to your subtools scene.

2. Create an Insert Mesh brush from the mesh. Brush>Create>Create Insert
Mesh. Use “Create New”.
3. Create Nanomesh of the new IM.
4. Append a single poly plane (use Initialize menu QGrid)
5. Draw out the Nanomesh on the poly.
6. Turn off Show Placement, and position where you want.
7. Duplicate if you want, using Gizmo, hold down Ctrl+ click+drag and position.

To edit the original mesh, turn on Nanomesh>Edit Mesh. Any changes you
make will immediately be seen in the instance versions. For easier working, turning on
Transform>Split Screen will show the original subtool on one side and the full model with
instances on the other.

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While editing the mesh, you can

• import a different mesh

• UV unwrap
• apply texture maps
• subdivide
• use Sculptris Pro

You can use anything except Dynamic Subdiv.

ZBrush artist: Joseph Drust

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ZBrush 2021 - iMage3D

IMAGE3D

3Dmodels saved as images that anyone can view & share

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Introducing a new way to save and share your models! The iMage3D GIF and
iMage3D PNG formats allow you to share your actual models within *.GIF and *.PNG
images. Want to share your work on Social Media? Simply save your model as an
iMage3D GIF or iMage3D PNG and create the post! When saved the file will be stored
in a standard *.GIF or *.PNG format showing you a thumbnail of the mesh along with the
3D information built in.

These formats are also found in ZBrushCoreMini. A file saved from ZBrushCoreMini
can be opened in ZBrush but one created in ZBrush cannot be opened by ZBrushCoreMini.
This is because ZBrushCoreMini does not support (among other things) SubTools or high
polygon counts.

With ZBrush, this model will include all SubTools.

And example of an iMage3D GIF file

Loading and Saving iMage3D files

Simply use the File >> Save As or Tool >> Save As buttons to save your work as an
iMage3D file.

To load a file, use either the File >> Open or Tool >> Load Tool buttons.

Important Notes:

Although the file formats are the same, you will need to tell your viewers whether the included
model is a Project or a Tool. This is because models saved as iMage3D using Tool >> Save As
can only be opened in ZBrush using Tool >> Load Tool. Similarly, iMage3D files created using File
>> Save As can only be opened using File >> Open.
Although the file size is optimized by ZBrush when creating an iMage3D, remember that the
image does contain the data for the full 3D model. This means that high polygon meshes will
produce a correspondingly large file. If you want to share your models on social media, keep the
file sizes small!
GIF and PNG files use different methods to append the 3D data to the 2D image. GIF creates
a thin data stream which seems to sparkle at the bottom of the model’s picture. PNG surrounds
the picture with a wide frame of what appears to be digital noise. Generally, the GIF will be more
aesthetically pleasing when shared on a website or elsewhere.

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OTHER ADDITIONS

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I New File Formats

Three new file formats have been added for import and export from ZBrush 2021.

* Alembic ABC
* Collada DAE
* 3MF

To export, with a mesh in Edit mode press Tool>Export and select the format you
want. To import, press Tool>Import and select the file.

Note: these formats will not respond to zscript functionality.

II Tool >> Geometry >> UnWeldAll

This will unweld all the polygons in the mesh. Running the Cloth Simulation in the
Dynamics Palette can create some really cool effects. Give it a try!

III Stroke >>Jitter & Stroke>>Brush Imperfection

Two new modifiers have been added to the Stroke palette.

Stroke >> Jitter will randomly place the alpha along the brush stroke path. The
higher the value the more variation will be applied.

Stroke >> Imperfections will introduce what is essentially noise along the brush
stroke. The higher the slider value the greater the number of imperfections.

IV Gizmo3D

When moving along an axis, holding Shift will snap to 0.01 increments, making it
easy to position the mesh precisely.

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An option Preferences >> Gizmo 3D >> Tap to Exit Gizmo Mode has been added.
When using the Gizmo, tap on another part of the mesh to switch to Draw mode.

V GoZ

GoZ has been updated to support 3dsMax 2021.

VI New Macros

Several new macros are included. You’ll find them in the Macro palette.

Enhance Details
When pressed will take the current SubTool and apply a detail enhancement. This
uses the process of duplicating morph target details through layers.
The result affects the sculpted details on a model similar to Photoshop’s sharpen,
but for 3D.

Create Instance Subtool

Sets the selected SubTool up as an instanced SubTool using NanoMesh. It
automates the process of creating an InsertMesh Brush, converting it to a NanoMesh
Brush before then applying the NanoMesh to a Plane3D object.

Edit Mesh
Enables NanoMesh >> Edit Mesh and automatically turns on Split Screen mode.
This can be used in Custom UIs as an alternative to using the Tool >> NanoMesh >> Edit
Mesh directly.

Delete Unselected Tools

Deletes all other Tools in the current scene except for the Selected Tool. This process

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