ZBrushCentral

Finished ZPlugin: Reference Image - Updated

[attach=13174]RI_grab.jpg[/attach]

Reference Image is a simple way to set up modeling reference images in ZBrush.


  • A single image is used with up to six views.
  • Switch views without leaving Edit mode or dropping model.
  • Rotate your model as you work, zoom or scroll the canvas and return to any view at the click of a button.
  • Save settings to disk for use between ZBrush sessions.

Note: Reference Image does NOT save your model. Be sure to save it!

Unzip the zip file to your ZStartup\ZPlugs folder. Restart ZBrush and you will find a new subpalette Reference Image in your Layers palette. You can Ctrl+drag the buttons to where you want and store the setting (Ctrl+Shift+I).

For full instructions click the R I Setup button and choose Help.

I hope you find Reference Image useful.

UPDATE 20 June 2005:

I’ve added a couple of options:

    Default positioning: an aid to placing your model.
    When switched on, clicking a view button that has not had a position stored will place the model at the correct rotation, in the center of the visible canvas. It can then be quickly moved into position before storing.

  • Point constraints
  • After Sven’s suggestions I’ve added this option. When switched on, point movement is constrained to the view plane; a hotkey toggles on and off.

[COLOR=PaleGreen]Also corrected a bug which imported the image in the wrong proportions when canvas was over 2048 in either direction.

For full instructions, click R I Setup button and choose Help. (The buttons for Right/Left are now the conventional way round. The alternatives, for those that want them, are included in the zip.)

Also, a tutorial and an example to experiment with, including image and model. Download the example.zip file and load after installing Reference Image. Instructions in zip.

Many thanks to Sven for his suggestions and invaluable help with testing.

Anyone new to user-made ZPlugins should read this FAQ info .

Attachments

RI_grab.jpg

Thanks for the download Marcus, I will try it out.

Furron

Just BRILLIANT! Thanks a lot, this will be VERY useful! :smiley:

Bye
Michoko

Pretty cool plugin. I like the fact that it automatically sets up the transparency too, as that saves some time!

Thanks for sharing!

Extremely handy plug-in, marcus! and thanks for your generosity :+1:
I’m sure this’ll save a heck of a lot of time :slight_smile:

Chris

This is an excellent script… Very useful indeed

Yong

Hi Marcus,

What a fantastically useful utility. I’ve been wanting something exactly like this for a while now. Very nice implementation, too - so easy. Thanks for sharing!

Sven

“A single image is used with up to six views.
Switch views without leaving Edit mode or dropping model”.

Where have you been all this time?!

Dear mister Marcus;
I have been looking for such functionality in Zbrush ever since I
got my first copy. As I base my 2- and 3D stuff upon hand-drawn
sketches, this will help to get an exact modelization in Z. Bonzai!!!

Thanks a lot and please don’t stop coding like this!

:+1: :+1: :+1:

Absolutely brilliant mate… props to you dude :+1:

:+1: yes!!! :+1:

marcus-zplugs-guru:+1:
And now: PLEASE make:red_circle: one true-perspective-plugin:sunglasses: :sunglasses:
and too: :red_circle: one plugin to free rotate alpha:sunglasses:

Thanks guys, it is your enthusiasm that makes the fun of zscripting so much more fun. :slight_smile:

I realized I’d gone against convention with the pics on my Left/Right buttons so I’ve posted a small additional file at the start of the thread for anyone who wants to correct them. Perhaps someone would explain, in simple terms that my dim brain will comprehend, why exactly the Left view generally gives the Right side of someone’s face?

Sven, you are too kind. I know that you are quite capable of making a plugin like this yourself. :slight_smile:

Abyssis,
Will tomorrow do? :wink:

Cheers,

VERY cool plugin!!! :+1:

Is anyone else encountering a situation where every time you change the transparency setting, store a view, or click on a view you receive two ZBrush dialogue boxes warning that a model is active in edit mode and asking if you want to switch models?

:+1:

No, I have another minor problem but it’s not important.

Thank you, Marcus!!! We’ve needed this for sooo long…:smiley:

Works fine so far…:+1:

Dickie

Hi Marcus,

Been playing with the RI button set and have two comments if I may.

I’ve tried out the various view buttons in conjunction with constraints on point movements.
Using xyz toggle buttons under TRANSFORM:Modifiers: xy for Front and Back, yz for Left and Right, xz for Top and Bottom. Can be helpful but you need to remember to set xyz buttons appropriately each time you change views and turn all three back on for normal modeling. :smiley:

Other thing is, it might be a good idea to put in a trap for background position values still set to 0,0 for undefined button views. Now, if you press an unassigned view button, the UPPER-LEFT-CORNER of the canvas gets moved to the center of the screen.

Other than that, I’ve had great results, especially with polyframe turned on. Nice work!

Sven

ok, thanks :cool: :smiley: :smiley:

Marcus -

Elegant and simple! Thank you very, very much! You are awesome! I really appreciate you taking the time to think this through. :smiley: :smiley:

Ryan

Many thanks all, much appreciated. If anyone has any problems, do let me know. PM me if you like. I’ve tested the plugin but we all work in different ways and there may be something I’ve missed.

Aurick, you wrote:

Is anyone else encountering a situation where every time you change the transparency setting, store a view, or click on a view you receive two ZBrush dialogue boxes warning that a model is active in edit mode and asking if you want to switch models?

If you’ve TWO objects in Edit mode, let us know how! :wink: Seriously, I’ve not been able to reproduce this. The image is loaded onto a 3Dplane but once that’s in position (on its own layer) the buttons don’t call a tool of any sort. The position buttons need an object in Edit mode but it’s not referenced in any way. The slider loads the ModelTransMat material but otherwise leaves settings alone. Only one thing occurs to me: the plugin uses the ‘rebound’ effect to recall the previous zscript. If your defaultzscript loads a particular tool then this could cause the problem?

Sven,
Many thanks for your testing, much appreciated. I see what’s happening with the unused buttons (easily solved) and I’ll have a think about the constraints (perhaps a warning message…).

Cheers,

Excellent Zplugin Marcus :+1: I will be using this once I get out of my modeling monsters stage, which will take a year or two :wink:

Nice implementation.