ZBrushCentral

stencil Tutorials and Zscript.. (moderators, this should be in the Qlinks)

for some reason i cant find any info about the stencil tool other than the manual (thats is written in some dialect in english which i can’t understand…) :wink: :wink:

anyone cares to help me out here?

'Morning Silent-bob . . . :slight_smile:

“other than the manual (thats is written in some dialect in english which i can’t understand”. Bob, I don’t know what’s wrong with your copy of the manual, I just looked through the entire section of the manual, which explains the “Stencil” Tool completely, in standard English. I would suggest that you might try to download either the entire manual, or maybe just the “Stencil” section, maybe your copy has some errors in it??? :wink:

If I have some time later I’ll try to throw a “Stencil ZScript” together for you & post it here. Or maybe someone else will explain the “Stencil” tool before that??? :rolleyes:

Have a good one . . . :cool: Mark.

first of all, the dialect thingie was a joke, apperantly not a good one, but still ajoke… :rolleyes:

it’ll be great if you did a little script! thanks

Hi Silent-bob . . . Here’s a quick ZScript, recorded while I was playing around with the “Stencil” tool. I don’t know if it will help you or not, but you will see the different things that a Stencil can do. I’m not that experienced in creating good ZScripts yet, so I have to apologize for that. :wink:

Each one of the Stencils you’ll see being used, was choosen from the Alpha pallette, where I converted it to a Stencil, then applied, positioned & scaled on the object. To get to the Stencil controls, press the space bar, while a stencil is active & drag on the desired action with your left mouse button. :slight_smile:

If you still have questions, please ask & myself or someone else will try to answer. Have a good one . . . :cool: Mark.

Stencil ZScript.txt

For my own two cents (I can’t let Mark do all the question answering by himself forever grin), I look at the stencil tool as being very similar to masking. The difference is that you have more control over mask positioning, and can apply it to the entire scene, as opposed to only the tool that you are working on. The big thing to remember is that you can only paint through the stencil – you can’t apply deformers through it the way that you can with a tool mask.

Also, the “coin” is used to position the stencil, while the Stencil palette is used to control how it behaves.

I just wanted to add a footnote to Kruzr’s excellent Zscript and Aurick’s coments about the stencil. I think that this is the most innovative function in any graphics software that I have ever seen. When I first tried using it though, I had a lot of problems. Then I realized a very basic mistake that I was making. When you want to make a stencil you activate an alpha in the alpha menu (or import one) , and then hit “make Stencil”. This creates the stencil, but it also leaves that alpha as your current paintbrush alpha as well. You must then go back to the alpha menu and select a more comfortable drawing alpha, like the default one for example. You will notice that your stencil does not change even though you change alphas.
I noticed also that a lot of people are interested in adding text to their images. Stenciling is a great way to do this if you have another program like Photoshop and can create text in a .psd or .bmp file. If you create your type in white on a black background, you can easily import it as an alpha and make a stencil. Here’s an example.

The first row of type was stenciled in zcut mode to give an engraved look. The second row was done in zadd and has an embossed look. Notice the shadows. And my name (yes that’s my real name) shows how you can move the stencil and get some overlap to each letter or whatever pattern you’re using. Overall it’s a pretty amazing tool :cool:

Great stuff, Zoid! Very useful info for anyone just starting out, and probably for a few “old hands,” as well.

One addition to your comment about creating the type in white on a black background, and that is that if you forget to do so, or if you already have it as black on white, ZBrush will take care of the problem for you. In the Alpha and Texture palette, both, you have an Invert button. Instant switcheroo. The Alpha palette also has a button to maximize an alpha to the greatest spread from black to white.

I have to say in general that alphas are one of the most powerful, yet most overlooked, features that ZBrush has!

Hey Aurick . . . “Very useful info for anyone just starting out” I’ve been using ZBrush for quite a while & I had no knowledge of this invaluable information. Thanks loads for the tip Zoid. :wink: In fact I was just about to shelf ZBrush, until I read Zoid’s brilliant tip. Now I think I’ll keep using it some more. Heheheh. :smiley:

One more thing Aurick, “I can’t let Mark do all the question answering by himself forever”, I’m glad you finally decided to offer a little help over my way. Geeezzzz, my finger tips have developed blisters & I can’t even point at anyone, without them staring at the tips of my fingers with disgust. :rolleyes:

You guys have a good one . . . :cool: Mark.

Wow Kruzr, so I was able to grab you by the collar and pull you back in just before you were about to leave us? It is my distinct pleasure to have saved you among countless others. One small tip, one big leap for Zkind. OK, now this response is really starting to reak with sarcasm. Sorry, but really Kruzr, don’t ever leave us. What would we do without you?
BTW, I had no idea that you could change materials while in edit mode, but your script shows this very distinctly. Thanks, now I’m here for good also :wink:

Look at you guys rambling on :wink: I gotta admit, I too have learned something here and it’s mainly your fault Kruzr. After watching your script I started to pay attention. Nice additions Aurick & Zoid (errr Josh!) Funny thing is - this is so timely because a potential problem portion of an image in mind I thought I would solve with textures - now I know a better solution is to use materials & the stencil :+1:

Serendipity

Bout time I tried the stencil. Thing is, I haven’t even gotten around to using 3DCopy yet :frowning:

Cheers

jd

thanke you all for the great help…

and moderators, may i suggest to put this in the quicklinks?