ZBrush Character Creation - Advanced Digital Sculpting 2nd Edition

128 chapter 4 ■ ZBrush for Detailing

4. Under the Stroke menu at the top of the screen, click the Replay Last button, or press the 1
   key on the top of the keyboard. This will repeat the last DragRect stroke but use the new
   ZIntensity settings. You can repeat the Replay Last several times, watching the texture
   build up softly on the surface. Replay Last works with any stroke on the canvas. If you
   were to move your model by clicking and dragging in the document window and then use
   Replay Last, the mesh would continue to rotate on the screen.

The Stroke Menu

Now that we’ve looked at the Freehand and DragRect strokes, let’s explore the Stroke

menu. All strokes have a set of modifiers that can be accessed either through the Stroke pal-

ette on the left of the screen or in the main Stroke menu at the top of the screen. Notice that

the Stroke palette is broken into two sections. The top section contains strokes that can be

used in 3D sculpting as well as 2.5D, while the bottom section contains 2.5D-only strokes.

Table 4.2 lists the various 3D strokes and their subsettings.

Table 4.2: The Stroke menu options

Stroke Description

Dots Places continuous instances of the alpha on the canvas.

DragRect Creates one instance of the alpha with the ability to rotate and scale the stroke.

Freehand Similar to the dot stroke, except that it creates extra instances between each dot,

giving the impression of a smooth stroke.

Color Spray Applies random instances of the alpha. When painting RGB, it modulates the

selected color based on the two selected colors in the active and secondary

swatches.

Spray Same as colorized spray, except the stroke modifies the intensity of the selected

color unless the color modifier slider is set to 0.

DragDot Applies one instance of the current alpha. Allows you to click-drag to place.

Rotation and scale are not available. Brush size is used to determine the size of

the alpha.

Some strokes, like Line, Conic, and Radial, are available in only 2.5D mode. The two

strokes you use most commonly when sculpting are Freehand and DragRect; the other more

specialized strokes can come in handy for hard surface or mechanical modeling, or texture

painting (as in the case of the Spray stroke).

Using LazyMouse to Texture Large Areas

The Freehand stroke creates a smooth line by drawing many instances of the selected alpha

close together over the course of the stroke. The Dot stroke is essentially a Freehand stroke

with more space between each instance of the alpha. It is possible to increase this distance

between the steps using the LazyMouse feature. This technique is useful when you’re try-

ing to apply high-frequency concentrated details across a large surface area. An example is

stamping a repeating texture, such as skin pores over a head. Follow these steps to create a

scattering texture brush:

1. With the pore alpha loaded, select the Dot stroke, turn on LazyMouse, and set the
   LazyRadius and LazySmooth sliders to 0.

Figure 4.18
Replay Last
button