After you download and install the plugin, you’ll have a new Make Polymesh 3D button that creates the proper UV maps for texturing and conversion via Sculpty Maker. While helping to test the plugin I was having trouble with objects being inside out in SL. If you see the same thing, just press the Flip U option before making the polymesh. You might also need to flip your object’s texture horizontally.

The process that I showed in my last video is still useful if you want to use the non-square sculptmap version of the zSculpty plugin. It doesnt like the shapes created with Marcus’ new plugin for some reason. I feel like we’re lucky that Sculpty Maker and zSculpty work at all with zb4.

ZBrush 4 came out last week – Huzzah! Shiny new toys and tools. :) But, it wouldn’t be ZBrush or sculpted prims without a few quirks and wrenches thrown into the mix.

Turns out that many folks are experiencing a problem with the default UV maps on the zb4 primitive shapes. The ones we need to use for exporting  via SculptyMaker and Polypaint texturing. After much poking around, cursing, and chatting with Nancyan in the zbrush forums, we’ve come up with a workaround that should ease the transition. I’ve also prepared a small collection of ZB4 Project files that contain shapes that are all set up and ready to sculpt.

Here’s a video I made that describes the problem, shows Nancyan’s workaround, and serves as a short intro to using  ZBrush4 with the zSculpty plugin.

Even with the new plugin fix the process shown here is still useful for working with the zSculpty plugin,
especially the non-square sculptmap version of zSculpty.

I tried to keep the vid under ten mintues, but failed as usual. Here’s the tl;dr version:

• Grab these zb4 Project Files. Load one up. Start sculpting on the one named Sculpt Me.
• To export the sculptmap – use the UV Master plugin to copy the UV from the UV ExportSculpt object. Paste that UV on your sculpted tool. Export via zSculpty plugin.
• When you want to grab a texture from the Polypaint colors – copy the UV from the UV Texture object. Paste that UV on your sculpted tool. Polypaint to Texture.

BTW – If you don’t need zSculpty for the non-square sculptmap support then you can save a few steps. Grab this plugin from Pixologic. You can then sculpt and texture as usual, then export as .obj for processing in Sculpty Maker.

Feel free to post any tips, tricks or problems you’ve encountered with ZBrush 4. I’ll likely be making some tutorials soon, so suggestions for topics would be welcome, too. Happy ZBrushing!

In the meantime I wanted to post this info: Some folks are having trouble transferring their PolyPaint colors to a texture map when using the built in Zbrush primitive shapes. Not a big deal for most users – except for special cases like converting to sculpties with Sculpty Maker.

There’s a thread on the ZBrush Central forums discussing the problem. If I understand correctly the UVs of the ZB4 primitives are overlapping in a way that borks up the texture conversion. Nancyan has come up with a workaround that involves resizing the UV map using Modo, but I’m sure there are other apps that could do the job. Nancyan was kind enough to share the steps she’s using to fix these wonky UVs.

1. Open zbrush 4 and draw out a Sphere3d object. Select Edit and Make Polymesh3d to form the UVs.
2. Export as an obj
3. Open the object in Modo and at the right of the screen select the “Lists” tab in the second palette down. Click the ”UV” Maps arrow and select “Texture” from the list that drops down. The UV’s will appear on the UV screen to the left.
4. Select all the UVs in the UV panel
5. From the UV menu on the far left select “Fit UVs”. Unclick “keep proportion” and click “ok”
6. With the UVs still selected, select the “Scale” widget which is right below the “fit Uvs” button..its the 2nd widget from the right
7. At the bottom of the UV menu palette enter 99.93% in the Scale U and V section (second entry square down)
8. Export as an obj and import into Zbrush

This works for me, although I couldnt get it to work with ZBrush’s GoZ tool. That should keep us going until there is a patch or some better option. After you get a simple prim properly set up you can save and reload later for a proper starting point. Nancyan has posted a torus that is properly formatted and ready to go.

Please post your experiences with Zbrush 4 and sculpties in the comments.

This is not the most popular vid here, but I’m pretty sure it’s the cutest.

Havok4 Physics in Second Life - 42,000 views
Funny that this is the most popular, since it was just made on a whim while goofing around in a sandbox.  People seem to love vids that feature CG physics, plus Hamlet Au mentioned this clip on New World Notes.

Creating Sculpted Prims in Zbrush 3 (parts 1 and 2) – 26,000 views
I got Zbrush just before sculpties hit the beta grid, so learned what I could about using them together. I never expected so many folks would be interested in doing the same thing. The feedback from so many happy zbrushers has certainly been the most rewarding aspect of running Shiny Life and my Second Life experience in general. My other vids on this topic total up another 20,000 views

Creating Sculpted Prims with PloppSL – 14,00 views
PloppSL was one of the first easy and free ways to created sculpties so this vid generated a lot fo interest. It’s also linked directly from the main page of the PloppSL site.

Sculpted Thoughts – 10,000 views
Happy that so many saw this, as the effect I used to create this sculpture no longer works  in SL. Sure was fun tinkering with that thing. ;)

Top Ten Second Life Building Tips – 8,000 views
So many have told me – “Wish I had seen this before I started building.”

Thanks for watching everyone! Stay tuned for more vids, especially after zBrush 4 is released next month.

There are 12 videos in all – 7 that show the basics of modelling and converting plus 5 more that explain different texturing procedures. Thanks so much for taking the time to create and share these tuts, Pan!

ZBrush Sculpty Basics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
Texturing Basics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5