Coming from ZBrush

This chapter is for sculptors whose hands already know ZBrush. It lists what works the same, what is different, and the shortcuts side by side, so you can start sculpting instead of relearning. SculptForge follows ZBrush's keys and gestures by default; where it has habits of its own, they are kept as a preference.

What's the same#

• The layout. Shelves around the canvas, palettes in alphabetical order in the palette bar and the trays, sub-palettes that fold, the LightBox on ,, Ctrl-hover help on every control, Ctrl+Alt+click to assign a hotkey, Store Config on Ctrl+Shift+I. See The interface.
• Navigation. Drag on the background to rotate freely (over the top, too), Alt+drag to move, Alt+click, let go of Alt and drag to scale, Shift during a rotation to snap to a side view, Shift+click, let go of Shift and drag to roll. Right-drag navigation works as with ZBrush's RightClick Navigation turned on, over the model too. F frames the model. See Navigating the view.
• Sculpting modifiers. Alt swaps Zadd and Zsub, Shift smooths (Smooth keeps its own Z Intensity), Shift pressed after a stroke starts draws a straight line.
• Brush keys. B then two letters, with ZBrush's letters: B S T Standard, B C B ClayBuildup, B D S DamStandard, B M V Move, B I N Inflate, B S M Smooth, B S H SnakeHook, B P I Pinch.
• Brush settings. S Draw Size, U Z Intensity, I RGB Intensity, O Focal Shift, each as a slider under the cursor; [ and ] step the size; Space opens the QuickMenu; L toggles LazyMouse. The cursor's outer ring is the Draw Size, the inner ring the Focal Shift. See Sculpting and brushes.
• Masking. Ctrl paints a mask and Ctrl+Alt erases it; Ctrl+click the model blurs it and Ctrl+Alt+click sharpens it; Ctrl+click the background inverts it and Ctrl+drag there clears it. MaskLasso and MaskRect: with Ctrl held the shelf shows the mask brush, and the Brush (B) and Stroke pickers pick it. See Masking.
• Visibility and polygroups. Ctrl+Shift+drag keeps the inside (press Alt to hide it instead), Ctrl+Shift+click a group to isolate it (on a partly hidden mesh: to hide it), Ctrl+Shift+click the background to show everything, Ctrl+W to group the masked part. SelectRect and SelectLasso, also from the Brush and Stroke pickers with Ctrl+Shift held. Group by UVs is UV Groups. See Polygroups and visibility.
• SubTools with Alt+click to select one and Shift+Alt+click to select and frame it; subdivision levels with Ctrl+D, D and Shift+D; PolyFrame on Shift+F; QuickSave on 9. See SubTools and Subdivision levels.
• GoZ. Send models to and from ZBrush. See Exporting, Unreal and ZBrush.
• VDM brushes with DragRect and DragDot, and your own made from a VDM plane. See Vector displacement brushes.
• Sculpting in Blender too? The Blender add-on can give Blender's Sculpt Mode ZBrush's keys. See Working with Blender.

Bring your ZTools over#

ZBrush's .ZTL files are proprietary, so SculptForge can't read them directly. The free SculptForge ZTool Export plug-in runs inside ZBrush and converts them once:

1. Download SculptForgeZToolExport.txt (also attached to every release) and copy it into ZBrush's ZStartup/ZPlugs64 folder, then restart ZBrush. Or load it once with ZScript > Load.
2. In ZBrush, ZPlugin > SculptForge > Convert ZTL asks for a .ZTL, loads it and writes each SubTool next to it as a GoZ file (Dragon.ZTL gives Dragon.sf001_Body.GoZ, Dragon.sf002_Horns.GoZ...). Save for SculptForge does the same for the ZTool you have open, saving the .ZTL where you choose.
3. In SculptForge, open the .ZTL (File > Open, or drop it on the window). Its SubTools open in the same order with the same names, polygroups, polypaint, mask and UVs.

Each SubTool comes over at its highest subdivision level; the lower levels, sculpt layers and ZBrush materials don't. If you change the ZTool in ZBrush later, convert it again: SculptForge warns when the .ZTL is newer than its conversion. .ZPR projects can't be converted; save their ZTools first.

What's different#

The Glossary maps every ZBrush term to its SculptForge name.

The SculptForge input style#

Earlier versions of SculptForge had a few keys of their own, and some people like them. Preferences > Input > Style switches between:

Preferences > Input > Rotation chooses free rotation (ZBrush) or a turntable that keeps the model upright, as in Blender or Maya. Press Store Config (Ctrl+Shift+I) to keep either.

Shortcuts side by side#

Every shortcut is in Keyboard and mouse, generated from the app itself, and can be changed with Ctrl+Alt+click or Preferences > Hotkeys.

See also#

• Keyboard and mouse
• Glossary: ZBrush terms and their SculptForge names
• Exporting, Unreal and ZBrush: GoZ