Part 1: ZBrush Rigging with a Single Subtool

[@3dextrude]

I have a problem. when I move the arm it starts to move other parts of the body as well, like some parts of the leg get stretched and follow where I move the arm. I made sure the density level is the same as subdivision level. Do you know how to fix this? Also, the mesh is really low poly. thanks

[@lonrot]

@Pixo3 Thanks, now I understand. Sometimes you go very fast in your tutorials. Pre-recorded videos?

[@darrenlysenko195]

Wow. I'm just dipping my toe in the water (no pun intended re. the swimming pose!) with ZBrush and character creation, and this has to be the most important thing I've seen so far. Thank you so much for taking the time to create these videos. Consider me 'subscribed'!

[@lonrot]

@lonrot Found it, you have to press SHIFT and click and release shift.

[@LoneKuroRaifu]

omgggg thank you. its so hard to find tutorials for rigging existing models. Ty so much X)

[@PaulGaboury]

Happy to see, this old video is still helping everyone

[@CashFuelzCFXstudio]

Paul I prefer your instruction using Zbrush... every one else teaches in such a foreign way, I think they don't realize Zbrush can handle ALL modeling needs. I've found myself jumping back and forth less and less since taking your instructions. Thanks

[@JLLockwood]

Important- in 4r8 - this will not work unless your turn Dynamesh Resolustion under the Adaptive skin box to "0" to get the high res previews. You're welcome!

[@Wickymash]

Impressive

[@zaharraddeensaleh1195]

That was so helpful! I just started using soft and was so overwheld!

[@PaulGaboury]

glad to see this video helped.

[@lonrot]

You didn't explain how to ad a new zsphere without clicking on top another zphere

[@WolfGuy1]

¿Por qué no te dedicaste a esto? Lonrot

[@TheKindredPeluche]

que raro ver a Lonrot en estos videos, nadie pensaria que le hubiera gustado el arte 3D @@WolfGuy1

[@warwickdoolan6227]

Thank you very helpful. Would it be possible to make a chain of zspheres for the fingers and toes if you wanted to go that extreme with your posing? Thanks in advance.

[@PaulGaboury]

Yes it would be possible to do that. You need to make sure there is enough gap between the toes and fingers. Not a lot but enough for the ZSpheres to distinguish between each.

[@warwickdoolan6227]

@@PaulGaboury Thanks for responding :-)

[@VoidloniXaarii]

thank you! it's so great to look for something and find such great reminders!

[@sffghgdi1050]

thank you very much

[@PaulGaboury]

did you make sure to click on the mesh before starting your pose? If you don't do this then ZBrush will not make the link to the sculpted version.

[@josedavidalvarado22]

hello i have a posed rig and a non posed mesh, how do i attach that posed rig to the mesh?

[@gallagher19872]

hello, very good videos, can i make you a question? what is better for using the zbrush program: a good graphyc card or what, because i have a good one and when i try to rig it goes so slow that i cant to nothing. thanks for all the tutorials

[@PaulGaboury]

ZBrush is not using a video card at all, except for PolyGroupIt. It relies on Processor and RAM more than anything else. Are you trying to rig millions of polygons? If so this is why it's getting slow. You need to have a lower subdivision for posing.

[@PaulGaboury]

ZBrush does not use a video card. The only item in ZBrush that uses a video card is PolyGroupIt. ZBrush is using your Processor and RAM the most.

[@a_1236]

great volcano blast video

[@KreigAntonelli]

What is the short cut keys for adding caps.

[@manilamerc]

I used Dyna mesh, and I do not have lowersub subdivision levels, am I screwed for posing it?

[@PaulGaboury]

Make sure you do not have Ghost Transparency on. In order to click and draw another ZSphere out on the mesh you will need to have the previous one selected so use the Move Mode to select the previous one then switch back to Draw and click anywhere on the mesh.

[@KarelChytilArt]

Thanks Paul. I am watching in 2021 and had to figure it out after ten minutes I have to have that Ghost mode off. Great video.

[@PaulGaboury]

@@KarelChytilArt Glad this old video can help

[@shizyninjarocks]

THANK YOU!!!! Man, this was pissing me off.

[@Yews]

It works, thank you! :D Would you kindly answer to few questions which will most likely appear during my ZBrush experience?

[@KasedMonster]

Hey, how do I find the ghost transparency? The tools you have visible on your right that you click to take the ghost transparency off, is not visible for me. I cant see them, I dont know if its cause the size of my cpu or what, but how can I change that?

[@ДенисНосенко-н5п]

Hello Paul Gaboury. Please tell me the key combination for quickly creating ZSphere at a distance from each other. Thank you in advance)

[@PaulGaboury]

the best way is to add a ZSphere as a Subtool and just click on any portion of the mesh. A ZSphere will automatically be created at the click point.

[@kitebabe05]

hello, is there any similar funktion for posing in zbrush core??

[@PaulGaboury]

Unfortunately no. You just have the Gizmo and transpose line. There is no Transpose Master plugin

[@cyrielkilller]

Hi, i've done a rigg on Zbrush for my model. But how can i validate the pose while keeping uv's and subdiv please ?

[@PaulGaboury]

I would do what I did in video 2 of this series. You will need to use Transpose Master which will maintain the UVs and subdivision levels after you are done with the pose.

[@cyrielkilller]

Thank you. Very helpfull :)

[@ccsears1974]

for some reason, i can't get the detail to project to the adaptive skin. it creates the right number of subdivision levels though. can you please take a look at these steps and see if i'm missing something? (might be helpful too to add your description of these steps to the video description/caption thing) 1) choose a "blank" ZSphere from the tool menu. 2) Tool>Rigging>sSelect Mesh --Choose the mesh you want to pose. transparent gray ghosted mesh appears overlaying the ZSphere

[@PaulGaboury]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm glad this could help you out.

[@osakanone]

Are these rigs non-destructive or are you unable to sculpt new additions after you've done this? Do these rigs play well with multiple sub-tools?

[@josedavidalvarado22]

oka, another thing, after posing it and hitting tpose to subtool, i get a weird grid sculpted on the mesh, like a grid texture and to smooth it takes forever, how do i fix this

[@PaulGaboury]

everything should be working.. can you make a video of what you are doing exactly?

[@AleksMarkeljFoto]

Thank you for this easily understandable tutorial. :)

[@zbrushtraining7307]

Thanx Paul! Submitted a ticket. Cheerio

[@davidarguedas5735]

Whats the version of that ZBrush, or it works on every version? Ive the 4R4

[@michael23mcd]

Why when i highlight the pelvic zsphere and try to 'click' to make other zspheres it de-selects my pelvic zshpere and assumes that i want to rotate my view...? Is it something to do with the fact that my side menu has the transparency button, but not the 'ghost' button? Help please.

[@marcelievsky]

Theses zspheres looks like bones of armatures in Blender or 3DSMax. Furthermore If I export a model to Blender, this shows as bones or not? The weights are exported too? Thanks in adv

[@PaulGaboury]

No ZBrush ZSpheres can not be exported into any other package.

[@Markovskyvich]

Great tutorial. I have 4R4. When I finish posing the rig, and go to the preview, it shows my high res painted model, but on its original T pose. even if I hold shift while clicking, what am I doing wrong?

[@sivakirubanandam2677]

Fantabulous. Greetings from India

[@PaulGaboury]

An old one but glad it helped

[@zbrushtraining7307]

Hi Paul. Nice vid. I have no idea what I am doing wrong but my knee and elbow joints don't deform like yours do. Normally with rigging I'd use three loops for a low poly joint and only have the middle loop weighted 50% to either side. Doesnt matter what config I use, or sphere size the joint doesnt deform properly. Just looks like a banana. The sphere in the middle doesnt anchor the mesh. Any ideas?

[@PaulGaboury]

Hello. I would need to see the model. There should be no reason why the middle ZSphere is not constraining the elbow or knee. I would put all of the information you have, along with the model on support.pixologic.com

[@Rin8Kin]

Is there IK in zbrush? Or at least spline control for the chain of z-spheres for easy positioning spine, snakes, tentacles etc?

[@nozone2k6]

Is something different maybe in zbrush 4 R2? I do everything you say to do, get the rig setup properly, etc., but after I bind the mesh to the rig, I hold down shift, hit Preview in the Adaptive Skin palette, and...everything disappears!! What the??

[@호모세이피언스]

I done the rigging in a male model(havent bind them yet) but i want to change it to a female model. Is it possible to use the same rig but just replace the model?

[@strongyin1115]

hello, pixo3~ I noticed that you just clicked the skin as creating the new sphere, how did you do that?

[@tomliang]

this is buffling me for so long....what did you do so you can just click on the canves and them zsphere did like extrude its arms and legs? did you use any hot key to do it? Not working on zbrush 4r7

[@PaulGaboury]

you have to make sure you are in transparency mode but not Ghost Transparency.

[@tomliang]

Yeah...I finally find out the answer the night before yesterday..... Thanks for the replay and the great tutorial :) Love your custom menu tutorial too ...:)

[@GoranBozovicrock]

How did you get it man :( ? My zsphere bones are allways triangle not even parallel from point to point :( Please help...

[@annakazakova780]

Did you find the answer already? Bones will not create like here if you will have GHOST Transparency in mode ON. Turn it off and click with new spheres everywhere where you wanna and all will be alrighty! =) This icon under Transparency icon.

[@tomliang]

yeah thank you for the reply.... :)

[@PaulGaboury]

I'm assuming you are using Transpose Master? Have you watched the other video I did on this subject where I am using Transpose Master? There is no need to do the Shift click trick with Transpose Master. Let me know if you've seen the other video.

[@blainetsukayama4513]

how are you drawing the z pheres by just clicking on the mesh?

[@PaulGaboury]

Make sure you turn off Ghost transparency. Once that is off you can draw on the surface.

[@blainetsukayama4513]

Paul Gaboury thanks Paul. Great tutorials helped me a lot

[@StinnMysterious]

Is it better to do rigging in maya or zbrush?

[@PaulGaboury]

If you are going to animation I would do it in Maya. The rigging in ZBrush is more to just make a pose.

[@StinnMysterious]

Ok, then I prefer maya.

[@TheRangeControl]

Is all of that a part of Zbrush?

[@PaulGaboury]

Everything you see in the video is in ZBrush.

[@kolybearnw]

I get a rippling on the mesh when I try to pose the model. Is there a way to fix that?

[@3dracinggarage580]

Is this also possible with zbrush core in 2022?

[@PaulGaboury]

Unfortunately, no this is not possible in Core.

[@ccsears1974]

3) use draw/move/rotate to create a ZSphere skeleton 4)Tool>AdaptiveSkin>Density Set this number to the same number of Subdivision levels on the original unposed mesh. 5)Tool>AdaptiveSkin> Shift+Click on Preview displays a preview of the mesh

[@amssrikantha025]

is eny shot key to do that ?

[@amssrikantha025]

I GOT A LITTLE PROBLUM . how the z Sphere jump when u drawing rig , i mean when i click a place its not drawing automatically

[@Yews]

Thanks! I want to create a creature sprite from a ZBrush model. This means I need to rig a model, colorize it, then I need to make a skeleton to pose my creature, and after that I need to shoot it in few poses from different fixed angles (0°, 45°, 90° etc.), using a one-color background. So, how do I do that? I know how to make and rig a model already, but need to know how to colorize it, how to set camera angle to a fixed value and how to set keyframes for poses.

Can you make a label at minute 7? It is quite helpful this video for me and I check it sometimes, when I forget about this feature

[@NPC0010]

Is it also possible to rig my models on zbrush and then just export them to 3ds max for animation? Or is this rigging only for posing purposes on zbrush?

[@PaulGaboury]

Rigging in ZBrush if just for posing purposes.

[@NPC0010]

I see, thanks

[@michaelvaughan2986]

can this be done if your model has UVs?

[@PaulGaboury]

Yes, watch video 2. This part 1 was more about a trick then posing a whole character with multiple Subtools.

[@PaulGaboury]

Yes you can pose with UVs.

[@VonFixxxer]

Great tutorials both parts one and two, although I would love some guidelines about hot to pose fingers and why you did prefer transpose master for them.

[@okaymi]

Thanks for the Tutorial.May I ask a question?I cannot rigging ...I don't know why,I created a Z sphere,but after I press select mesh ,the body mesh don't appear...Is that something I missing

[@PaulGaboury]

YIP OKAYMI do you have multiple subtools? If you have multiple subtools you need to watch video 2

[@okaymi]

I tried single part still not work not appear the model only the ball

[@okaymi]

Paul Gaboury is any tool about Appear the model?

[@PaulGaboury]

YIP OKAYMI you have to build out the rig once you see the zsphere ball

[@KasedMonster]

I see it on top in transform but its not allowing me to click it, its shadowed out.

[@Norman_Peterson]

good tutorail but how i can rotate zshpere on a single axe? i cans see rotate gizmo, and i have trouble to pose my model. ty

[@lukasl266]

Thanks for the great tutorial, still works in 4r7! A quick question: Is there any possibility to create various instances of a zsphere rigged character? Lets say I have a character and want to create some instances of it to pose a scenery of interacting characters. Is that possible? I tried just duplicating the rigged subtool but that seems not to work... Or do I have to do this in an external 3D Application like C4D?

[@PaulGaboury]

You can reuse any rig by using the Store and Paste option in the Transpose Master plug-in. Did you watch part 2 of this series? I go into using that plug-in. You can also put poses on layers with the plug-in.

[@kamekazi1000]

Hey, so i placed the zSphere in the mesh, but the it doesn't let me create joints outside the sphere? BTW, I'm really new to zBrush, so if you know what am I doing wrong, it would be awesome.

[@PonFarrTime]

Are you in draw mode?

[@giflinkreceiver8510]

***** Niket Shah That's probably because you have the 'ghost' mode activated so you can see your model but not use it as base for drawing anything -it's a 'ghost'- if you see your model with kind of a silver aura look for this button docs.pixologic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/4R5-Transform-default.jpg

[@TH-jf3nq]

You need to turn "Ghost" off. Click "Solo", then "Trans", then "Ghost" or so. Not sure about the order anymore, but that is what you need to do.

[@MickeyTeeVee]

I was about to ask the same thing! How do you draw a new sphere far from the previous sphere you made. Like what was done in the video, he clicked on an empty space then the zsphere extended.

[@giflinkreceiver8510]

I think he did that not on an empty space but on the girl model, if you have the girl model on non ghost mode, you'd be able to create new spheres on the point of it's surface your mouse is on. If you see clearly that he is doing it on totally empty space, well, then I didn't see it nor have any idea of how to do it Please if that's the case and you later discover how to do it, I'll be grateful if you post it here XD In the end it's hard for zbrush to guess where you want to put the sphere if you are not pointing to any surface, there's an infinite line beyond your mouse/pen/whatever, it would be a good idea for it to put it on the projection of the last sphere's position over that line, but I suppose their designer didn't like that idea as much as me >.

[@angyalhaj]

When I was rotating the riggs the mesh deformed badly. What have I done wrong or how can I fix the lenght of the rigs? And why I can not undo these rotation? Somebody help me please!

[@trulycreative9795]

Paul, has anything changed for 4r7? Because i remember using this technique and it worked perfecty on 4r6, but on 4r7 it just won't project all the sculptural detail back. I am following your instructions exactly.

[@nateido]

+Badeanu Tudor See my comment above. Hope that helps

[@robertomejias5479]

have the exact same problem Have you figured out what it is?

[@PaulGaboury]

Nothing has changed. Still working for me. Don't forget to touch the model so it can make that reference. Maybe put a little bit of a sculpted stroke on the model to be sure.

[@LarrikinMultimedia]

Shift + Preview brings the high res detail but the pose is lost so I don't think this method works in 4r7

[@PaulGaboury]

yes it still works in 4R7. You have to do these steps before you pose.

[@LUGERIUS-GAMEs]

Hello, is possible use zbrush rigging [human or another item] to dirrect intro Unreal engine ???

[@PaulGaboury]

+Radek Vyslouzil Unfortunately not the ZSpheres can not be exported from ZBrush to be used in any other applications.

[@MrDanNoob]

I suggest using another programme to import your model into - then you can rig them from there - therefore allowing you to import them again into your game. There are many that do this :) models are best made in ZBrush but if you want to put them into something like unity or Unreal engine use a programme called mixamo - mixamo lets you import models, animate them, and then put them into the above engines. :) (it ain't cheap though)

[@LUGERIUS-GAMEs]

thx

[@PaulGaboury]

Make sure about two things. 1. Make sure Ghost transparency is not on 2. Make sure you have the root ZSphere selected. As in the video you will see that a red circle will show up at the center of the selected ZSphere. let me know

[@KheangZxMusic]

I can't do at 2 things

[@PaulGaboury]

@@KheangZxMusic Sorry, can you share more. What can't you do? Select the ZSphere?

[@nateido]

Using Zbrush 4r7 p3 - when I Shift-Preview after posing (following all steps exactly) my mesh reverts back to its original stance. If I don't hold down shift when Previewing, it completes the pose but I lose high-level detail on mesh. Are there any updates to how to do this with the current Zbrush or any suggestions you might have?

[@PaulGaboury]

+nateido You have to do the Shift+Click on the model before you start to pose.

[@nateido]

+Paul Gaboury Ok, it WORKED. Halleluja. One thing I noticed however - Following it @11:08 WORKED, but @8:34 the steps were less obvious. Also, the difference for me was when you "click on the mesh" (after shift-clicking Preview mode) it doesn't revert back to the rig mode like it did for you. So after Shift-Click Preview, I literally "drew" on the mesh and randomly clicked and shift clicked a bunch on the mesh, then 3) clicked out of Preview Mode, Posed as I wanted, then "A" for Adaptive and it worked. LIke you did in the video, but in this version of Zbrush the clicking on mesh part doesn't seem to bring it back to rig mode. (typing this out for others who might experience similar issues). Thanks Paul!!!!!!

[@leeJones]

Hi Paul, great tutorial. I have one question related to the creation of Zspheres: you seem to point and click each sphere as opposed to drag out as in the pixologic vid. thanks

[@shizyninjarocks]

I'm trying to figure out the same thing. Must be easy, but I can't figure it out.

[@t3du]

hi how I delete a Zsphere if going wrong when i drawing it?

[@BacanaTrader007]

worked for . On default it was at Agressive TE for but I clicked to the right

[@Mythrass]

Hi I need help please. when I make the skeleton from Zspheres and I want to try rigging, it tells me that the program is not responding and it freezes for a while...

[@PaulGaboury]

Can you share any video with me so I can see everything that you are doing? I'll need more information. You're on Windows, correct? What version of ZBrush are you using?

[@Yews]

My mesh does not have subdivision levels. :(

[@IronBlockGames]

I have an issue. Is there away to tell the z-spheres what to attach to? No matter what I do they keep grabbing other areas of the models and streching them along. I have made them as tinny as I could and they still grab unwanted areas. How do I prevent that? Anyway to tell it 'this is the left leg, stop trying to grab bits from the right leg'?

[@adrianabosco9296]

I'm having the same issue =/ Don't know how to fix that.

[@PaulGaboury]

The size of ZSphere does not matter. It's the number of ZSpheres that matter. as long as you put enough ZSpheres in the leg it will not grab the either leg.

[@adrianabosco9296]

Paul Gaboury Thanks Paul!! Helped a lot.

[@UndeadShell]

I have a question, so I designed a character and he has clothes on him, I now want to put him in a pose; can I do this with rigging and have all his clothes move with his body too? I have tried using the transpose tool with rigging but I was only able to move his body into the pose. I'm guessing there is something i'm doing wrong(is there something that I could have forgot to do or something is on and i'm suppose to turn it off? ) I'm using Zbrush 4R6

[@PaulGaboury]

Charles Nadon Yes you can do this but you'll need to make sure to build a rig that will support the clothes. You will also need to use the Transpose Master plug-in so all SubTools move together.

[@UndeadShell]

Paul Gaboury For building a rig that will support clothes does that mean add more zspheres for where the clothes are and will the clothes have to be merged with the character when I start rigging? Because at the moment my character is already rigged with an adaptive skin on him, clothing are all individual subtools. I've tried using transpose master to copy the pose then repose the character but it seems not to be working. -thank you so much for taking the time answering my silly questions..

[@PaulGaboury]

+Charles Nadon Yes watch the 2nd video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/opqXgmeOodCDoqc

[@t3du]

Really? we cant export to 3ds max, so what´s the for rigging on Zbrush?

[@PaulGaboury]

Hey Brandon I'm not sure I have that file anymore. I will take a look though.

[@T800System]

Great tutorial. Thanks!

[@aaronpray]

Paul are you the one from the Pixologic?

[@PaulGaboury]

yes, how can I help.

[@aaronpray]

no no sir, actually i watched the vids published like 10 years ago narrated by you on pixologic channel, but in next vids i was like want to ask him "where is the previous tutor?" so i thought yeah, idk, well anyway, my point is as far as i'm watching tutors, you are the best explanator so far, like the calm with nice flow. This is not a weird thing, i just hope i can explain as good as you. Good to know you're still there man, thanks and cheers.

[@Nickizzy4321]

I barely moved the mesh using transform instead of tapping and it seemed to solve the issue

[@xlu125]

great lesson!!

[@mohammedfahedfarvardin6841]

i tried clicking on another point in the mesh, but it wouldnt create anything when trying to make the rig

[@unrealfcy]

yep same problem

[@unrealfcy]

ah success..:)

[@mohammedfahedfarvardin6841]

***** how?

[@PaulGaboury]

Make sure you are not in Ghost Transparency mode.

[@PaulGaboury]

Turn on the Transparency button above the Ghost button and then you will be able to turn off Ghost.

[@AndGz7]

can someone help ,, when i try to paint the zsphere on the mesh far from the base zsphere like in tutorial ,, it rotates but not painting the sphere,, where i can change this parameter

[@learsitoclips]

And can I export the model in those conditions to Unity to add game animations? Would it work?

[@PaulGaboury]

You can definitely export the model and add game animations but note, the rig can not be exported from ZBrush.

[@pranabsen7481]

thanks so much sir for ur helpful tutorial

[@masterjey51]

@KasedMonster To change buttons size go to "preferences>Interface This is the 1st parameter. Hope it helped

[@PaulGaboury]

Yes you could do that because you would only be dealing with the lower cages from MAX. I would just make sure that you lower cages can at least be animated.

[@daggergblue]

Dynamesh is good for blocking out form. At some point you are going to want to retopologize and come out of dyna.

[@cesarfabianalonso]

Excelent Paul, Thank's ;)

[@gabrielcamposcabraldemello2052]

what a tutorial! Thank you for that!!

[@ccsears1974]

6)Touch/tap anywhere on the model 7)Tool>AdaptiveSkin>MakeAdaptiveSkin creates a posed mesh as a new tool in the Tool palette. Anyway, the issue I'm having is that the higher-res detail isn't being created in the posed mesh when I click Make Adaptive Skin. the correct polygroups are still there and the right subdivision levels, but somehow the detail is missing.

[@olgap6587]

thank you for the awesome video! but i was wondering how you save everything. ive had this issue a lot with zbrush when i go to save and when i load it up again there is only the zsphere skeleton and not the model. >-< pls help

[@xell0572]

hello thx for tuto, but how i make a loop with zsphere? i want close zsphere a to zsphere b example : use zshepere rigging an ring... help me

[@PaulGaboury]

what issue are you having. Make sure to have your density level at the same level as your subdivision level

[@UndeadShell]

how do I remove extra zspheres from the rig? like if i added too many joints .

[@PaulGaboury]

Just hold ALT and click on the ZSphere you want to delete.

[@PaulGaboury]

Is there a way you can share an image?

[@FERDAM1000]

Great tutorial, thanks!..

[@velkanlexx]

Its posible save the bones to use it with other file?

[@PaulGaboury]

Yes, just save the ZSphere rig out as a Tool. Then you will be able to load it for later. You can use the Store TM Rig and Paste TM rig options in Transpose Master to copy/paste for another model.

[@velkanlexx]

@@PaulGaboury tnk for the tips (y) :D

[@TeamGuerrillaFilms]

Thanks a lot! Very Helpful!

[@kolybearnw]

posted the issue in the zbrush forum under Barley Fairy.

[@kolybearnw]

Great, easy to follow tutorial btw, thank you. I

[@lego1168]

Anyone know how you export the model via this method?

[@sculptcorner4834]

ZBrush only exports a MPEG now. In the Movie palette. Click on the Export. You also want the H on for high quality.

[@PaulGaboury]

Once you convert it to a mesh skin you can just click export. The rig can’t be exported. Go to Adaptive Skin menu and click Preview. If you don’t want it to be a Dynamesh, turn down the Dynamesh slider.