ZBrush is designed to be a simple, yet powerful painting application that allows the user to create beautiful images and objects quickly. In the DEMO version (1.23b - Mac or PC) there are various ZScripts -sort of Interactive Tutorials designed to help you understand ZBrush. Simply click on the ZScript Window palette (Top left corner) and load any of the ZScripts. One of them is the Interface ZScript. Key points... Interface Colors --------------------------------- ZBrush utilizes a color-muted interface which allows for a pleasing, but non-distracting interface. Gray was chosen as the base interface color in order to avoid influencing the users perception of the colors used within the document. Menu Placement --------------------------------- All menus are distributed to the right and left of the document area. This promotes easy access to these menus without cluttering the document area. Menus can be repositioned to fit the user's preference and the least used menus can be iconized in order to conserve screen real estate. Auto Menu Expand/Collapse --------------------------------- Whenever a new menu is opened and ZBrush knows that the total size of the opening menu will exceed the currently available space, ZBrush automatically closes the least used menus, allowing the newly opened menu to be fully visible and accessible. Left-Right Menu Bars --------------------------------- The left and right bars that contain the menus can be quickly collapsed or expanded to reveal/hide the included menus (by clicking on the vertical "DIVIDER" bar) Modeless Menus --------------------------------- All menus can be accessed at any time. There is no need to be in any special mode in order to access certain menus. The only mode menus that exist in ZBrush are the Save/Load Dialogues. These require you to accept or cancel operations before continuing. Secondary Document View --------------------------------- Below the Iconized menu bar, there is a horizontal "DIVIDER" bar that can open/close a secondary view of the document. This allows independent magnification settings, enabling the user to work with fine details while seeing the overall image. This view can be collapsed or expanded by clicking on the horizontal "DIVIDER" bar, or it can be manually resized by dragging the horizontal bar to the desired location. Floating Buttons --------------------------------- Buttons or controls from any of the menus can be dragged to the document area (hold Ctrl+click and drag) which allows easy access to frequently used buttons without the need to have the source menu fully opened. Customizable Floating Menus --------------------------------- Each floating button that is dragged into the document area can be grouped with other controls to form a customized palette. Showing and Hiding these Floating Menus is done by pressing the 'Tab' key. Two-Tiered Info --------------------------------- When pointing to any control for a short period of time, a pop-up info window will be displayed. By pressing the 'Ctrl' key, further and more detailed information is revealed. Hot Keys --------------------------------- Frequently used buttons and controls have been assigned Hot Keys which are displayed in the top-right corner of their corresponding Pop-Up Info box. Eventually, this will be customizable. Quick Menu Locator --------------------------------- By holding 'Alt' and clicking on any of the Floating Buttons, the source menu can be expanded or collapsed. Furthermore, Iconizing or opening menus can be done by pressing the corresponding Alt-key (Alt-keys are shown at the top-right of each menu). Saved Configuration --------------------------------- The current configuration of the ZBrush interface can, at any time, be saved and automatically used as the default configuration in successive ZBrush sessions. Multi Mode Controls --------------------------------- ZBrush utilizes Icons and Alphanumeric controls. The controls, which hold values, normally show the names of the buttons while the actual values are only shown when the buttons are in use. This conserves screen real estate. Memory Utilization --------------------------------- ZBrush will periodically compress the least-used interface icons to allow for better memory utilization. ================== As to Modeling/Sculpting in ZBrush, I have copied this response from the ZBrushCentral FAQ available here: http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=2 =================== When you are 3D sculpting or painting an object, there are three conditions whereby ZBrush will convert a copy of this object into your image with depth. ZBrush will "snapshot" your object if you change tools or layers, or if you select the Snapshot icon (or press Shift-s). Snapshotting a copy of your 3D object into the document converts what you see to part of your image with depth (2.5D image). At this point, you have two options: First, you can enter Edit mode (press "t" or the Edit icon in the Draw or Floating palette) or a Transformation mode (press "w" for Move, "e" for Scale or "r" for Rotate - or click on the appropriate icons in the Draw or Floating palette) to sculpt, paint or move/scale/rotate your 3D object. Second, you can continue painting your image (as normal). If you change tools or layers, the copy of your object you snapshot will become a permanent part of your image with depth (unless you Undo the operation - by pressing Ctrl-z or Command-z or pressing Document/Undo). Regardless of what you choose to do, your 3D tool remains in the selection window for you to later re-select for further editing or transforming. To continue editing or transforming your 3D object (so you can re-snapshot it into your image, or Export it), you should make sure this object is selected in the Tool palette, then click and drag in your document to create a new "active" version to edit or transform. Then you should enter an Edit or Transformation mode as described above. So why doesn't ZBrush simply keep the 3D object floating all the time? ZBrush snapshots a copy of your 3D object into your image so you can continue editing on a pixel-by-pixel level (which a 3D object cannot allow for). In order to have this control, you must be working with pixols (pixels with color, material, depth and orientation information) - the foundation for ZBrush's speed, flexibility. More information with regards to morph targets available in the Poser, Importing and Exporting section of the QUICKLINKS: http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=000049 Check out this site: www.southerngfx.co.uk More tuts available at DAZ3D (software & Utility section) Hope this information is helpful :)