The Scale Master plugin, located in the ZPlugin palette, lets you choose what size your model should be by converting the model to generic units that resemble millimeters. With this size set, your files append and insert at the correct size and dimensions, giving you greater control when dealing with scan data or models for 3D printing.
Scale Master: Step By Step
- With a model loaded into ZBrush for iPad, click the Set Scene Scale button.
- This opens a pop-up box with various sizes listed. At the top, ZBrush shows the subtool's default values followed by various sizes in mm, cm, in, or ft.
- Choose the size in the desired units closest to what the selected subtool should equal. (These values may not be exactly what you want, but don't worry. They can be changed later.)
- After you make your selection, the scene converts to mm, and the X/Y/Z sliders updated to the selected size and unit values.
- From here, you can change the X/Y/Z sliders to your liking. The sliders link by default.
- After changing the sliders, you can resize the current subtool (Resize Subtool) or all subtools in relation to the current subtool (Resize All).
- After resizing the model, it can be exported to an *.obj file at a specific generic unit.
Exporting from the Tool > Export area will export a Scale Master-processed tool in millimeters.
Scale Master Functions
Set Scene Scale
Clicking on this button opens a dialog allowing you to select the size and units of the selected subtool (as noted in the tip above). This process converts the entire tool to millimeters, allowing for easy resizing.
ZBrush Scale Unify
Subtools function best in ZBrush when their X/Y/Z size is set to 2. Clicking this button resizes all subtools so that the entire tool's bounding box returns an X/Y/Z size of 2, thus holding the existing scale. Think of this as a full tool Unify. The model's original size is held by converting the X/Y/Z scale and updating the Export to Unit Scale values appropriately.
Conversion: mm, cm, in, ft
This selects the units to used by the sliders.
Sliders to Subtool Size
Clicking Sliders to Subtool Size updates the axis sliders below based on the selected units.
Lock Slider Ratio
Enabling this control locks axis sliders to the current size ratio of the selected subtool after clicking Sliders to Subtool Size.
X/Y/Z
These sliders allow you see and change the sizes of the x, y, and z axes of the selected Subtool. If Lock Slider Ratio is enabled, these values lock to the size ratio of the subtool selected when Sliders to Subtool Size was clicked. If you type in values, make sure to press the Enter key on your keyboard.
Resize Subtool/All
Resize Subtool resizes the current subtool to the values above. When resizing a single subtool, only the model's X/Y/Z size values change. When you click Resize All, all the subtools in the tool resize based on the change of the selected subtool.
New Subtool
This creates a new subtool based on the slider values and unit selected.
1 Unit Helper
This creates a new 1x1x1-unit subtool based on the units selected.
New Bounding Box Subtool
This creates a new Cube Subtool based on the bounding box of all the Subtools. This is useful for resizing all subtools with the Resize Subtool function.
Export: mm, cm, in, ft
This selects the generic units to be used when exporting (see below).
Export to Unit Scale, All
This exports an *.obj of the selected subtool or separate *.obj files for all subtools to the selected unit value. This allows for the model to be exported in generic units rather than mm values.