Left Canvas Toolbar > Brush library
Learn more in this guide's Brush Customization section.
There are various brush types in ZBrush for sculpting, Polypainting, drawing 3D objects, editing geometry, and more.
Anchor brushes offer an intuitive way to deform and pose meshes. They work by applying specific anchor types to the surface and selecting from the Insert MultiMesh (IMM) library to apply rotation, move, scale, and more.
The above example demonstrates the steps provided below.
1. Choose an Anchor brush from the library at the top of the canvas.
The example demonstrates using the Rotate anchor.
2. Tap on the model to place an anchor point.
3. Tap on the model to place a second anchor point.
4. Drag an anchor point to apply the selected effect.
5. Switch to other anchor brushes for other transformation abilities.
Anchors can be used only on a selected subtool.
Learn other anchoring methods in this guide's Posing Essentials section.
Chisel brushes utilize the Alpha 3D system to capture depth information from a 3D model and convert it into projection shape that can then be applied with a brush.
Each Chisel brush type offers a unique shape to apply to the model. Select the tip shape from the IMM library at thescreen's top to change between Chisel brush types.
Drag on the model to apply the selected Chisel brush with a DragRect stroke.
Drag on the model to draw a curve path. Drag the curve ends to apply the brush effect.
Clay brushes are standard sculptural brushes that utilize alphas to define the brush tip shape and reflect a clay texture. Clay brush types utilize various Modifiers to produce clay brush effects when sculpting and painting.
Clip brushes utilize curves and selection to draw over the model to flatten vertices.
"Clip" or "clipping" refers to the flattening affect applied to vertices within the target selection. Clipping does not delete geometry.
Flattening occurs either in the direction of the gradient starting from the dotted line or in the opposite direction.
Clip brush types use the Lasso, Curve, Circle, or Rectangle stroke shapes.
Clip brushes utilize Modifier Wheel actions and customizable settings. Learn more in this guide's Modifier Wheel section.
The steps described below are demonstrated in the above example video.
1. Select any of the described Clip brushes from the library.
2. Press Ctrl/Cmd and Shift modifiers, then drag on the canvas to draw the selected Stroke shape.
3. Release your pencil or finger pressure from the screen to apply the clip action.
You must continue to hold Ctrl/Cmd and Shift to use the Clip brush.
The steps described below are demonstrated in the above example video.
1. Press Ctrl/Cmd and Shift modifiers, then drag on screen to draw the curve.
2. Leaving your pencil or finger pressed on the screen, release the Ctrl/Cmd and Shift modifiers.
The curve remains on the screen when you release the modifiers.
3. Tap the Alt/Option modifier to create a soft curve point at the end of the curve. Continue dragging to refine the curve shape.
Double-tap the Alt/Option modifier to create a hard curve point for straight lines. Repeat the process with this modifier to create additional curve points as needed.
4. Press the Spacebar to pan the curve around the canvas for placement.
5. Release your pencil or finger from the screen to apply the clip effect.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5. Before releasing your pencil or finger on step 5, release Ctrl/Cmd and press Alt/Option to reverse the clip effect in the opposite direction from the gradient line.
ZBrush for iPad's Clip brushes work the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in our external ZBrush Clip Brushes documentation.
Cloth brushes are tailored to simulate cloth-like sculptural effects on a surface. These powerful brushes can create intricate folds and textured cloth surfaces.
Drag on the surface to apply the designated clothing simulation effect.
Cloth brushes can apply to a subdivided surface. Cloth brushes work best on models that do not exceed 100,000 active points.
Applying cloth affects to low-resolution surfaces generally produces larger clothing folds because there are fewer vertices available to capture the clothing folds created.
Applying cloth brush affects to high-resolution surfaces generally produces smaller clothing folds because there are more vertices available to capture the clothing folds created.
ZBrush for iPad's Cloth brushes work the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in our external ZBrush Clothing Brushes documentation.
Groom brushes interact with fibers generated from the FiberMesh settings.
Groom brushes are tailored to simulate hair effects for fiber editing purposes.
Groom brushes are not intended for sculpting on standard surfaces. We recommended only using these brushes with Fiber subtools generated from FiberMesh settings.
ZBrush for iPad's Groom brushes work the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in our external ZBrush documentation sections:
A collection of hard surface brushes to flatten, trim, polish, and create bevels in a sculptural manner.
These brushes work the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in the our external ZBrush documentation sections:
Planar Trim Polish
Curve Brush
Bevel Brushes
These brushes utilize the Lazy Mouse > Backtrack feature to draw and apply a bevel effect.
Lazy Mouse settings are in the Stroke Modifiers menu.
1. Drag your finger or pencil from one point of the model to another.
Do not release pressure on the screen. Doing so cancels the Backtrack action.
2 . Drag your finger or pencil in the reverse direction to apply the bevel effect.
Insert Mesh and Insert Multi Mesh (IMM) brushes let you draw 3D models on the model surface.
Insert Mesh is a powerful tool that offers the ability to simulate a kitbash modeling workflow.
"Insert Mesh" refers to a single 3D model assigned to the brush.
Insert MultiMesh (IMM) refers to brushes that have multiple 3D models assigned to an Insert brush. These models are available to select from the IMM menu in the canvas.
1. Select an IMM brush to open the Insert Mesh library at the top of the canvas.
Drag left and right within the IMM library to view its contents.
2. Select an Insert Mesh and drag on the model's surface to draw.
Drag outwards from the starting stroke position to scale the Insert Mesh uniformly.
Drag outwards and then inwards to apply a non-uniform scale transformation to the Insert Mesh.
3. Release your pencil or finger pressure to apply the Insert Mesh to the surface.
4. Activate Gizmo3D to transform the Insert Mesh.
5. Select the CurveAlpha brush.
6. Drag on the surface to draw an Insert Mesh along a curved path.
Insert Mesh brushes must first be drawn onto the model. They can be posed away from the surface after initial placement.
7. Release your pencil or finger pressure to apply the Insert Mesh along the curve path.
When you apply an Insert Mesh to the surface, a mask applies to all other surfaces.
8. Hover over the curve line to display the blue cursor. Adjust Draw Size in the left canvas toolbar to change the blue cursor size.
The blue cursor is a separate instance of the normal brush cursor (red) and is used exclusively for editing brush curves.
9. Drag the curve line with the blue cursor to pose the Insert Mesh.
Drag the start or end of the curve line to modify its position.
10. Tap the model's surface to delete the curve line.
Keeping the curve line, as opposed to deleting it, lets you select a different insert curve brush and tap on the curve line to draw a new Insert Mesh along the same path.
11. Separate the Insert Mesh into its own subtool with the Split Unmasked Points button in the Tool palette.
Brush stroke settings let you activate Snap mode with an Insert Curve brush.
Snap offers the ability to draw Insert Meshes along a curve path and snap the Insert Mesh to match the surface to which it's being applied.
The above example showcases the default settings for the CurveTubeSnap brush, which uses the Snap feature.
Draw Size affects the size of the Insert Mesh object drawn along the curve. A larger Draw Size creates a larger Insert Mesh while a smaller Draw Size creates a smaller Insert Mesh.
Brushes that utilize Curve Mode produce best results when initially drawing the Insert Mesh with a smaller draw size. After you’ve applied the Insert Curve brush, increase the Draw Size amount and tap on the curve to update the model size along the curve path.
ZBrush for iPad's Insert Mesh and Insert MultiMesh brushes work the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in these external ZBrush documentation sections:
Insert Mesh
Insert MultiMesh
Creating IMM Brushes
Knife brushes are similar to Clip brushes in their ability to draw a curve or shape on the screen to produce a flattening or cutting effect on the model surface.
Knife brush requires using the Ctrl/Cmd and Shift key to activate the brush for use.
1. Press the Ctrl/Cmd and Shift modifier keys, then draw a light gray selection shape over the desired area of your model.
2. Release your pencil or touch to apply the Knife cut to the surface.
This cuts (removes) the part of the model that sits inside the selection and generates new topology to fill in the cut surface.
3. Press the Ctrl/Cmd and Shift modifier keys, then draw a light gray selection shape over the desired area of your model.
4. Release Ctrl/Cmd and Shift modifiers, then press and hold the Alt/Option modifier to reverse the selection effect.
5. Release your pencil or touch pressure on the screen to apply the Knife cut to the surface.
This cuts (removes) the part of the model that sits outside of the selection and generates new topology to fill in the cut surface.
Clip brushes do not delete geometry to apply their effect, but Knife brushes cut, remove, and rebuild geometry.
ZBrush for iPad's Knife brushes work the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in our external ZBrush Knife Brushes documentation.
Masks protect areas of the model from being sculpted or painted on. There are a variety of masking brushes that use different strokes for applying masks.
Masking brushes use the Ctrl/Cmd modifiers to activate them.
Masking brushes use the Alt/Option modifiers to reverse masking effects.
Learn the basics for applying and editing masks in this guide's Masking Essentials section.
Move brushes offer a variety of methods to push and pull target areas of your model.
Select a Move brush, adjust the Draw Size to define the target size of the model area to move, and drag on the surface to move that area.
By default, moving geometry works based on the camera angle relative to the model. When viewing head-on, a Move can occur horizontally and vertically in the screen space, as opposed to inwards and outwards from the surface.
Orbit around the model to capture the best angle to Move the surface in your desired direction.
Hold the Alt/Option key and drag left and right on the models surface to move the surface inwards and outwards based on the average surface normal direction for the polygons within the draw size radius.
Offers the ability to move parts of the model's surface that sit along the camera's Z-Depth direction.
Orbit around the model and apply this brush at different angles to visualize its full effect.
This brush works the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in our external ZBrush Move Infinite Depth documentation.
ZBrush provides Paint brushes with custom settings for different painting effects.
By default, Paint brushes are customized with RGB mode enabled, while ZAdd and ZSub are disabled to block sculptural output.
M, A, and MRGB modes are channels that can be activated to output with a Paint brush. Intensity controls the intensity for the selected channels.
M: Polypaint the selected material to the surface.
RGB: Polypaint the selected color.
MRGB: Combined material and color output applies with the brush.
Learn basic Polypaint workflow in this guide's Polypaint Essentials section.
Pattern brushes are sculptural brushes customized with unique patterned alphas and stroke settings to produce various effects.
A large collection of standard brushes used to produce various sculptural, textured, planar, and displacement effects.
The History Recall brush lets you capture the depth position from sculpted details from stored as Undo History actions. You can then project the captured details into the History Recall brush.
ZBrush for iPad's History Recall brush works the same as in ZBrush desktop. Learn more in our external ZBrush History Recall documentation.
The MatchMaker brush allows you to drag on a selected subtool to deform its shape to match underlying subtool shapes.
MatchMaker uses the camera angle facing the scene and applies the MatchMaker effect based on that angle.
The Morph brush lets you sculpt details captured in Morph Targets.
1. Open Tool palette > Morph Target.
2. Tap StoreMT.
This stores the model's current state into a Morph Target and creates a new Morph Target state for sculpting.
3. Apply some details to the surface.
4. Tap Switch.
This reverts back to the original mesh state before step 3.
5. Apply the Morph brush to the surface to sculpt the details from the other Morph Target state.
Learn more about Morph Targets in this guide's provided section.