

Update (1 December 2010): ZSwitcher is now out of beta and is available for purchase, price $68. I applied Clumping, Noise, and Coil modifiers for the head hair. Instead, I improvised with the guides directly in Maya based on the existing concept. I did not do Pre-Base Mesh in ZBrush for the hair. I started learning about this tool at the same time as Marvelous Designer. Handy stuff if you’ve ever cursed ZBrush’s idiosyncratic navigation – although if you’re a long-term user, you’ll probably wonder what all the fuss is about. I created hair in Maya with the XGen tool. ZSwitcher does, however, change some of the default keyboard/mouse mappings, but in a way that tries not to defeat any of the ZBrush features.” Zbrush is first and for most 3d sculpting tool it lacks many of the functions that Maya has. “Your hotkeys in ZBrush are NOT changed when using ZSwitcher. However, early user feedback suggests that ZSwitcher does not override existing ZBrush conventions in a way that feels alien to long-term users: an issue digitalRaster addresses directly in the product documentation. The plug-in should also help artists familiar with Mudbox keyboard shortcuts to adjust to workflow in ZBrush. The developer will “look into MacLovin later”. ZSwitcher is currently in free public beta, and is available for Windows versions of ZBrush 3.5 and above. DigitalRaster has released a new plug-in to enable users to navigate ZBrush via Maya shorctuts.
