ZSculpt

ZBrush controls for Blender's Sculpt Mode.

Drag empty space to orbit, Alt to carve, hold Shift to smooth, Ctrl to mask. The moves your hands already know, plus a ZBrush-style Undo History bar and Face Set Layers. Every group of shortcuts has its own switch, and one click gives you Blender's defaults back.

Blender 5.2 with ZSculpt 1.1, recorded as it happened. The keys at the bottom light up while they're held.

Your ZBrush hands, in Blender

Pick a move to see it. The dots mark what's new in version 1.1.

Every shortcut ZSculpt adds

They work in Sculpt Mode only, on top of Blender's keymap; your own keymap isn't changed. Red keys are the ones ZSculpt uses. Tap one to see what it does.

Blender's default is what the key does in Sculpt Mode without ZSculpt (Blender 5.2). Keys ZSculpt doesn't use keep working as usual, for example Ctrl+I invert mask, Ctrl+R remesh, Alt+Q transfer mode and the brush keys. With the Face Set brush, Shift keeps Blender's relax-borders stroke, and stencil brushes keep their right-mouse controls.

Every group has its own switch

In Edit › Preferences › Add-ons › ZSculpt. Turn a group off and its keys go back to Blender's at once. This is the real panel:

• OnZSculptThe master switch: off means Blender's default sculpt controls, everywhere at once. The Enabled button in the sidebar tab is the same switch.
• OnNavigate on Empty SpaceDrag empty space to rotate; Alt+drag to pan, let go of Alt to zoom.
• OnRight-Drag NavigationRight-drag rotates, Alt pans, Ctrl zooms. A right click still opens the sculpt menu.
• OnAlt+Click Switches ObjectAlt+click another visible mesh to sculpt it. Alt+drag still carves or pans.
• OnCtrl Masking & Ctrl+Shift VisibilityEvery Ctrl mask move and Ctrl+Shift hide / isolate move.Mask Marquee Lasso (default) or Box · Select Marquee Box (default) or Lasso · Camera Based Masking / Selection off by default: drags go through the whole mesh like ZBrush; on: only faces facing you.
• OnZBrush-Style HotkeysS, U, Shift+U, Ctrl+U, Space, B, X, F, Shift+F, P, Ctrl+W, Ctrl+A.
• OnSubdivision KeysD, Shift+D and Ctrl+D for Multires.
• OnQ W E R ToolsBrush, Move, Scale, Rotate. Blender's R moves to Alt+R.
• OnShift Snaps While RotatingHold Shift during any view rotation to snap to the nearest axis view. Works in every mode.
• OffInvert Drag ZoomFlips the direction of the Alt-release and Ctrl+right-drag zoom.
• OnSuspend 'Emulate 3 Button Mouse' in Sculpt ModeThat Blender option turns Alt+click into a middle click. It's switched off only while you sculpt and comes back when you leave.
• OnZBrush-Style Shift / Ctrl BrushesHolding Shift or Ctrl switches to the Smooth / Mask brush, so the header shows it; pick another while holding to replace it. Off: Blender's built-in temporary Smooth and Mask.
• OnUndo History Slider Not on macOSThe bar at the top of the viewport (Windows and Linux).History Range Sculpt Session (default: steps since you entered Sculpt Mode) or Everything · Bar Width · Undo Steps, Blender's own setting.

One switch for everything: switch the Enabled button in the ZSculpt tab to Disabled, and all shortcuts and features go back to Blender's defaults. Click it again to get ZSculpt back.

The ZSculpt tab

In Sculpt Mode, press N and open the ZSculpt tab of the 3D Viewport sidebar.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. EnabledThe master switch. Disabled gives you Blender's own controls at once.
2. Mask / SelectLasso or box for Ctrl and Ctrl+Shift drags. The Camera Based options limit them to faces facing you.
3. Shift / Ctrl BrushesWhich brushes Shift and Ctrl give you, with their Intensity. A reset arrow appears once you change one.
4. SDivThe Multires level as one slider, like ZBrush's. No Multires yet? Ctrl+D adds it.
5. Undo History Slider Not on macOSOn or off, its range, and Blender's Undo Steps (how far back the bar can go). On a Mac this box shows why the bar is unavailable.
6. Face Set LayersShow All and Invert, then every face set in its viewport color with its face count: the eye hides it, the star solos it, merge folds it into the selected one, X deletes it (back to Base). Double-click a name to rename it. Everything undoes with Ctrl+Z.
7. ShortcutsThe cheat sheet, folded until you need it. The same list is in the Preferences.

Specs & questions

Sculpting in a minute

1. InstallDrag the zip into Blender, or Edit › Preferences › Get Extensions › drop-down at the top right › Install from Disk…
2. SculptEnter Sculpt Mode. ZSculpt is on: drag empty space to orbit, Alt to carve, Shift to smooth, Ctrl to mask.
3. Open the ZSculpt tabPress N in the 3D Viewport: the Enabled switch, Shift / Ctrl brushes, SDiv, the Undo History bar and Face Set Layers.
4. Make it yoursEdit › Preferences › Add-ons › ZSculpt: turn groups on or off, pick lasso or box, set the bar's range and width.