SculptForge Files

ZBrush's keys and gestures by default, and a bridge to Blender.

ZBrush feel: ZBrush's keys and gestures by default

Audit in docs/zbrush-parity.md (sources: Maxon's ZBrush shortcut sheet and documentation); guide chapter docs/guide/coming-from-zbrush.md.

• U / I / O: Z Intensity, RGB Intensity and Focal Shift sliders at the cursor, as in ZBrush (S stays Draw Size). Values show 0-100 (Focal Shift -100..100); the top shelf and Draw palette say Z Intensity instead of Strength.
• RGB Intensity: painting has its own strength (default 100), separate from Z Intensity.
• Focal Shift: the brush falloff, for every built-in brush, Move, SnakeHook, masking and painting (Brush Lab recipes keep their own tip). At 0 the maths is unchanged. The cursor's inner ring now shows Focal Shift (where the brush works at half strength) instead of the strength.
• Smooth keeps its own Z Intensity (default 50): Shift-smoothing no longer follows the active brush's strength. Holding Shift (or picking Smooth) shows and sets it.
• Space: the QuickMenu under the cursor (brush, stroke, alpha, material, Draw Size, Focal Shift, the intensities, Zadd/Zsub, Sculpt/Paint, Rgb, X). Hold and let go to close, or tap to keep it open.
• Brush letters: B C B ClayBuildup, B D S DamStandard, B M V Move, B I N Inflate, B P I Pinch, B S H SnakeHook (ZBrush's), instead of the first free letter.
• Mask keys: Ctrl+A Mask All, Ctrl+Shift+A Clear Mask, Ctrl+I Invert, Ctrl+H View Mask; Ctrl+W Group Masked (and clear the mask; with nothing masked, Group Visible).
• Ctrl+click on the model blurs the mask, Ctrl+Alt+click sharpens it (a Ctrl+drag still paints).
• Shift pressed after a stroke starts draws a straight line, snapped to 45 degree steps.
• Shift+click the background, let go of Shift, drag rolls the view about its axis.
• Shift+Alt+click a SubTool selects and frames it.
• Ctrl+Shift+click a polygroup on a partly hidden mesh hides it (it used to isolate it); a Ctrl+Shift rectangle around nothing reverses the visibility.
• L toggles LazyMouse, V swaps the main and secondary colour, Ctrl+Shift+Alt+I is Save UI.
• Preferences > Input: Style ZBrush (default) or SculptForge, which keeps 0.6's keys: 1-9 and 0 pick brushes (ZBrush style: free, 9 = QuickSave), I = Z Intensity, Ctrl+drag on the background zooms when nothing is masked (ZBrush style: nothing). Rotation (free / turntable) is also here.
• Projects store Smooth's Z Intensity, RGB Intensity and Focal Shift.

Blender bridge

• SculptForge Bridge, an add-on for Blender 4.2+ (addons/blender, GPL-3.0-or-later): select objects, click Send to SculptForge (the 3D View's SculptForge tab, the Object menu or File > Export), sculpt, then File > Blender > Send to Blender in SculptForge. The objects update in place in Blender, keeping their transform, materials and modifiers; new SubTools become new objects. Works on Linux, Windows and macOS.
• The two sides share a per-user folder (<user data>/SculptForge/SculptForge/blender) and exchange .GoZ files plus a JSON manifest per direction (object names, matrix_world, a revision); each side checks the other's manifest once a second. No network. SculptForge records where it is installed and writes a heartbeat there, so the add-on starts it (--blender) only when it isn't running.
• Identity: Blender object name <-> SubTool (its GoZ name). Positions travel in object space with the matrix; Z-up <-> Y-up, metres both; mirrored objects keep their faces pointing out. A round trip is the identity (positions, faces and winding, UVs, polypaint, mask, polygroups): tested in C++, from the add-on's side against sculptforge-cli, and in a real Blender in CI.
• Unchanged topology updates only positions and attributes, so Blender keeps n-gons, edges, seams and other data; changed topology rebuilds the mesh. Active UV map <-> UVs, active colour attribute <-> polypaint, sculpt mask <-> mask, face sets <-> polygroups. Modifiers can be kept live or applied (then turned off on return).
• Commands blender_send and blender_receive (CLI, MCP, Python), File > Blender (Send, Receive, Receive automatically), F3 entries and Ctrl-hover help. GoZ receive and the bridge share the code that matches objects to SubTools.
• Packaging: build_addon.py writes the extension zip and a legacy add-on zip (cmake --build build --target blender_addon); releases attach sculptforge_bridge.zip. Guide chapter Working with Blender.
• UI tests: copy SRC DST stages files another program would write.

Downloads

New here? install/ explains which file to pick, or install with one command: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/islandmed/SculptForge/main/install/install.sh | sh (macOS / Linux), irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/islandmed/SculptForge/main/install/install.ps1 | iex (Windows PowerShell). Each file is also attached without its version number (e.g. SculptForge-macos.dmg) so links to releases/latest/download/... always get the newest build.

The builds are not code-signed yet. macOS: right-click the app → Open the first time. Windows: if SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway. Checksums are in SHA256SUMS.txt.