Scenario Zbrush Pose Print

ZBrush posing and 3D print

Expert level means a pose that stands and reads, transferred onto every SubTool without losing a level, and print parts whose size, walls, fits and cavities were measured in millimeters on the exported files. The stance: turn every decision into a number the agent can check (scale, point order, joint angles, walls, gaps), keep the pose reversible, use strokes only for cleanup. If a sibling skill named here is missing from your available skills, ask the user to install it (npx skills add scenario-labs/skills --skill <name>); unattended, proceed from tool schemas and flag the gap.

REQUIRED BACKGROUND: scenario-zbrush-expert (bridge, stroke engine, review loop, 2026 traps).

Stance (the expert delta)

• Gaboury: scale is the first decision. SubTool number one is a box at the client's size; nothing may clip out of it, and the whole tool resizes in one step because sizes change late (6 in with 15 points of articulation became 4 in with 8). Agent form: brief_box, zb_print.envelope, set_export_scale(target_mm).
• Munoz Gomez: pose at the lowest level, several SubTools through Transpose Master, the pose on a 3D Layer. Plates and carried props (weapon, shield, staff) stay IN the TPose mesh as rigid pieces (Auto Groups, one group per loose piece, masked whole); Move Topological clears intersections. Plouffe forbids deforming primitives, not moving them rigidly: never pull a carried prop out and re-place it with one rotation.
• Maxon doc: two things destroy a transfer: a partially hidden SubTool (Vertex Mismatch) and Gizmo 3D deformers on the TPose mesh (they reorder points; SubTools die on TPose>SubT). Pavlovich: "The order of the vertices is very important." Start from a clean project, save the ZPR while a TPose mesh exists (the Transpose Master data lives there).
• Plouffe: parts that bend together need the same polygon size at level 1 (mask blur spreads per polygon). Re-place bolts and discs after bending. Spend detail only where the final size and viewing distance show it.
• Pavlovich: DynaMesh without levels = Proxy Pose plus a ZSphere rig. Location beats size, helpers hold volume, rotate only.
• Gaboury: never hollow the 9M sculpt. Shell a light DynaMesh copy (128 was enough for a 9 in car), keep its inner wall, Polish it, subtract it from the untouched detailed part in Live Boolean. Create Shell Thickness is not millimeters: measure.
• Bennett (Hasbro): 1 mm minimum wall (0.85 mm was flagged), 0.5 mm edges, 0.12 mm fit offset for Formlabs parts; thin walls are thickened from the inside so the outside does not change.
• Gaboury: decimate by eye (about 1M per mesh is plenty; 10k to 20k triangles can still print); masks on the detail that matters (face, hands) steer Decimation Master; pre-process again after any edit; vent every cup on SLA.

Establish first

Posing without a mouse

The artists' default (Ctrl+click a polygroup, drag a Gizmo ring) is a canvas gesture. The SDK cannot read mask data, and press_key is documented but marked "Does not work, hidden for now" in the installed 2026 stub (with canvas_click it is reported unreliable, Maxon forum). Routes by determinism:

Weak without a human: gesture design, Plouffe's hand-painted gradient masks, large fold redesign. Seam smoothing and Move Topological have agent forms in procedures.md P6, still [verify].

Workflow

zb_pose.call("name", ...) runs inside ZBrush; zb_print runs on exported OBJs; full code in references/procedures.md.

0. Intake. Versioned ZTL, inventory(), target and envelope in mm. GATE: every SubTool named, unique, with points and levels.
1. Scale. set_export_scale, export_parts, check_scale, then brief_box (hidden while exporting). GATE: height within 0.5 % [added], one export scale on every part (a part appended from another ZTool arrives at another scale), envelope ok, named dimensions checked with caliper.
2. Pose prep. clean_project (ZTL saved, default project, Load Tool); polygroup every segment, plates and props left as loose pieces; preflight_tpose. GATE: preflight ok, density spread under 2x [added]. No levels: scenario-zbrush-retopology-export or Proxy Pose.
3. Pose. tpose_mesh(layer=True, groups=True) with props and plates visible, export_tpose (the order reference), save_project; route A or B, center first, parents before children, rotations only; no Gizmo deformers. GATE: rigid_pieces ok, follows puts each carried prop where its carrier took it (0.5 mm [added]), piece_interference empty or listed for P6, tpose_to_subtools(expected, rest_obj) passes its order guard and point counts, rigid_delta within 2 degrees of the plan [added], balance stands or a base is planned; review sheet: silhouette and weight read (Plouffe: an unstable pose "destroys the entire work").
4. Fix deformation. New layer at the top level. Seam first while the rest is protected (Munoz Gomez smooths and moves before clearing the mask); then volumes and folds re-sculpted for the new pose (tension from the stretched joint, compression on the inner bend [added]); re-place primitives; Move Topological on pieces; pose-specific detail on a pose-only layer, because layers blend linearly. GATE: stretch_report near the rest pose, piece_interference ok, Polyframe tiles.
5. Breakdown. Parts at natural breaks; merge what prints as one (Live Boolean union or DynaMesh on light copies: Hasbro engineers on decimated meshes). Molded: loops, parting line, draft. GATE: each part closed, fits the build volume.
6. Hollow when asked. hollow_copy (insert inside, DynaMesh about 128, Create Shell), keep_inner_shell, Live Boolean: detailed part start, inner shell, drain and vents subtract; thin ends stay solid. Too thin: move the cutter inward, never the outside. GATE: thickness p01 at the wall target, no sealed cavity for resin, outer_drift ok, vents at cups.
7. Cut and key. Cutter QCube in Live Boolean or a polygroup split then Close Holes [added]; plan_keys; socket = peg grown by 2 x clearance. GATE: clearance median at target, no interference; one key pair test-printed before the kit (Gaboury).
8. Decimate. Unique names; per-SubTool budgets, masks before Pre-process (mask="cavity" [added]), pre-process after any edit. GATE: faces within budget, deviation p99 under the printer's XY resolution [added], close-ups before and after.
9. Deliver. STL and 3MF per part in mm, print_report(..., envelope_mm=...), a review tile at real size (detail under the process floor is backfilled, fused or left to paint: Hasbro). GATE: print_report["ok"], every "to look at" item looked at, unit stated.