Can you resize a layer?

[Tammy]

Hi, I did read and search the manual and didnt see if there was a way to do this or not. I modeled a head, put eyes in and painted it and now I want to do its body but I made the head really large, can I resize the layer the head is on?

[WingedOne]

At this point in time, you can't resize a layer. What you would have to do is draw your head in the layer in a smaller size. If you have the full version, it's a good idea to save your tools after you make them. If you have the demo version, unfortunately, you'll probably have to re-do your head.

[Tammy]

Thanks for your help. If I resize my head, do I then add the eyes? Or can I add the eyes and then resize all of them? If your working with multiple body parts how would you know the correct size? You cant go back and edit an object once you start working with another correct?

[WingedOne]

What I do is add the eyes after I have the head the size and orientation the way I want it. As far as knowing the correct size for the body parts, I just size them until it looks right. That's the best I can say.

Depending how I set up my scene, I sometimes set up the torso first and then add the head followed by the rest of the limbs and othertimes I set it up with the head first and work from there.

Right, you can't edit an object once you start working with another, but if you still have the tool either saved, or still in your tool selection pallette, you can clear the layer and place it there again. It helps to have markers placed for the objects if you do that as well.

[aurick]

The proper size to draw them at in the first place is by and large a matter of feel. It helps to have a good idea of what you want to create before you start work, so that you can have better accuracy when drawing the individual parts.

You are correct in that you can't go back to an object once it's been snapshot to the canvas -- kind of. Markers will let you do exactly that. If you place a marker immediately after drawing an object, before you move on to another tool, then you can always erase the object (or clear the layer that it's on if it's the only thing on that layer) and use the marker to redraw the object. At that point, it's able to be worked on with the Transform/Edit modes -- which means that you can use they gyros to resize or move it.

For this reason, it's generally a good idea to draw your objects on different layers until you're happy with their position, and then merge the layers. You still wouldn't want to merge all layers, though -- eyes, for example, are usually best kept on a separate layer for a long time so that you can paint shading enhancements onto them without painting the head, or paint details onto the head without worrying about the eyes.

More than anything, it comes down to practice. Don't expect tremendous results from your first works. Just give yourself license to play around and have fun with the learning process. Before long, you'll have a good feel for a workflow that works for you, and will be able to work with greater speed and precision.

EDIT: Looks like WingedOne answered while I was typing. :)

[Tammy]

Thanks for all the help, that answers my questions about how to approach this next time. Guess this one will be scrapped but I dont consider anything a total loss if I learned something new and it was fun practice.

[Kruzr]

'Afternoon Tammy . . . :)

WingedOne & Aurick already gave you great answers to your question, but if nobody minds I'd like to add one more item: When your working in ZBrush, always place "Markers" for each object you create & place on the canvas. There are many reasons for this, as explained above, but the one I wanted to point out is - after you have worked on an object or two or three etc., & you find that you have run out of room on the canvas, you can then use the "MultiMarker" tool to grab all the objects on the canvas, with "Markers" placed for them, & pick up the whole group as one object. Then after you re-draw the "MultiMarker" group back on the canvas, at the size & position you want, you would select "Reposition" in the "MultiMarker / Modifiers" drop down window. Now you have your group of objects re-drawn on the canvas with plenty of room for expansion, & each one of your "Markers" are re-positioned in each object's new position. So if you want to add more objects & a "Marker" for each new object, you can again use the "MultiMarker" tool to pick up the new group of objects & resize, rotate or reposition the new group as you want it. ;)

Good luck & you have a good one . . . :cool: Mark.