I recently found some ZBrush files on an old hard drive from a sculpt I was attempting in 2006. They won’t wok correctly with the new version. Only two of them open at all. One is basically inside out and the preview is reversed. The other is just a negative shape on a white square.I’m trying to relearn Zbrush using the latest version. Is there any way I can fix these old files and continue working on them? Thanks.
Here’s what it’s supped to look like
Hi @ZGamm
The first one (inside out) has normals facing the wrong way. Go to “Tool > Display Properties” and click “Flip” button to reverse them.
The second one looks like your using the “Flat Color” material. Select a different material.
Thanks ZBER2. That worked! But the sculpt is still reversed. Right is left and left is right. And suggestions? Thanks.
Go to “Tool > Deformation” and click “Mirror” button.
When I try I get this.
Yes, that is normal. First, save the Tool. In “Tool > Geometry”, go to the highest Subdivision level and then click “Del Lower” to delete the lower Subdivision levels. Now you can use the Mirror button. If you need your lower subdivision levels, you can click “Reconstruct Subdiv” in Geometry palette. If that option is greyed out it’s because you have triangles and it won’t be possible. If you can’t Reconstruct Subdiv, and you need to, there is another option. Load the saved Tool that has all the Subdivision levels. Go to your lowest subdivision level then click “Del Higher” button. Now use the Mirror button then subdivide the mesh again and then transfer the details back on.
Thanks so much, ZBERG. You saved me so much time and frustration. Looking at the ZBrush interface is still like looking at the controls of a jet airliner sometimes.
At least I’ve got one version of the sculpt I can work with. I had more complete ones but they won’t even open. When I load them, the preview image is a block and they won’t open in the window. The little ball just spins and spins. BUT… When I look at recent files with lightbox the small image appears correctly. Do you think there’s any hope for them? I was going to try to open them in an old version of ZBrush but I couldn’t find my activation number from that long ago.
No, not likely. If they won’t load, then there is something not compatible with the newer version.
Ok. Thanks again for the help.
Hi @ZGamm ,
First of all, a big thank you to @zber2 for the troubleshooting here!
Secondly, it is important to note that we are discussing 17 year old files from a much different version of ZBrush. All magnetic storage fails over time.
That said, if the files are .ZTL and they won’t open, there is nothing that can be done. Those files should be considered either corrupt or incompatible with the newer program version.
However, if they are .ZPR files you can try a couple different things.
Go to Preferences> Undo History and enable “Skip Loading” prior to trying to load the file. The issue could be related to an incompatible or problematic History if one is stored with the file.
Likewise you could try to use the Tool> Load Tools from project function. This will usually give you a good idea if the geometry is salvageable. If nothing comes in from that file the geometry is beyond recovery. If any subtools are replaced with primitive geometry, it would also let you know that there is nothing there to recover so you could at least move on.
Good luck!
