ZBrushCentral

Prevent autosaves when user is active on the app

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi there,

Little feature request here : delay autosave if user is actually working.
Here’s how :

  • If user is on the app and did an action in the last (5s), and the app wants to fire an autosave, then wait for a few more seconds. If user is away from the app (googling, watching a youtube video, whatever), then the app can fire the event too
  • This involves having a few parameters user can modify, like toggle or not that feature, then decide which duration time an “AFK” fires an autosave event

This would help reduce frustrating moments where :

  • autosave pops in the middle of your work, breaking your focus momentum
  • user declined several times autosave prompts because of that focus loss…and get a crash

NB : I may have misunderstood the quicksave “rest duration”, but not sure it does what I want. The idea is to no longer perform quicksaves if the user is working/in the app searching for a function, cause if so, user might skip it and risk to lose some work

#2

Hello @Vexod14,

I did give this a quick check just to be sure and it is unchanged from any ZBrush version in recent years.

The wording for the Auto Notes for those features can be a little confusing. Essentially both the Max Duration and Rest Duration are competing triggers for an autosave. Whether or not the countdown is interruptible depends on which is being triggered.

The “Max Duration” slider sets the maximum amount of time that can pass between saves. This timer is not interruptible except by saving the file. The save won’t trigger in the middle of a brush stroke , but it may trigger immediately after if the file has not been saved.

The “Rest Duration” slider sets an interruptible countdown. Interacting with the program will reset it.

You can see the effects of this in the program. Set “Max Duration” to the maximum value. This effectively disables that trigger.

Then set the “Rest Duration” to minimum value, and start idling with an active model in the program. The program will trigger an autosave based on inactivity, and show the countdown on the top bar of the UI next to the file information. Once you see that countdown start, rotate the model or make a few brush strokes. You should see the countdown reset.

So in your situation, I would set the Max Duration slider to a higher value, so it is not frequently triggering. Set the “rest” duration to whatever you’re comfortable with.

Please let me know if what I have explained above is not your experience.

Thank you! :slight_smile:

#3

Hi Spyndel !

Thank you for your explanation, I confirm this solves my problem :slightly_smiling_face:

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