ZBrushCentral

Problem importing texture maps

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi

I am trying to move some texutres between Zbrush3 and Photoshop but every time I save them in Photoshop they no longer load in Zbrush. I get error messages every time. I searched the forum for this already and have tried saving in all the format options Zbrush will take (.psd, .bmp .tif etc.) but none seem to work.
I can save a map out of Zbrush (export the texture), open it in Photoshop, hit save-as and save it exactly the same name and format, and it will no longer open in Zbrush. I’m stumped. Anyone have a clue what I’m doing wrong?

Any help would be appreciated.

b

#2

I have managed to get a .jpg to work now - but that is it. Does anyone please have a solution for this? Is there a trick or someway of saving things out of either Zbrush or Pshop that I am missing?

Thanks,
b

#3

What is the exact text of any error message that you receive?

Please follow this forum’s guidelines when posting any troubleshooting inquiry. With each troubleshooting post, please include your full system specs and any other pertinent information which will allow us to determine if this is one of the following: a) user error? b) Misunderstanding of a specific feature, such as its usage and limitations? c) An item which has already been resolved. d) An item which needs to be resolved.

IMPORTANT: Before posting a troubleshooting item, make sure that:

  1. You are using the latest ZBrush version.

  2. You have a ‘clean’ ZBrush install. i.e. remove any items which you have added (such as older ZScripts and other startup items) which may result in unexpected - and difficult to resolve - problems.

  3. You did not increase the PreferencesMax polygon count or Compact Mem to a level which can not be supported by your system specs.

Any threads that do not follow these guidelines will be closed. Thank you for your cooperation.

#4

Hi Aurick - thanks for the reply.

There are two error messages, the first is:

“unable to read the specified file”
This one seems to occur when trying to import the .bmp and .tif version of the file.

The second is:
“error encountered while loading a file”

I got this message when trying the .psd version. All versions were based on the .bmp and .tif saved out of Zbrush and then saved again from Pshop. Photoshop and Bodypaint are able to load all the various versions without any trouble so there isn’t anything wrong with the files that I can see.

Here’s a twist though: I have since tested it on another machine and that one will load the .jpg and the .psd, but not the .tif or .bmp. Install is exactly the same on both. First machine is a dual dual-core Opteron running xp64 pro, 6GB of available RAM. The second machine is a dual-quad core Xeon with 8GB of RAM, also running xp64 pro. The install is the same on both, using 3.1 update and the only add-on is Zapplink - which is installed on both.

I can uninstall and re-install again, but it seem likely that there is something else amiss given that it occurs on two machines slightly differently.

Thanks for any help.
b

#5

As this help page states, you can’t import .tif, but I am suprised you have trouble with .bmp and .psd. Please give the version of Photoshop you are using.

http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/Texture_Palette

Import: Imports .bmp, .psd, .jpg and PICT (on Mac) images into the Texture Palette. ----
Export: Exports the selected texture as a .bmp, .psd or (on the Mac) a PICT file.----

#6

I use Photoshop CS3 Extended on both machines. I did see that thread btw, but there is conflicting advice on various threads: some suggest .psd, some .bmp, other .jpg. As an aside, do you know why is there an export .tif option if it won’t import it?

b

#7

I have just tried saving .jpg images as .psd and .bmp (24 bit Windows format) in Photoshop CS3 and they import fine. Give me some details of the image (size, image format), or try to upload it here.

#8

Thank you for the help.

I was able to import some of the exact same files on my second machine so I am not sure what that says - it’s odd. The original file was saved out of Zbrush through texture/export. The original export was an RGB 4k .bmp. The file has been opened and saved (even with no changes) as .tif, .psd, .jpg and again as a .bmp

I have tried saving with all the various options for the various formats that CS3 provides, and also tried converting and saving to 16bit where I could as well. Nothing seemed to make a difference.

Other files have worked fine, some do, some don’t - I can’t seem to figure out why. To the best of my knowledge the only key thing that affects the process is opening and saving out of Photoshop. If I don’t touch it there I can import/export out of Zbrush fine.

Can you give me something specific you would like me to test that might help clarify?

b

#9

I give up - I cannot figure this out. I ran into more trouble - the .bmp/.psd export/import flow stopped working. Completely removed and re-installed ZB3 and 3.1 update. For a while it was working fine - going back and forth exporting .bmp and .psd no problem and importing same. Then it just stopped. Saved the file once more out of ZB and then it wouldn’t import back.

I took a new texture and pushed it back and forth several times just changing random things in both Pshop and Zb and saving it out of both, and it worked fine. Then in Pshop I sized it up to 6K (res I was working on my texture) and voila - stopped working (couldn’t import in ZB). Even when resized back down to under 4K it still will not import.

What could I be doing wrong? I really cannot see what it could be.

b

#10

The most likely thing is that Photoshop’s auto-adjustment feature is changing the nature of the image when you import it into Photoshop. For example, it might be changing the image’s bit depth.

#11

I am unaware of any auto-adjustment that happens in Pshop without user involvement, but it is possible that something happens in the background. In any case, I have tried various bit depths and save options (with and without profile embedding etc.) all to no avail. I really do not think it is Photoshop though since no other program is having issues with the exact same file, nor is Zbrush on my other machine - at this point anyway.

I have done further testing and this problem simply doesn’t happen on my intel based machine. At first it seemed there was an issue with .bmp format, but that was just a corrupt file from a save error out of Zbrush on the opteron machine. I have reinstalled completely on the the opteron machine and it hasn’t helped at all.

It really seems to be some kind of glitch with software/hardware but I have no idea what to do about it.

b

#12

Could you zip up a sample file that you’re having trouble with and upload it here?

#13

Just searched for this thread because I can’t seem to import texture files from CS2 —> zBrush3.1 as well.

In photoshop: Saving them as 16bit .tif files. checked with:

Color:
ICC Profile: sRGB IEC61966-2.1
Image Compression:
NONE
Pixel Order:
Interleaved
Byte Order:
IBM PC

2048x2048;

#14

I’ve only been able to import a 8bit .psd texture file into zBrush3.1.
16bit/32bit files appear corrupted. (from cs2).

#15

That’s correct, only 8 bits per channel is supported for textures.

#16

I haven’t tried loading the other formats but when saving in bmp, after you do a “save as” choose “advanced modes” and select the 24bit R8 G8 B8. This works for me.