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zGuides: Any possibility to save or reuse them?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello,
I have a quite complicated Dynamesh project.
I often return to Dynamesh, to improove detail works, and each time after Dynameshing I need to of course to remesh it again.

I did now several times the same many zGuides, I have also stored an older version of the same model with all that zGuides, but I would like to reuse the same zGuides on my latest version.

Any possibility or trick to transfer them to the new mesh?

The topology of the new model has changed (removed hair parts, hand, sculpted details), but the way the zGuides must be done is exactly the same (and the places where the zGuides lie the mesh didn’t change).

Thanks…

p.s. the reason, why I remesh it often, is that I have to export it, work in Maya and Mari and at a later stage I know where I have again to improove scultping details.

#2

I think you should be able to do it like this:

  1. You need to save the mesh with the guides as a ZTL file. Press the Tool>Save As button and save it to disk. The guides will be saved with the file.
  2. To load in the guides, load the ZTL you saved by pressing Tool>Load Tool and selecting the file.
  3. With the mesh-with-guides still selected, press Tool>SubTool>Insert and pick the mesh you want to apply the guides to from the pop-up. This will add that mesh immediately below the mesh-with-guides. (This will only work this way around. If you try to insert or append the mesh-with-guides, the guides are lost.)
  4. Turn on Move mode so that the Gizmo shows and move the mesh-with-guides well out of the way. This is so you can see and select it more easily. The guides will stay put and not be moved.
  5. Press Tool>SubTool>Merge Down to merge the two subtools.
  6. Turn on polyframes. If both meshes are the same color, press Tool>Polygroups>Auto Groups. Then Shift+Ctrl+click on the mesh you want to apply the guides to (the Dynameshed one). The original mesh-with-guides will be hidden.
  7. Press Tool>Geometry>Modify Topology>Del Hidden.

You should now have the guides applied to your Dynameshed mesh and can proceed with ZRemeshing.

HTH,

#3

Great, many thanks, it worked :slight_smile: