ZBrushCentral

BUG: unable to orbit mesh in move/scale/rotate mode (repro steps within)

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Steps to reproduce:

  • Init ZBrush (or open)
  • Document->Import a PSD as a backdrop/reference. in my case it’s the exact dimensions as my startup zdoc.
  • draw a zsphere
  • enter edit mode (T)
  • draw another zsphere on the previous one
  • enter move/rotate/scale mode and be amazed as the ‘camera’ does not orbit the zspheres, they simply move around, rotate, or scale- no matter where you click. right mouse button, left mouse button… either behave as if you are clicking on the zsphere you just created.
  • enter draw mode (Q) to regain the ability to orbit your mesh.

BONUS:

  • draw another zsphere on the previous one
  • enter Adaptive preview mode (A)
  • enter Perspective mode §
  • observe bizarre inverted polys, and extremely out of scale proportions. it may look like it has disappeared, but it’s extremely tiny and the normals look flipped.

Kind of surprised that this one slipped past the beta testers… i found it within 20 minutes of using Z4. It’s worth noting that this bug does not occur unless you import the PSD as a reference document. Drawing a zsphere in default ‘zbrush mode’ does not yield the same result.

#2

also- you will continue to have this same behavior with your ZTool for the entire life of your ZBP file. If you save the ZTL, and then reimport it into a new document without the background reference PSD, you can once again use perspective mode and orbit while in M/S/R mode.

I also just tested it with a JPG and BMP, so it doesn’t seem to be related to a PSD. The same thing happens with any type of imported image as your document.

#3

i cant duplicate…

#4

i’ll post a video demonstration later… i’ve tried it on four completely different machines and it happens on all of them. 100% reproducible.

#5

here you go:

http://www.ldsmith.info/temp/zorbit_bug.swf

#6

I think what you are seeing is due to two things:

a) Filling the background.
b) Importing an image through the document palette.

a) ZSpheres can be drawn directly on to a surface such as another subtool, or the filled background. This is intended behaviour as it enables you to quickly draw onto another mesh (for example for rigging). In Move mode you can freely move the selected ZSphere. To move or rotate the whole mesh you have only to click outside the canvas border. This is exactly the same behaviour as in ZBrush 3.5.

b) The imported image is placed at the furthest zdepth from the viewer. Any 3D object drawn on the canvas will be placed at the same depth and this seems to have unexpected results with perspective. You can avoid the issue by filling the canvas (Ctrl+F) before importing the image. Thanks, I will mention the issue to the development team.

#7

if moving zspheres freely no matter where you click is intended behavior- then why does it only happen when you’ve imported an image as your document?

I’m assuming that on some level importing an image is basically just some sort of macro operation that creates a plane, applies the image as a texture, and then drops it to the canvas? seems like an odd way to do it, though i guess for the 2.5d painting side of things, it needs some sort of ‘base depth’ to work from.

#8

Only could check this out with 3.5 for the moment, not sure if it’s the same.

Click on Zsphere> Clear Canvas> Import image through Document> Drag Zsphere onto canvas- Don’t not go into Edit Mode yet! Select Move from Transform menu. Drag away from the canvas so the Zsphere comes out in front of the image in the background. Click on T to go into edit mode.

To change the camera absolute orientation to Zsphere model after you’ve added more Zspheres to the parent Zsphere. Click on either Move or Scale in the Transform menu> Click on the Zsphere where you want to camera to orient to. Enter back into edit mode. Works for adaptive skin mode as well.

I can’t watch the SWF file. So I’m not sure if my idea of what you are trying to do is right, sorry if I’m out of my element. Just trying to help.

#9

i think maybe we’re talking about different things- i’m talking about normal ‘camera’ orientation, not rotating the mesh.

At any rate, based on Marcus’ comment, it appears that this is normal (albiet inconsistant) behavior. The perspective/out of whack issue seems to be a legitimate bug, however.

I’ve tested your layer->fill workaround marcus, and it does indeed work. I’ll be using that until a proper fix is implemented. Thanks for the heads up.

#10

It doesn’t. If you append a ZSphere as a subtool then you’ll see the same behaviour, providing Ghost transparency is off. The effect won’t be there if you click the background but that’s because there is no surface there.

I’m assuming that on some level importing an image is basically just some sort of macro operation that creates a plane, applies the image as a texture, and then drops it to the canvas? seems like an odd way to do it, though i guess for the 2.5d painting side of things, it needs some sort of ‘base depth’ to work from.

No, importing an image through Document>Import is different from filling the canvas with a texture. Neither use a plane. The technology has been there from the start, when ZBrush was primarily an illustration software.