Hi
Just wondering if this is common to 2019 that we cannot open the ztl in previous versions.
or whether something else is preventing it?
That would be business as usual with a major ZB release. Because upgrades have always been free, older versions are generally not officially supported, and new versions save data that relates to newer features that older versions have no way of understanding.
Why can’t it just update ?I don’t need 3 versions of Zbrush on my machine. I want the one that works best. It appears all of my hotkeys are lost as well.WTF. I would suggest that Zbrush make it easier to use rather than adding more features. It is one of the most crack head interfaces on the planet.
They dont want you to have three versions of the program on your system either, which is why upgrades are free for registered users, and they dont support obsolete versions.
You should only ever have the most up to date version of the program. If something isn’t working for you on that version that did previously, then that’s an issue support needs to be notified of, so that they can fix it on the current version, not waste time supporting outdated versions.
If upgrades to new versions cost money and not everyone could transition to the new version, then supporting previous versions for some period of time would be a valid concern. As it is, there is very little reason for most users not to upgrade.
That said, if bugfixes and new features are not a motivation for you to upgrade, then there’s nothing preventing you from using a previous version that suits you, until such time as it stops functioning due to OS changes. Just dont expect to work back and forth between the official program version and an obsolete one.
Thanks for the response.
I cannot find any documentation which says if you install this update then your saves will not be backward compatible.
It caused much frustration here, as we have multiple artists which we work with sending Ztools back and forward.
As a studio we upgrade and then we find out the ztls`s do not open in the other artists or clients package.
This is all the more problematic when functionality of the newest version brakes key workflow components such as Noise maker crashing when changing values, the layer system slider broken etc
This leads to considerable downtime and troubleshooting our end with deadlines never changing .
It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me to wish for a prominent reminder with every update that they’re not backwards compatible, and to never change your tools in the middle of a project. There are things long term users might take for granted that newer users may not.
I cannot find any documentation which says if you install this update then your saves will not be backward compatible.
It’s on page 20 of the ‘ZBrush_2019_whats_new.pdf’ that’s included in the Documentation folder of the update. This is listed on the first page of the Table of Contents.
I think this is a pretty common occurrence in many programs, especially when newer versions begin to change the way data is saved (for example, Tool’s in 2019 must now included Subtool Folder data that didn’t exist in prior versions, and projects can store a wider range of newer additions as well such as new filters and render options).
It is good advice (in ANY project, not just zbrush related) to:
-
Always keep the previous version installed if possible (which for zbrush it is ) in case you do run into a major issue with the latest version. I usually keep it around for a few months until I know the latest version is stable.
-
Don’t overwrite your save files from previous versions, especially if you don’t have any Subversion client / revision control system in place.
-
Avoid updating software to new versions in the middle of a project when deadlines are a concern, especially if upgrading means you’d be on a different version than your client. I only upgrade if I know I can keep both versions and if I can export the work I need to a format supported by both versions (like obj).
Thanks for the link to the page.
I must have missed it during the last update.
And thanks for the tips , although number 3 is always tricky as we are always in the middle of a job!! 