How to turn of the tool's Ghost mode

[JTG]

Extremely misleadingly, a lot of questions are asked about “how to make tool transparent” in the sense that people want to see a reference image. My Zbrush, as has been for the past few weeks, keeps doing unnecessarily convoluted things that are not easily solved by popular info. on the internet.

My issue is described in the screenshot - I create some basic object in Rhino 3d and then import it into Zbrush to sculpt. However, Zbrush keeps doing things that constantly go in the opposite direction of intuitive - here, it’s weirdly transparent.

If you look at the tool closely, you’ll notice the “face” or the “surface” of the obejct (a ring in this case) is completely invisible and I can only see the other side, which is the inner shank of the ring.

Some have said prefereneces → draw → fiddle with transparency, but this had no effect at all to my problem. Some said go to Display properties → turn off BPR transparency option but again, not a solution. Still in this unnecessarily useless ghost mode. I tried “visibility” but again, the name of this menu is rather deceptive and seems to have no option that has to do with visibility.

Sorry but it’s just extremely frustrating that it’s not about my sculpting skills, but that the UI is so very bad and I can’t even get started. Zbrush keeps doing things that’s not called for at all and messes things up. How can I just…have a “normal” view and “normally” start sculpting? Is there no way to get a solid view of an imported object???

[zber2]

Hi @JTG

The normals are facing the wrong way. Every 3D application will have a way to indicate which way the normals are facing, mostly with a menu selection. This is just the way that ZBrush does it. It is immediately showing you that they are facing the wrong way. To flip the normals, go to “Tool > Display Properties” and click on “Flip” button to solve it.

Sorry that you are getting frustrated by the way ZBrush works. I would agree that it is a unique bit of software but like most applications, there is a learning curve. It’s just a matter of getting used to it. Trust me, it will become much easier in time. ZBrush is after all the industries leading 3D sculpting application. I would highly recommend that you check out the links that I placed below as a starter to get a better understanding of how ZBrush works. Search Youtube for tutorials on how to use ZBrush and, you can always come here if you get stuck.

Intro to ZBrush - Part 1
Intro to ZBrush - Part 2
Intro to ZBrush - Part 3

[JTG]

Hi @zber2

Thanks a lot for giving me a solution - that did indeed fix it…for the most part.
However, when I take a closer look into the model, I realised that the details are still weird and it shows the “flipped” or transparent version of what it’s supposed to be.

Now, I’m more used to Rhino, so I intend to model the basics of a model in said Rhino and import that into ZBrush to polish up or sculpt out organic features (say, like brush strokes or feather type designs) which is near impossible or hyper hectic in Rhino.

Is there no way to fix this if it’s welded in to the base model from the start? Do I need to import parts separately as subtools? Yeah, I understand that the sheer amount of people using Zbrush and their outputs are a testament to how, in the end, it’s currently the best in the industry…it’s just that it’s not designed to (in my view) welcome new users with open arms, but I suppose it is the price to pay when you want to get better at something. I’ll hang in the best I could. Appreciate it.