if i’m on matCapGray and import a material from disk, matCapGray is gone.
this happens with non-matCap mats too.
is this a known issue?
thanks!
r
meant to add:
using 4r2
importing via Material Palette, not lightbox
It’s not an issue. It’s how materials work.
There are a specific number of material slots in ZBrush. When you load a material, what you are actually doing is loading its attributes (modifiers and settings) – replacing those of the currently selected material. The number of material slots remains the same and in fact the index number of the material (which you can see next to the material name at the top of the palette) remains unchanged.
Put another way, you’re not adding a new material; you’re transforming the current one.
This change then affects everything on the canvas that makes use of that material index.
This is actually a very beneficial feature when you use it to your advantage. For example, you can paint your scenes with any and all materials that you want. If you then want to create special render passes, show just the geometry without color, create a normal map from the scene, etc. (there are MANY possibilities) all you have to do is save your document so that you have something to revert back to and then load specialized materials to replace those on the canvas. You’ll instantly have a new result without having to paint new materials. Planning ahead, you can create some really interesting results by replacing specific materials.
Now let’s say you don’t care about any of that and just want to load a new material without affecting what you’ve already got. No problem. Simply select a material you have no intention of using and then load the one you want. You’re now good to go.
thank you for the thorough explanation! more than i need to know at this point but good knowledge to have.
i’m not seeing the index number you referred to either on the thumbnail w/in the mat palette or next to the preview that appears when you hover over the thumbnail.
if i import on top of a material and realize later that i want that material back to it’s default state, how would i restore the settings? restart?
thanks again
r
friendly reminder