ReTopology trouble - importing OBJ as topology mesh?

[system]

hi all
So I’m trying to retopologize a zbrush sculpt I started with zspheres, and zbrush’s retopology tools are really bugging me, so I wondered if I could take the half done topology mesh, export it to maya and do my modeling there, then import it back as the final topology.
But for some weird reason when I import it back and click Select Topology under Tools > Topology, the new mesh is always a bit smaller than the original.
I checked the export scale, it is 1, and I havn’t touched the scaling in maya.
Any ideas on why this is happening?

I also tried scaling and moving the zsphere for the retopo to have it match the original model, but after I"m done and click Edit Topology, it snaps the topo mesh back to the size that it was imported at, WEIRD>

[aurick]

You were probably scaling and moving the object on the canvas, which only affects is world coordinates. That doesn’t affect the underlying local coordinate system. In short, you’re affecting the instance of the object rather than the object itself.

To truly move or scale an object you need to use the deformation menu. You might try using Tool>Deformation>Unify on both the original and the new versions of the mesh. This will convert them to be the same scale.

[system]

whoa, thanks for replying so far, I’ll try your suggestion out,
meanwhile, do you know why the scales are different in the first place?

Here are the exact steps I took:

zspheres > convert to polymesh3d and sculpt

make a zsphere, select the sculpture with “Select Mesh” under “Rigging”

Create the retopology mesh

Make an adaptive skin at Density level 1

Export adaptive skin mesh to OBJ

Edit OBJ in maya, tweak verts, some extrusions, delete half, mirror, export another obj

Import new OBJ back into zbrush

Go back to the zsphere retopology, delete current topology, select newly imported OBJ as topo

and this is where the scale difference appears.

EDIT: Now it’s not letting me select a diff topo mesh at all, I wonder, do the 2 meshes need to have the same number of points for this to work?

[system]

You were probably scaling and moving the object on the canvas, which only affects is world coordinates. That doesn’t affect the underlying local coordinate system. In short, you’re affecting the instance of the object rather than the object itself.

To truly move or scale an object you need to use the deformation menu. You might try using Tool>Deformation>Unify on both the original and the new versions of the mesh. This will convert them to be the same scale.

hi Aurick, I tried your tip, now it works pretty well.
I was getting a problem where the adaptive skin doesn’t show up at all, but then I found out it can’t be inside the zbrush mesh whatsoever, has to be completely enclosing to work.
So thanks.

Now do you know why the retopo tool is so buggy for me?
Half the time it gives me weird missing faces when I preview, and i have to delete and re-add a bunch of lines in different orders to get lucky for it to work.
Am I doing something wrong or is that just the way it is?