ZBrushCentral

Subtool master - Merge and preserving UV's

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I used to use this feature a lot to merge subtools for import to another application, using the standard square UV map created by the “make Polymesh” button on an initialised Zbrush primitive. In the most recent couple of versions, I’ve noticed that if I merge subtools, my UV’s are being destroyed. Subtool master merge used to preserve the UV’s in each polygroup. Is there a way I can get this back? It happens regardless of whether Zbrush created the UV’s or I created them in another program which is actually quite a problem as my workflow uses Blender and there are limited GoZ options for Blender so I have to use merge and export .obj to transfer the models back and forth.

#2

Hi Iridescence,

Thanks for pointing this out. Unfortunately it’s not limited to SubTool Master as the plugin uses the MergeVisible option in the main SubTool menu. I will let the development team know about it.

In the meantime there may be a workaround. I need to test out a few things but I’ll post again here some time tomorrow.

#3

Thanks for the response Marcus, I appreciate it! :slight_smile: Hopefully there’s a workaround or a fix in the pipeline

#4

Hi Iridescence,

Sorry for the delay. I’m looking into adding this to SubTool Master for the next update. In the meantime, here is a little plugin that I think will do what you want.

Unzip and put the ZSC file in your ZStartup/ZPlugs. When you restart ZBrush there will be a new button calledMerge Visible +UVs in the ZPlugin>SubTool Master menu (the main interface menu, not the SubTool Master pop-up). You need to have SubTool Master installed.

Pressing the button should create a merged version of your subtools, appending it to the end of your subtool list. All the subtools should have UVs assigned - if any haven’t then planar UVs will be assigned for that subtool.

Let me know if this helps, and any problems you encounter.

#5

Thanks Marcus, that’s brilliant! Does exactly what I need :smiley: You’ve saved me a big ol’ headache!

#6

That’s great. :slight_smile: I forgot to say that subdivision levels are lost but I expect you noticed that. :wink:

#7

Oh I didn’t, but I usually merge on level 1 anyway so I doubt I ever would have noticed. Thanks for the heads up :slight_smile: