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Transparent Sub-Tools

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Following a tutorial in the Introducing Zbrush book and im having a little difficulty with using the imageplanex.ztl tool - hopefully someone can help.

The tutorial uses the imageplanex.ztl and the polysphere.ztl to create a base shape for a skull image, using a skull drawing that has been mapped onto the imageplane.ztl - with me so far?:slight_smile:

The tutorial uses the Sub-tools menu to select the polysphere and make it transparent to allow the imageplane to be visible through the polysphere while sculpting on the polysphere.

And thats where im having a problem.

When i select the polysphere in the Sub-tools menu and press the transp button the imageplane goes transparent, not the polysphere.

I can get the polyshere to go transparent BUT i cant use any tools on it - the tools affect the imageplane instead.

Can anyone offer any suggestions?
Its come up in conversation here as well.
http://209.132.96.165/zbc/showthread.php?p=498804&posted=1#post498804

http://209.132.96.165/zbc/showthread.php?p=498804&posted=1#post498804

#2

What do you do to get the sphere transparant? I know you said the tools affect the plane, but what do you do that is different from when the plane goes transparent?

As you said, post a blow by blow of what exactly you are doing, prefarabely not using th one from the tutorial as I don’t have it here. Then I will follow your step by step and compair results.

Cool?

#3

This is everything ive been doing so far, every click:

  • Initialize Zbrush
  • Load Tool > Imageplanex.ztl
  • Draw the Imageplanex.ztl tool on the canvas
  • Hit Edit and rotate the tool so i can see both sides of it
  • Texture > Import Texture > imageplanex.psd
  • Texture Map (in the Tool Menu) > Click the Texture Map window and select ImagePlanex

The Tool now has the texture mapped onto it correctly.

  • Load Tool > Polysphere.ztl
    The polysphere appears on the canvas
  • In the tool palette i select the imageplanex tool - it appears on the canvas in edit mode instead of the polysphere.
  • In the subtools section of the tool palette iclick the append button and select the polysphere tool. The Polysphere tool appears but is off axis to the imageplanex tool.
  • I select the polysphere tool in the sub palette, expand the deformation palette and click unify.

The imageplane and the polysphere are now on the same axis.

Now with the polysphere tool selected (i.e surrounded by a grey outline, text surrounded by black, eyeball icon visible) in the subtool palette IF i press the transp button the imageplanex becomes transparent NOT the polysphere.

IF i select the imageplanex tool in the sub tools palette and hit the transp button then the polysphere becomes transparent BUT i cant sculpt on the polysphere, only on the imageplanex tool.

Im very new so im sure im doing something really really obviously stupid but if someone could please point it out to me id be most gratefull!!

#4

Firstly, what version of ZB are you using? I dont have the Texture Map option in the Tool Menu. When I import the Image, it is already mapped to the plane.

Secondly, you need to apply the image to the plane, but going to Texture in the tool menu and clicking on Txr>Col (you need to have the plane selected and will have to Divide it some to avoid a fuzzy image).

Before you do all this though, can you try the proces of sub-tooling and transparancy without adding the texture, to see if that makes a difference?

#5

Im using version 3.12 on OSX running 10.5.5.

The Texture Map option is only in 3.12 afaik.
I didnt bother with mapping the skull image to the imageplane in the walkthrough i did because it wasnt having any affect on the result; i was just using the “Front/Back” imageplanex.psd

I just tried the excercise again without the textures and i have the same result. This has to be staring me in the face - ill try again in the morning and see what happens - Thanks for the help Gordon!

#6

Could be a bug with 3.12.

I’m on 3.1 on the PC so maybe that’s it.

#7

Gordon - seems its a mac thing:-(

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=498953&posted=1#post498953

#8

Hmm, sounds like they are looking at an opacity slider, rather than transparency. But hope you get it sorted.

#9

FYI this is a problem with the Mac version. I reported this to the spport team and this is the email they sent me.
This is an issue that our team is investigating. It’ll probably be corrected shortly in the update that we’re working on.

#10

Hey Stephen,

I came up with a workaround. (at least for the skull tutorial)

http://209.132.96.165/zbc/showpost.php?p=502186&postcount=4

paul