ZSpheres Question

[Dan_R]

I was just working up a kinda alien guy and liked what I had so far (I was in preview) … I decided to save the file.

1. The file i was still in now had the mesh and the Zhpere guy both. I was like hmmm.

2. So I decided to save the Zpheres object just in case … saved it as a tool.

3. opened the documant i saved but now its just a mesh in pixols … it seems.

4. opened new doc and loaded the Zpheres tool … but now it seems to behave like its all one object and not seperate ZShperes :(.

So … how do u save a Zpheres model in developement so that u can come back and work on it where you left off? (ie still in edit mode and acting like a fully modifiable ZSphere rigging)?

Is it possible … or do u have to finish all your work in one session?

Thanks in advance,

Dan

[aurick]

Did you save the ZSphere figure, or did you save a skin made from it?

If you saved the skin, that’s it. There’s no going back to ZSpheres. If you saved the ZSphere figure and you’re seing a mesh when you draw it on the screen then you can press A to deactivate the preview.

Hope that helps!

[Dan_R]

Hey Mathew,

Well … I had it in preview mode and save the project. When the save was done I had a mesh and the zSpears (both, on the screen at the same time … the mesh was a seperate object now).

I guess the question really just boils down to … if im working on a project in ZSp edit mode … how do I save it so I can come back and work on it later?

[SpaceMan]

DanR
I am new - I tried the zsphere tool and went into edit mode in transform created a simple zsphere and saved it as a tool - I re-loaded tool AND clicked in the edit transform and it work and begin zsphereing onto the created zsphere model I had saved as a ztool.
Hope this helps
SpaceMan

[Stonecutter]

I only save ZSphere tools, not meshes…
A ZSphere tool can be loaded and edited indefinitely, and if you make a good one, you can reuse it over and over, merely by loading it, posing it, and skinning it…
Before I make a skin, I turn off the preview and save my raw ZSphere as a ZTL. The only time I save a mesh is when it is finished.

[SpaceMan]

kinda on topic- Question about texture sizes for the zsphere models- every time I try to apply one I get the texture size is not large enough- what is the texture size(s)for zspheres.
TIA
SpaceMan

[Dan_R]

Thanks 4 the replies guys …

I guess ill try messing around abit more … I must not fully understand as im new

[Stonecutter]

Hey Spaceman…
There IS no texture size for ZSpheres…You can only texture the mesh that you get when you skin the ZSphere tool. The ‘Quicklinks’ at the top of the page is the place to find out about this, and other things about ZB…

[SpaceMan]

Thank you StoneCutter

[Dan_R]

For those who might run into a similar confusion … I figured out what was wrong.

When I imported the ZSp .ztl file into a new doc … the draw size is set to 64 by default and i forgot to set it back to 1 :).
So it was influencing the other stuff.

I still havent figure out why the symmetry tool seem to behave differently … but again its probably cause I’m new and dont fully understand something … yet.

[Bonecradle]

Just to clarify, you can sort of texture a zsphere model by doing so while it is in preview mode. Preview mode is a type of skinning I guess but it is reversible so you would still be saving just the zsphere model. (Note though that if you add zspheres (or in 1.55b if you move zspheres too much) after texturing you will change the mesh and therefore mess up your UVs and texture.)

As far as texture sizes for AUV tiled polymeshes (zsphere models included) goes, it all depends on how many polys the model has. The more you have the bigger your texture will need to be and this is especially the case if you want fine detail on your texture. I’d advise doing a test run for each texture to find the best size and the best AUV ratio (important if your model is made up of polygons of varying size). And always use a square texture; best are 1024x1024, 2048x2048 and 4096x4096.

[system]

So, I am new to the program and have been teaching myself as I go.
I created a Zshere armature with a Zsketch musculature over top of it, then posed the model and went to convert to a PolyMesh, but when I did the preview, the hands were blocked out and all the individual fingers and details on the hands were lost. I was wondering if there was a way to set it up so that when it gets converted to the PolyMesh that I don’t lose detail such as this, and is able to read the shapes as individuals?