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merge subtool problem

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Sorry, my english very poor. I’m from Russia ;).

I use learning DVD “Eat3D - ZBrush 3.5 - A Comprehensive Introduction” (http://eat3d.com/zbrush35_intro ) for understand Zbrush 3.5. Lesson 09 Subtools.
Author, Michael Pavlovich, make following (image below)
[eat3d.jpg]my_subd.jpg

2 subtools (PM3D)

  1. First subtool - 3 subd. levels.
  2. Second subtool - 3 subd. levels.
  3. Press “Merge Visible” button.
  4. I have new Tool “Merged PM3D_***”. No any subd level.
  5. ???

It bug with my PC or ZBR. Anybody have similar problem?
Thanks.

#2

I’ve had this happen from time to time.

Not a big deal.

Tool>geometry>reconstruct lower SubD

that will bring them back for you. The important thing is that you had equal subD levels with both subtools.

#3

goast666, ty. Its work. but not with all tools. wait zb4.

#4

I am having the same issue - it seems to work fairly well for me when I have less than 5 subdivs, but never has worked with over 5.

Example:

Have a subtool with two clumps of polygroups, each clump has approximately 20 polygroups (wrist guard for each arm) and I need to separate this single subtool into two subtools for ease of manipulation, tumbling, masking and ultimately higher subdivisions for detailing). After group splitting, I have tried merging visible at the highest and lowest level of subdivision as well as deleting lower at the highest level of subdivisions and I ALWAYS get the same error message when I attempt to Reconstruct Subdiv “Reconstruction result: Unable to reconstruct lower subdiv-level. operation canceled.”

Any ideas?

#5

I have done a few tests and it seems to work each time for me not based upon the number of subdivs, but on the subdiv I am on at the time of merging.

Example:

If my model has 8 subdivs, I can successfully save 7 levels of subdiv if I am on level 7 when I export - I only lose the top level. When I have 7, I only lose the top one if I export at level 6, but if I export at the top level I am unable to reconstruct once I am over 5 levels of subdivision. Seems this is likely not the way it was intended to work so it is probably a bug they know about and are working to fix. I am willing to work with just losing the top level - much better than starting over - still would be nice if this was fixed in the next update.

#6

Well, after further testing it seems that it is totally random - I normally find that in the end it is usually user error once I find a solution, but I am doing the exact same thing and getting different results each time so … /shrug … help? lol.

#7

Ran into another problem with merge visible today that should be listed here.

Sometimes the polygroups are reordered randomly when I do a merge visible. If they kept their integrity this would not be a major problem normally, but if the sometimes tedius work has been done to create creases based off polygroups the crease will be gone and if work was done at a higher level all work will have to be trashed and the model taken back down to level 1 to be recreased and then worked back up - of course there are other ways to get the details back such as reproject, etc. but it is just a pain to have to constantly be redoing work you already did because of what seems to be a bug.

Another problem is when it reorders the polygroups completely randomly - such as a poly in the middle of a flat face gets its own assigned poly group and this happens all over the model - then all polygrouping work has to be redone.

#8

Yep happened to me as well, that’s why i only use Subtool Master for merging these days :wink:

#9

Thanks for the tip - I did not realize the two tools handled the geometry differently - will explore the STMaster method.

#10

Yep - worked like a charm - and I love the delete extra subtool function - very nice - thanks much.

#11

It seems the polygroup reordering takes place at split rather than merge so I am still searching for a way to avoid this - the merging using the SubTool Master version of this tool works awesomet though.

Anyone have a solution for the polygroup reordering from group split?

#12

After further testing I have found the folllowing using the SubTools Master > Merge:

  1. When merging subtols that are very similar in geometry the division levels are retained regardless of the number of levels
  2. When merging subtools that are not similar in geometry the divisions levels are not retained in most cases

The same is true when attempting a Reconstruct Subdiv - if they are similar it works - if not it does not unless you break them up into individual tools, but then again you loose the levels if you combine them.

So, I have had to greatly increase the number of subtools due to this because, once they are broken apart, I have yet to find a reliable way to return tools into a single subtool.

#13

Good idea. Maybe it works.