Render to Keyshot Overrides Image Aspect Ratio and Resolution

[artmaker]

When using Keyshot bridge, the keyshot image aspect ratio and resolution are overridden with the Zbrush document size/aspect ratio.

On the Keyshot side i have tried locking aspect, locking resolution, locking image settings, but to no avail.

Is there a way to stop Zbrush from sending the document size/aspect settings?

Not sure if this is a pixologic or Luxion issue. I’ve searched Keyshot forum and found no answers there.

This happened sometimes with previous versions of both zbrush and ks. Now it is constant and just grinds the system to a halt when it resizes the ks preview window to the zbrush size and aspect.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

Keyshot 10.0 pro
Zbrush 2021.5
Macbook Pro, Mojave 10.14.6

[artmaker]

I still need help but I found a Keyshot forum that says the resizing is a behavior requested by Pixologic. Examples included below.

Per Keyshot forum admin:
“We looked at this and apparently the current behavior is intended and has in fact been requested by Pixologic.*
The behavior hasn’t changed since KeyShot 5 either, by the way.*
If you want this changed, then your best bet will be to yank Pixologic’s chain.”

https://forum.keyshot.com/index.php?topic=25636.msg107836#msg107836

Is there a way to shut this resizing off? The zbrush sculpting document size, aspect and resolution (at least in my case) usually have no relation to the Keyshot render aspect and preview size. And as I mentioned, a large zbrush document size almost freezes up the keyshot live preview (and wrecks the aspect ratio and model position).

This is almost unusable.
Examples below.

1. Zbrush sculpt. 2019x1152px document size. Render to keyshot.
   

   

2. Composed the scene in Keyshot: Added an image backplate. Set a 1:1 aspect and a small but manageable 800x800 px preview size.
   

   

3. Returned to zbrush. I did not even touch the model. Then re rendered to Keyshot.
   Keyshot scene and interface are now all messed up:

• Moved the model wrt the backplate
• resized the realtime preview window to 1256x1256 (this brings my cpu to its knees)
  For some reason it preserved the aspect ratio in this case despite both aspect and resolution “locked” in keyshot.
  
  

Help please.
Thanks

[zber2]

Hi @artmaker

I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but have you tried making the ZBrush Document size the same size that you are using in Keyshot? Forgive me if I’m missing the point here.

[artmaker]

Thanks @zber2 and good question. But I generally compose the keyshot image very differently than the zbrush workspace. And I play with different backgrounds and aspect ratios. Back and forth between zbrush and the keyshot preview. I set the final larger keyshot resolution when i render the image.

And the zbrush document size is usually much higher resolution than my cpu can handle in keyshot’s live preview – almost freezes my mac. Just resetting the preview size takes minutes of painful laggy clicks and drags.

I suspect I am missing a simple setting here. This is so bad, I cant imagine people living with this.

[PixoPaul]

Do you have Send Document Color on in the Render>External Renderer menu?

[PixoPaul]

actually I just noticed your using a back plate in Keyshot. when using a back plate in Keyshot the render resolution will be set by the back plate resolution. Turn that back plate off and you should get your render size you want back.

[artmaker]

@PixoPaul
Thanks for the inputs. No, I don’t have Document Color set.

I am going a bit crazy. I can’t get keyshot (even older revisions) to behave like i am used to.
Backplate or no backplate, even with a locked camera (and locked aspect and resolution), when sending a new BPR from ZB, the KeyShot live Preview render is reset to look like the Zbrush document (including the zbrush camera angle). This completely blows the carefully composed Keyshot scene.

I’m really confused since I cant recreate the old behavior of workflow:

• BPR to keyshot
• setting up the scene in Keyshot (aspect, backplate (or not), materials, lights, model placement wrt KS ground, etc)
• Jumping back to zbrush as needed to modify / add models. This usually involves moving / zooming the model without keyshot concern.
• BPR to keyshot without changing everything

Is there an import preference set improperly?

It even resets Keyshot’s Camera Focal Length based on Zbrush (which is a nice feature if you are trying to render exactly what you see in zbrush )
Not sure why lock camera and lock aspect don’t help.

Thank you

[PixoPaul]

ZBrush does not send document but since the universal camera was added it will send that camera but ZBrush will not do anything to Keyshot resolution.

I would recommend creating a ticket on support.pixologic.com so we can do more checking on your system.

Did you try it with lock aspect ratio off?

What camera are you selecting when in Keyshot? There will be two cameras now. One will be ZBrush and the other will be a Keyshot camera.

[artmaker]

@PixoPaul

THAT’S IT! TURN OFF ZBRUSH UNIVERSAL CAMERA !

since the universal camera was added it will send that camera but ZBrush will not do anything to Keyshot resolution

This is excellent! I can see how in some cases keeping the Zbrush view and the Keyshot view identical is a great feature, but when composing the “photography” in keyshot and using zbrush for tweaking the models, it ruins everything.

And “resolution” may have been a poor term. Zbrush sends the document size and aspect to the Keyshot live preview window. Blowing up the scene, grinding my machine to a halt as it tries to live preview render a huge image as well as no longer fitting the backplate.

And yes, aspect lock had no effect.

UNIVERSAL CAMERA OFF (leaves the keyshot scene, ks camera, aspect and preview size in tact)

---

UNIVERSAL CAMERA ON (Makes the KS live-preview size match the zb doc size (huge in this case) and changes the camera view, focal length, etc.

SO, this all works. I will just turn off the Universal Camera when I want to keep the keyshot scene.

THANK YOU!!!

[artmaker]

Here is am ASK ZBRUSH video that describes how to turn on and off this function