ZBrushCentral

SubTool BUG Please Help

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I am giving zbrush trial a try and was working on a zspere model. Got my mesh looking good then went to make the eyes and added them to the subtool menu, but the subtool menu is messed up. For example. I have the mesh and the eyes layered in the subtol menu. Eyes are on top, mesh is on the bottom. When I click on the eyes it highlights the layer for a second and then goes right back to the mesh. No matter how many times I try it wont stay on the Eyes.:mad: Always drops right back down to the mesh.
I thought It might be a fluke so I loaded the generic soldier model because he has lots of layers in the subtool menu. It was no fluke, As soon as the soldier is loaded it cycles down through all the layer to the very bottom layer. :cry:
I have tried everything to get this to work. Even poped off my down arrow key and even reformated my computer. Still nothing. Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

Oh by the way. I don’t think my down arrow key is stuck because its working just fine right now while I’m typing this out.

#2

Are you possibly accidentally holding Ctrl+Shift while you click on the model? That is the shortcut key to select the clicked-on SubTool.

#3

No , not at all. I dont push anything. When I start zbrush I will click on the demo
soldier and as soon as you see him apperar on the screen it starts moving down through all the layers untill it gets to the bottom one.
I installed on my desktop computer and it worked fine. The on my laptop is were the trouble is happening. I’m running Service Pack 3 (SP3). Do you think that could have something to do with it? My desktop only has SP2.

#4

It’s probably something relating to the background apps that are running on your laptop. Try disabling all unnecessary startup programs and see what happens.

#5

Well I pretty much disabled everything that had my name next to it in the task manager processes. Then uninstalled everything I could in the"Add or Remove Programs" Got ride of all service packs, just to try that out. Still nothing. I started a ticket in Support ,but nothing back from them yet. Just says statues Escalated…? I dont no what else the problem could be…

#6

just by chance you don’t have a wacom tablet running? cause this has happend to me, and with a search its something wrong with their drivers. if you don’t then i’m sorry and hope it works out. sounds like a hardware issue though.

#7

I have that Bamboo Walcom Tab, but since I reformatted my computer and reinstalled Zbrush I haven’t used it.

#8

FYI!!!
This is the response I got back from Support.

Have you made any modifications to the ZData folders in your ZBrush installation? Any changes to the ZData folders can corrupt your installation and result in unwanted behavior.

Have you installed any plugins? If so, try double-clicking to launch ZBrush and then immediately hold Shift until ZBrush finishes loading. This disables plugins. Does the problem then disappear? If so, one of your plugins is to blame.

You might also try installing a utility called End-It-All. This program shuts down all nonessential processes in Windows. That will ensure that it’s not some sort of program incompatibility causing the issue. Don’t do this until you’ve elminated the other possibilities, though.

The SHIFT Trick Totally Worked.:smiley: Now to find out what caused the problem.

#9

I’m glad to know it’s one of the plugins you have installed. Start looking with the ones that aren’t listed in the Download Center. And of course make sure that even with those you have the most current version installed. If you downloaded from ZBC rather than the Download Center it’s possible you got an earlier version that’s not compatible with Z3.

#10

In one of your previous posts in this thread you explain that you have the demo installed on a desktop (where the subtool scroll works as expected) and a laptop (where the subtool scroll has the stuck-down-arrow-like problem you describe).

It would seem logical that the first thing to do would be to look for WHAT IS DIFFERENT BETWEEN THESE TWO INSTALLS.

If the list of plugins you have installed in the Startup\ZPlugs folder is EXACTLY THE SAME on both machines… that would tend to imply it’s NOT a plugin problem.

Still, the success you had using the “SHIFT TRICK” when booting ZBrush really is pretty good evidence that you have a plugin problem. So, the next step would seem to be removing the plugins (files with .zsc extensions) one at a time from the Startup\ZPlugs folder until the subtool functionality returns to normal… or conversely, removing all the plugins and then reintroduce them to the ZStartup\ZPlugs folder one at a time until the subtool functionality goes back to its problematic behavior.

If, you manage to isolate the offending Plugin, I (as one of the few remaining CONTRIBUTORS OF NON-SANCTIONED PLUGINS) would be very interested to hear the name of the offending Plugin and any additional info you might be able to share about how you resolved this problem. The thing is, when newbie users post problems (Especially in threads with the word BUG in the title) it often turns out to be something that is totally unrelated to Plugins, or improperly installed Plugins or Plugins improperly installed in the ZData\ZPlugs folder (a definite no-no) or something removed from the ZData\ZPlugs folder (also a definite no-no). And guess what? More often than not, once it is solved the person forgets to share what fixed the problem.

I guess all I’m really requesting is some kind of definitive feedback from you when and if you get your laptop - subtool “BUG” resolved. If it turns out to be a problem with some Plugin, post the name of the offending Plugin and where you got it (was it out of date?, was it from some site other than ZBCentral? What is the link where it can be found?) And explain the steps you used in narrowing your search to the problem plugin.

Otherwise, you’ll be contributing to that vague cloud of doubt (and innuendo) hanging over ALL THE NON-SANCTIONED PLUGINS that have been posted here over the years. And that is simply not fair to those scripters who work so hard on the plugins, scripts, tutorials and tips which they’ve contributed to the forum. As marcus_civis (and other scripters) have demonstrated over and over again, plugin problem-solving depends to a large degree on intelligent, precise feedback from the plugin users who are having these problems.

Thanks, Sven

#11

Sven-
Your right I am a newbie to Zbrush and maybe “BUG” was to strong of a word. Sorry if I offended anyone with that little word. I am however not a newbie to graphic and 3d software and when I install a program and it doesn’t work right out of the box. On a clean reformatted computer I would say that it is definetly a “BUG”.

I have planed on sharing my info with everyone. Don’t worry.:wink: The only thing is after I reformatted my computer I only installed the Zbrush trial and nothing else and the problem was still there.
So unless the trial comes with a plugin, I never installed one. I did however install the Master Subtool Plug after a bunch of try’s with no luck ,just thinking by some chance that might fix it.
Anyways, I will compare the file on my desktop with the file on my laptop and let you know what I find. It will probably be over the weekend though. Don’t have time to do it right now.

Sevn , Thank you for helping me out with the next step. I appreciate your help. That was pretty much the same thing Support told me today. Compair the files to find out the problem.

#12

So I went to open zbrush again and didn’t do the Shift trick this time to see what would happen and it worked? So… now I really don’t know what was causing the problem. I was able to use the Master subtool plug too, so I dont think my plugins were turned off. So I don’t know? Its working just fine now , I guess thats all that matters. :smiley:

#13

Nevermind:cry: I went to open zbrush when I got home today and the problem was back. Checked the zdata file and all the rest of the files with my working desktop zbrush and they were exactly the same. Even the shift trick wont work now. I’m at a loss. I have no idea why it was working last night but not today. I swear i didn’t do anything different. This thing is driving me nuts.
I would like to get this program ,but Think I better hold off for z4 and see if i have the same problem. If anyone has any other ideas please let me know.
PS I also downloaded the End It All application that was recommended by support and still did not work…

#14

Can you try a different keyboard? That would at least rule out a sticky key as a possibility. I get exactly this behaviour if I hold down the down arrow, or switch off Num Lock and hold 2 on the NumPad.

#15

have you restarted and it still happens? also as i said about the tablet, you said you have one, but didn’t say if its plugged in, if so, try ending all the wacom process in task manager.
i too think its keyboard related.

#16

Yeh I restarted about 10 times and did a system restore to the time and date that the program was working. I also think it has to be keyboard related,but It just doesn’t make sence to me that it worked Wed. and now its not working.

#17

Everything you’re describing makes it increasingly likely that the issue is something related to the computer rather than to ZBrush. You should think about using the Task Manager to make two lists. One is the processes that are running at the time that the problem is happening. The other is of course the processes that are running when you’re not having the problem. It’s very possible that you’ll be able to narrow it down to just a few processes that are potentially to blame. From there you can check to see exactly what they are and if ending one of them then makes the problem disappear.

#18

can’t you just unplug your keyboard while the computer is running and use the mouse? that would let you know immediately.
also another test, simple one, open your internet browser or a text document that is very long and requires scrolling, highlight a word of text and see if it does it.
and if it is your keyboard don’t try to make sense of it, a piece of dirt moved inside, mosture/humidy, age too many factors to consider.

#19

spaceboy412- Cant unplug keyboard on my laptop. Hate using my desktop because its really old. Guess I’ll have to though. I’ve tried the notepad cursor test and the keyboard works just fine. Even while I’m writing this out.

Aurick- I install the “End it All” application that terminates all background apps that are running.This was recommended by support. Still nothing.

Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks for trying to help guys I appreciate it.:wink: In all my years as a computer NERD I’ve never came across a problem I couldn’t figure out or get help to figure it out, but I think this one has beat me. LOL

#20

If you plug an auxiliary keyboard into your laptop, that should disable the laptop’s keyboard which should tell you if there is a problem with the laptop’s keyboard, dontcha think?

Do you have a windows keyboard macro utility running in background? If so, maybe the down arrow key is programmed somehow so it wants to repeat?

Is there a Wacom tablet plugged into your laptop? If so do you have any of the tablet’s express keys programmed? Have you created any custom wacom tablet profiles specifically for the ZBrush app? If so, you might try unloading those.

Is it fair to assume that you have tested all your other software on the laptop and those exhibit no similar “stuck-down-arrow-key” symptoms?

TRY THIS: In Preferences menu you will find, under the Misc submenu, a slider (2nd one down in Misc) that is identified as View Keyboard Status. Drag the Preferences Menu into the left or right side Panel with the Misc submenu opened so you can watch that slider.

When you press various keys, you will see the slider’s value change. Watch that value - it should change to 255 when you press the down-arrow key.

If you press other keys, and it snaps back to 255, you must have something running on your laptop that is simulating a repeating, down-arrow keypress…

(Note that this is different from a physically stuck key, as you can see by simply holding down the down-arrow key while pressing various other keys - the new numbers supersede a continuously pressed down-arrow key. The number doesn’t automatically jump back to 255.)

Other than those suggestions I can’t imagine what you’ve got going on. still, thousands of other users have installed ZBrush without this symptom (even you… on your desktop :slight_smile: ). So it’s pretty certain that it’s NOT ZBrush causing the problem.

Actually, it’s all rather mystical. :frowning:

Sven