Zbrush 4R4 Problems: Shorten curve and inverted vertices

OccultMonk

Shorten Curves: In the Zbrush online manual I read that you can extend and shorten curves. I know how to extend curves but I haven't found a way to shorten drawn curves. This seams like an import feature to have.

Subtractive Meshes have inverted vertices when drawin out in Dynamesh. This makes it difficult to see how the meshes intersect. Why are the vertices displayed inverted for subtractive meshes? The same thing happend when I press alt on a mesh insert or mesh insert curve brush. The meshes will be displayed with inverted normals.

cryrid

Subtractive Meshes:

Enable Tool: Display Options: Double to see backfaces
or
Insert the Mesh as an additive, move it into place, and then use Tool: Polygroup: Group as Dynamesh Sub to turn it into a subtractive volume.

As for why they are displayed inverted, this is intended behavior to make it easy to tell if it's going to be subtractive or not.

Curve:

I'm not entirely sure as curves are still new for me. You could lock the start of the curve, move the end to where you want it (or vice versa), and then draw a new curve that would add to them. This should update the curve and get rid of the excess.

OccultMonk

I still can't find a way to shorten curves.

There are some other problems with ZBrush 4R4:

- Subtool --> List All (Does not have a letter sorting anymore). In previous versions you could type in a letter and only objects with that letter would appear.

- Delete meshes from IMM brush. Is there a way to delete a mesh from an existing IMM brush? You can append meshes, but I don't know how to dleete a mesh from an existing brush.

- TransposeSmartMask does not work anymore. This is a brush to select certain (flat) parts of the model.

- Retopo extract inwards instead of only outwards. After Retopo with the new retopo features the brush size determines the thickness of the extracted topology. Is it possible to extract the topology inwards instead of outwards. The subtool-->extract has an option to extract inwards. (The only way to extract inwards, that I could find was to create topology with no thickness (brushsize 1) and then do subtool-->extract to extract inwards.

- Stroke --> Curve Modifiers: Max Points does not seem to work? How should it be used?

OccultMonk

Is there a way to shorten or delete parts of curves in ZBrush that you have created with Frame Mesh?

cryrid

Draw some curves over the result in order to split it up a bit, then alt+draw curves over the segments you want to remove.

OccultMonk

Thanks!!!!

But that only seems to work for the Topo Guides, Not for the IMM Brushes that use curves. After I have used 'Frame Mesh' I want to delete parts of the automatically created curves.

cryrid

Zbrush doesn't store different curves for different brushes. If you make changes with the guide brush, those changes will apply to any insert brushes that have curve mode enabled.

OccultMonk

There isn't a specific Guide Brush? I tried it out with the Topology Guides brush and it worked.

TROGLODYTE

Do the following in one stroke without letting go of the left mouse button: If you left-click drag on ANY end point and drag it INTO the body of the curve, THEN hold shift AS you continue the one stroke INTO the body of the curve, it will SHORTEN the length of the curve while at the same time it will smooth out the kinks.
In fact, you can use this method to shorten the length of an Insert Mesh Curve brush from any point along the curve.

OccultMonk

TROGLODYTE Thanks, It's new in Zbrush 2018.