zbrush mask by AO problem

NAIMA

Hello , whenever I click on Mask by AO on a model I sculpted , decimated etc the Zbrush program gets stuck with the icon keeping stay in the "processing" look ...

So the Zbrush is stuck forever and I have to alt canc and quit the program ... this happens every time with every model ... is there something wrong ? a bug or perhaps I am doing the wrong thing?

I wanted to use this with polypainting ...

nufftalon

How dense is the mesh you are trying to mask? Maybe you could try decimating it or selecting a lower sub level before you mask by AO

Ace-Angel

Try cavity, if the problem happens again, drop a couple of SD levels before going up again and refining your mask.

However, if AO is the only thing crashing, try a reinstall, if problem persists, ask the ZB Help Forums.

NAIMA

I have already decimated , the object has more or less a million polygons or less , the Cavity works fine , but AO just stucks and freeze the program ...
Can I simulate somehow the AO with cavity ? I tried several combinations of curves but I always get nothing like tha AO ...

NAIMA

up

sogun

Solution: Zbrush 4R6

if freeze on Windows 7: exit/shut down Zbrush, go to and delete
Users\Public\Documents\ZBrushData\VMem
Users\Public\Documents\ZBrushData\Temp

then:

1. Always use lower subdiv, where you should have enough detail too: around 400 ~ 800K poly level is still fast = ZB does AO mask in seconds. Retopo for better detail at lower subdiv.

2. AO Scandist on high settings slows calculation down

3. AO Aperture should remain at 90. Less makes calculation faster, but may look worse.

4. When AO is ready, you can step up subD levels and retain your mask.

hansolocambo

2019-01-09 Now it's ZBrush 2018.1 and Masking by AO is still crappy. Calculation takes literally forever on 400.000 quads meshes. I mean by that it never stops and I can barely start the Task Manager to Force Close ZBrush, though I have an excellent computer. This happens even when choosing an AO aperture of 10, which should be really fast (according to @sogun). This Mask by AO option just  : doesn't work.