ISSUE: Zbrush Layers Automatically Baking

JayXiong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeKS1ClDV1I

Hi everyone,
The above link is a current WIP.  I ran into a very annoying issue during the skin detailing stage. The skin detail layers get baked at some point even though I never actually hit the bake button.  All I did was turn layers on and off at lower subdivision levels.   With ALL layers off at the highest subdivision level, the skin details are STILL there and can no longer be turned off.  I tested this on a simple sphere as well and the same thing happens.  Aren't the layers supposed to be a non-destructive way to work?  Is it just me, or is anyone else experiencing this?  I'm out of ideas (searched everywhere). Thanks!

FourtyNights

I might be ancient, but I'm still using 4R6. Buttons to toggle recording or visibility off/on for layers is greyed out when on a lower sub-d level, so I can't even turn off or on any layers like you just did. That's why I've never encountered this issue.

Anyway, another thing I've noticed is if I delete a layer when not being on the highest sub-d level, there are still some leftovers from the layer when going back to the highest after deleting. So my best advice would be not to mess around with layers on any other sub-d leven than the highest. Of course you can go to work on the lower sub-d levels with any certain layer enabled, selected and with a recording on. Even though it's greyed out, it's still active for sculpting.

JayXiong

Now that you mentioned it, I remember not being able to access layers at lower subdivisions with previous versions.  With my layers, I haven't committed to how they look yet. It just sucks that they're now baked in. I'll have to revert to a previous save and redo all the work from thereafter... unless someone else has a solution.  Thanks for your reply.

codyaq2

Check this video out, icant remember which part it is, but watch the whole thing
https://youtu.be/xwA457xNdKU?t=628
im pretty sure if you turn your layers all off except the one oyu want and go lowest subdiv and export as obj, then reimport into on a new layer, it may retain that information, i think :P

 or morph target

JayXiong

Thanks for the video. What you're talking about happens around 8:15, right?  I tried it and it doesn't work. Hmm.... 

JayXiong

Alright, this didn't directly solve the issue but is a work-around.  I used the method from the above video like this: 
1) Export out the lowest subdivision
2) Open version before issue happened
3) Import the OBJ from step 1 while having the mesh in question as the active subtool

Now when I turn detail layers off, they actually turn off.  Thanks for the help.

Lesson learned:  ***DO NOT TURN LAYERS ON AND OFF WHILE AT LOWER SUBDIVISIONS!!***

FourtyNights

JayXiong said: Lesson learned:  ***DO NOT TURN LAYERS ON AND OFF WHILE AT LOWER SUBDIVISIONS!!***

Yeah, just what I advised, lol.

musashidan

This isn't a workaround. It's actually a great feature of ZB layers.(import to layer)

JayXiong

musashidan said:

This isn't a workaround. It's actually a great feature of ZB layers.(import to layer)

Well, it's a work-around for my particular issue.  

spitty

I had the same issue recently, but wasn't sure what caused it.  maybe i did the same thing.  

thanks for the tips, i'll avoid turning on and off layers in lower subdivs in the future.

JayXiong

spitty said:

I had the same issue recently, but wasn't sure what caused it.  maybe i did the same thing.  

thanks for the tips, i'll avoid turning on and off layers in lower subdivs in the future.

Yeah, I hope you didn't lose a lot of work by going back to a previous version.