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Zbrush: Mode locked behind draw - can't edit.

polycounter lvl 2
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DingoSniper polycounter lvl 2
http://puu.sh/ytRZF/f7333dd1e6.jpg

So basically i randomly just ran into this issue where my model was locked out and all i could do was make a replication of it with "Draw" , no matter what i do i can not go back and re-edit the pre-existing model and it constantly forces me to draw a new one. Is there any one able to help me figure out why the hell this happens so much? 

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  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    At this point the "model" you see on your screen is no longer a model. You're looking at pixels on an image document. The process to continue sculpting is:
    1. Clear the document of pixels with Ctrl+N
    2. Redraw the 3d tool onto the document
    3. Immediately re-enter Edit mode again before this new drawing also gets converted to pixels. 


    Here is a quick, three-part primer for you if you're new to Zbrush. IMO its really worth taking the five minutes to understand the document and tool, since they are core to Zbrush's design. 

    Part 1: https://imgur.com/gallery/avVzs
    Part 2: https://imgur.com/gallery/768uk
    Part 3: https://imgur.com/gallery/bET90
  • DingoSniper
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    DingoSniper polycounter lvl 2
    cryrid said:
    At this point the "model" you see on your screen is no longer a model. You're looking at pixels on an image document. The process to continue sculpting is:
    1. Clear the document of pixels with Ctrl+N
    2. Redraw the 3d tool onto the document
    3. Immediately re-enter Edit mode again before this new drawing also gets converted to pixels. 


    Here is a quick, three-part primer for you if you're new to Zbrush. IMO its really worth taking the five minutes to understand the document and tool, since they are core to Zbrush's design. 

    Part 1: https://imgur.com/gallery/avVzs
    Part 2: https://imgur.com/gallery/768uk
    Part 3: https://imgur.com/gallery/bET90
    That's odd because when i open a file that was saved and working just fine, it doesnt let me edit it. Like, i have two files right now that im trying to open, one opens with no hassle and works 100% , the other on the other hand opens and doesn't let me rotate, edit or anything 

    http://puu.sh/yvbBZ/b3517fa82c.jpg
  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    There's nothing odd about it. You're not loading a 3d Model / Tool into Zbrush, which is why your Tool palette on the right does not show the model. If there is no Tool then there is nothing on your screen that requires Edit mode. 

    You're either loading a 2D Document (which is just pixel data; an image) or a Project file (and if that is the case then it only saved the 2D Document and not the 3D Tool). Project files can  save Tools too, but it will often fail to store a tool that has never been saved before. 

    The Tool is the model: always save the tool (.ztl)

    Really there's no need to save Project files unless there is something uniquely specific you require from the larger format.  
  • Himinglaeva
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    Himinglaeva polycounter lvl 6
    To avoid having to Ctrl+N every time you open zbrush.
    1: open zbrush press Ctrl+N to clear the canvas
    2: navigate to documents at the top of the screen
    3: in the drop down menu click "save as startup document"
    4: restart zbrush

  • Neox
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    Neox godlike master sticky
    cryrid said:
    There's nothing odd about it.

    it is a little odd to be honest, many years back when zbrush was mainly a 2.5d tool for illustrators to work with pixols it might have made sense. nowadays where i guess 99% of the people are not using the 2.5d mode, i guess they could have changed the naming of things to make it more clear that a document is in fact only 2.5d data and not the 3d data you expect it to be.
  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    That's a conversation more than three years old at this point, though I would still maintain that the behavior they are describing was not odd as it falls completely in line with how the program is designed to operate. 

    You may think the design itself is odd or quirky and that is perfectly fair and understandable, but the original point is that what they were experiencing was not a bug / glitch / error; it was the user misunderstanding of how the program treats the data. It's the expected result, even if they were not personally expecting it. 
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