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zbrush saving long files ?

rafastrip
rafastrip
polycounter lvl 4
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rafastrip polycounter lvl 4
hi I ve noticed , my zbrush project is slow... when I open my project data, is so long, near 5 minutes....  I ve save this particular project in a external disk.... NOT SSD ... jjust a simple USB hard drive. a portable external hard drive....  
I ve this options, save the project in my windows's disk .. ( I always prefer to separate my files in folders in softwares, month , type of proyects and sub-folder) that's the reason why I do not like to save on windows 7 in my case.
another options to save the project is another "slave" HDD , wich is sata 2.0 and common hardrive  where I put my Steam games XD and some backups (photos, references, guides, etc) this HDD is sata ...

I need some suggestion , to the next month...I defenetly buy a SDD , by the time I need to work in HDD....  

how about "undo-history" my project is near 3300 undo history... could be possible to slowing my project? .... my ztool is full of subtools...
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  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    Is there a particular reason you're saving the project file (such as planning a movie)? Project files store a lot of additional data you may not need such as the undo levels, document information, and every tool (not just subtool) that is currently loaded into the Tool palette. You can easily wind up with a project file that is several GB in size, when if all you need is the sculpt you could get away with a smaller fraction of that by saving the Tool alone. 
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  • rafastrip
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    rafastrip polycounter lvl 4
    my file is near 7 gb!! I do not why... I change my video card, but zb is a full core software (cpu ) to render....  I decided to export as "ztool" however  I would like to export "one subtool" as ztool, but  bring back another tools (that's why I am confused)...  if my project is slowing my saving process I need to export a single tool such as ztool ?  at least the more difficult or relevant mesh. 
    I like to formalize my projects by year, month , just to be organize in my searching and like to keep clean things in my windows.
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  • Alex_J
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    Alex_J grand marshal polycounter
    Zbrush is a bit confusing in the way the document vs the project file vs the subtools are all saved and exported... but you really got to read the manual man. If everything is confusing and you feel like you're lost, that's a good sign that you need to crack open the manual and try to understand exactly where you are and what's going on. 

    You can export all subtools, you can export only visible subtools, you can delete the undo history, you can restrict the undo history to a specific number, you can choose to export undo history with your export file, you can export as an fbx, an obj, you can keep quicksave files.... there is a lot of options, each useful for different purposes. Uploading a 7gb file seems insane. You definitely don't need to wait five minutes to open the app every time you want to do some work. 
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  • rafastrip
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    rafastrip polycounter lvl 4
    BIGTIMEMASTER said:
    Zbrush is a bit confusing in the way the document vs the project file vs the subtools are all saved and exported... but you really got to read the manual man. If everything is confusing and you feel like you're lost, that's a good sign that you need to crack open the manual and try to understand exactly where you are and what's going on. 

    You can export all subtools, you can export only visible subtools, you can delete the undo history, you can restrict the undo history to a specific number, you can choose to export undo history with your export file, you can export as an fbx, an obj, you can keep quicksave files.... there is a lot of options, each useful for different purposes. Uploading a 7gb file seems insane. You definitely don't need to wait five minutes to open the app every time you want to do some work. 
    yeah I do not why my "zbrush project" is near 8 Gb... I ve 10 subtools , is not a great number, my scene is near 15 millions... yesterday was 30 , but I started to clean duplicated mesh and stuff,  so my good mesh is now with subtools , all the stuff is near 15 millins, I ve save in an slave hd where I got my steam's game , backups, etc....   how can I export a "ztool" I must deleate all the other subtools , my problem is  I make only visible the mesh who I am interesting on exporting....  I "click" the eye button to "hide" all subtools, and put my cursor on the mesh I want to make a ztool... but all the others are included.... defenetly I need a trick to export the ztool to get better performance.... thx.
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  • Alex_J
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    Alex_J grand marshal polycounter
    rafastrip said:
    defenetly I need a trick to export the ztool to get better performance.... thx.
    No tricks, you just need to read the docs or at least follow some of Pixologics beginner video tutorials. They will show you all the options you have to export your work exactly the way you need it. You definitely don't need to delete any subtools. 

    I don't know what you exact situation is, but I can tell you how I typically work in Zbrush: I bring in my model from Maya. I subdivide, do my sculpting, and I do quicksaves every 5 minutes or so when i am working. Once I get to a point where I've made a good amount of progress, I save a ztool for backup, both locally and in an online cloud. When I am done working for the day, I quicksave again and also save another ztool. When it's time to continue, I open a new project and load the ztool. Now I have a clean project, nothing extra. 

    If I am going between Zbrush and Maya, I use the fbx exporter/importer in the zPlugins menu. You have options there about how you want to export. Entire subtool, only visible, export polygroups as materials, etc etc. Very useful. 

    This is very basic but very important part of working in 3d -- moving files around. No need to be guessing at things, all the info you need is available on pixologics website, if not in any number of videos on youtube. It's not particular fun or interesting reading the manual or trying to understand computer science stuff, but it's well worth the time as once you know what's going on you can stop feeling frustrated and start focusing on the art. 


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  • kanga
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    kanga quad damage
    Yeah if you save the project under file/save as, you can easily end up with files that are too large to open.
    I made a start canvas with all the settings I need then and saved that into the project folder in ZBrush. Start up the canvas (with a simple primitive) load my tool into that document and keep working. I dont save the history just the tool. Saving the tool under  the tool palet at the top: Save As means I can save a large tool at about 25 subtools often under a gig, and of course open them again.

    ZBrush is great but it typically eats lots of disk space if you let it. You have to adjust the quick saves every session under preferences/quicksave. I set mine to save every 30 or 60 mins and the max files to 3 otherwise that alone will gobble up your disks. I set save history to off as well.

    Here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omLZ94UcaoM&t=22s&index=2&list=PL1mx-FCKqrqGBcXhvaZNhTWYazrSrDNPM
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