TL;DR-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i got zbrush back... when it first came out. and i could NOT figure out the flipping thing for the LIFE of me! every few months, i'd see another cool zbrush image posted here in the galleries, and i'd reactivate my license and restart it and... nope. brain to zbrush interface, not working.

i am now in lust with the new version. so... i got the demo. and i am, after all these years, reacquainted with why i cannot stand zbrush. it is NOT INTUITIVE to me! argh!

so im learning the basic basics, and i was trying the tools. i put a sphere in the canvas, and i went into edit mode. works okay. basic brush, okay. move brush, okay.

then i started playing with the cool ribbon things and tube things.. and then i wanted to go back to experimenting wth the next tool in line on my sphere/head. but only the tube sunglasses were sculptable.

okay, so i went and cleared the canvas and blew up (like a balloon, not like a bomb) a new version of the 'tool' that is the head with sunglasses. and again, only the sunglasses were editable.

so...

TL;DR summary=======================================

when i add something (like a tube) onto a polymesh, how do i go back to editing the polymesh, NOT the new tube stuck on it? when i made the tube, the original sphere i was sculpting was darkened, like with a mask. soooo... like how do i mask the new bits and get to edit my old bits back again?

on the side.... when i froze the mesh to add the tube thing, it lost a lot of details. how do i keep my details? i found the thing that has the 'higher res' button, and i pushed that, but it was still smoothed of details.

...should i go to zbrush central? its' scary over there. :X

ctrl(Win)/cmd(Mac)-click off the model when you want to clear a mask.

I'm not sure why you need a demo - all the upgrades to ZBrush so far have been free, though you may need to contact support to get 4R7 if you skipped the intermediate versions.

Sorry, that should have been cmd/ctrl-drag in an off-model area to clear the mask - cmd/ctrl-click inverts the mask.

hahhahha! i bought mine in like... 97? i don't think i get a free upgrade from that :)

(heck, i don't think i can FIND that...!)

thanks a bunch for the tip to clear the mask! i will try that next session!

i had a second session with the demo... getting a feel for some of the tools, going along... but uhm... can you tell me how to avoid 2.5d mode at all costs?

i was monkeying around, i got a sorta bear looking thing... then i decided to make the ear separate. so... i know models/groups are called tools, so i made a subtool. and i found my original sphere to sculpt into an ear on its own... subtool. but then when i made the head visible, i couldn't move the ear to stick it on the head, cuz the head went along with it. (masked/inactive or not). actually, i think the head got 'dropped' and stuck on the canvas?

i can't deal with 2.5d. i like my 3d models to stay 3d so i can keep working on them. :/

thanks a bunch! (if i get too annoying, maybe i should find a mentor on the pixologic boards...???)

As long as the Edit button at the top is set you should stay out of 2.5D/canvas mode. How were you moving the ear when it failed to play along? Not that I am, by the remotest stretch of the imagination, a ZBrush expert.

I think all you'll need to know is the email address you were using at the time of the purchase. I've had the same problems as you, and gone many years between try's at zbrush. But at any rate, even though I'd lost my serial number several times I've always been able to get it back working with just my email and some support help. Good luck !!! I'm digging the newest version !!! Check out youtube...tons of help there :)

Mike

All updates to zbrush is free atleast up to the current version no matter what early version yr on. You just need to contact Pixologic and you'll get it.

I bought my copy from DAZ way back and all my upgrades have been free. But I am right there with you, bloodsong, I bought it because it was a no-brainer when it was like 99 or 199 or something....then I dust it off and I change to deer in headlights mode and quietly move on to something else. I do believe you will need to know what email you used as they use that as your username I believe. I am currently messing around in ZB right now trying to follow various tutorials off YT and I can't get the export to Studio to work right. I don't have the ability to export back to Studio as a morph like it says in the tut.

Make sure you don't export sub-divided figures (such as any Genesis) at their current resolution - a pop-up dialogue should appear asking which you want to do if that is applicable. If you divide in ZBrush make sure you set the divisions back to 0 before using GoZ to return the new shape too, and of course don;y use any insert brushes or the like.