Why, after all this time, does GoZ still not work properly in DS?

IsaacNewton

GoZ, the DAZ3d plugin for sending objects from DS to the professional modelling program ZBrush, has been part of DS for a very long time. So why is it that GoZ still does not work properly?

I'm using DS4.11.0.383 and whenever I send an object or figure from DS to ZB using GoZ, I have to check that it will correctly return any shape changes as a morph. I make no changes to the topology. Frequently, GoZ decides not to return the change in shape back to DS; instead it does nothing. Once that happens, the only way I have found of fixing the problem is to uninstall DS, delete the DS package in DIM and then download it again and reinstall it. This always works, it restores GoZ's ability to interact properly between DS and ZB. However, this situation often does not last long and GoZ soon fails again requiring DS to be uninstalled and reinstalled again.

This bug has been reported many times by various people, over a long period of time. It seems like something in DS is being corrupted and requires a fresh install. So, why haven't DAZ3d fixed the problem?

If anyone knows a better fix than the one I'm using, I'd be happy to know.

My stystem FYI; APCI x64 based PC, Win 10, 64 bit, i7-8700K CPU @ 3.7GHz, dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti video cards, 32 GB DDR4 RAM.

This GoZ problem existed in my previous systems as well.

Richard Haseltine

I've rarely had an issue that wasn't fixed by resetting the path in ZBrush, and never an issue that wasn't foxed by clearing out the temporary files (in C:/Users/Public/Pixologic (I can't recall which folders need clearing off-hand). Removing the package from DIM should have no effect on anything, if it is a vital step then there is some kind of system level issue.

MelissaGT

The only issues I've ever had were with ZBrush forgetting the path back to Daz. I don't know if it's an issue with ZBrush itself, or Daz...but it always seems to happen after there is a GoZ update in the DIM. But it doesn't take much to just restore the path and away I go. 

IsaacNewton

Hi Richard and melissastjames,

Renewing the path in ZB has never fixed this problem for me, over different versions of DS and different versions of ZB. Clearing the ZB temporary files does fix a different problem, which often shows as two copies of the eye lashes being sent to ZB instead of a full character, or sometimes other ZB "tools" not being transfered properly from DS to ZB. However, uminstalling DS using DIM (and deleting the package so that a new version installation is forced) ALWAYS solves the problem. I have reported this to the Help Desk several times but no solution has been found.

I always make sure that if a new version of DS is installed then the matching version of GoZ is installed. sadly that doesn't help with this problem.

 

Kerwin

I use GoZ many times a week and see this problem frequently enough to know what to do about it.   As Richard said clearing the GoZ cache and rechecking the path inside ZB usually fixes it right up.    From time-to-time, I have GoZ really get stuck.   Using DIM to uninstall and reinstall the GoZ plugin seems to put things right in that case.   I have usually found this a more sure solution than using Preferences->GoZ->Force Reinstall to from inside Zbrush.

Since I hate losing my sculpts, I often can save out the .obj (it's in Lightwave Scale, 1u = 1m) and load it back with Morph Loader Pro set "Reverse Deformations" to "yes".

I find frequently clearing the GoZ cache (when DAZ Studio is closed) reduces the issue.

IsaacNewton

Hi Kerwin, I assume you mean clearing the ZB cache. I will try your suggestion of frequently clearing the cache, but as I mentioned clearing the ZB cache after the problem occurs does not solve the problem, even after a DS restart or even shutting the computer down and rebooting. Uninstalling and reinstalling DS always works but is annoying. Thanks for the tip about using Lightwave scale.