Files, backups and logs

Import and export

Settings > Import and export saves your setup to one file, or loads one back. Use it to move a setup to another PC or to keep a copy.

Export... writes one .json file with your menus and settings (everything in radial.json) and your tags. It saves what is on screen, including edits you have not saved yet. It leaves out Studio's window placement and preferences, the ZBrush folders you added by hand and the usage counts, since those belong to one PC.

Import... reads a file and shows what it holds before anything changes. It also accepts a plain radial.json or a plain tags.json, such as one you copied by hand.

• The menus and settings load into the editor as an unsaved change. Save keeps them and Undo takes them back.
• If the file has tags, you choose each time:
• Merge tags adds the tags you do not have. A tag that matches one of yours, by key or by label, keeps your name and colour. Each item's tag list is joined with yours, your tags first and no repeats.
• Replace tags swaps your tags for the file's. Your old tags.json is kept as tags.json.bak first.
• Tags save straight away, as tag edits always do, so they are not part of Undo.

Files and logs

Path	What
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\radial.json	Your menus and settings. Created from the starter menus on first run.
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\radial.json.bak	The version before your last save in Studio (only replaced when the file was readable and changed).
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\radial.json.broken	The file Studio could not read, kept when you chose Start from defaults on the recovery screen.
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\launch.json	Tells the plugin how to start the app and Studio. Rewritten on each start.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\radiald.log	The app: config loads, hotkeys, rings, hand-offs. Trimmed automatically.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\bridge.log	The plugin inside ZBrush: what each pick actually did.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\app_stderr.log	Output when the app crashes on startup.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\listener.json	The verified listener window (written by the plugin).
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\activity.json	The last ring the app opened and the last pick it sent: the route, whether it went out, and whether the plugin picked it up. Written by the app; Setup's Try the ring step reads it. Safe to delete.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\request.json	The pick in transit. Normally gone in a moment.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\request.txt	The same pick for the ZBrush 2022 to 2025 plugin. Only written when such a ZBrush is installed.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\zscript_bridge.log	ZBrush 2022 to 2025: what the last pick did.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\zscript_launch.log	ZBrush 2022 to 2025: how the plugin last started the app or Studio.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\zscript_hotkey.log	ZBrush 2022 to 2025: the hotkey Apply had when the plugin loaded, and the one it has after (88 is F9).
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\studio.json	Studio's own preferences: show_licence (the Licence button), check_updates (the update check), setup_done (Setup finished or skipped), last_screen (the screen Studio reopens on), zbrush_folders (ZBrush folders added by hand on Setup or Older ZBrush), and window (window placement).
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\tags.json	Your tags: each tag's label and colour (Favourites included), and which items carry which tags. Created the first time you change a tag. See Tags.
%APPDATA%\ZOrbit\popout.json	The browser's window position and size, whether it is maximised, Keep on top, thumbnail size, the side of the folders column (side), whether it is shown (column) and the tab you were last on (kind). Safe to delete.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\popout.log	The browser: how it started, what it showed, the picks it sent to the app.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\studio.log	How Studio started: which program launched it and how long each step took. A failed update check is noted here.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\usage.json	Brush usage, which fills the auto slots, and your recent picks under "picks" (see Favourites and Recent). Names are kept in lower case without spaces, so Clay Buildup and ClayBuildup count as one brush.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ZOrbit\thumbs\	Cached thumbnails of brushes, alphas, materials and textures. Safe to delete.
<ZBrush>\ZStartup\ZPlugs64\ZOrbitBridge.zsc	ZBrush 2022 to 2025: the plugin. Its ZOrbitData folder says where picks arrive and how to start the app.

When you report a bug, paste the last lines of radiald.log and bridge.log (and popout.log for a problem with the browser). They contain brush names and menu ids, but have a quick look before you post them.