ZBrushCentral

can't get displacement working in Maya

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Went through the whole v2 manual.
Tried and tried again and again but i still cant get the maya to displace the map from zbrush.
This is what i did/

  1. import my quad model from Maya into ZB
  2. Store MT first, Assign GUVTile
  3. Scuplted up level by level
  4. highest level (5), I did a projection Master
  5. lower to level 1, switch to original MT
  6. Export model without GRP.
  7. Export displacement, Flip V

MAYA

  1. Import Model
  2. Assign shader
  3. Assign Displacement node to Shader
  4. Assign Displacement map to the node
  5. set the alpha gain accordingly ( divide the number by 2 with - for offset)

Can’t work…

:o

#2

are you rendering with the Maya renderer or Mental Ray?

I am having problems too… actually a lot of people are having issues getting even close to what they get in zbrush out of Maya : /

If you are using Mental ray make sure you add the approximation editor nodes for displace and subdivision.

If you arent using Mental Ray check the attribute Editor for the model and make sure Feature Displacment is turned on.

I hope it works for you.

Good luck,

Scott

#3

Scott
Thanks for the reply
I appreciate that.
Yeah i did the thing you memtioned but I still can’t get the displacement to work.
I’m getting fustrated and have tried to check everything, from changing tiff to iff, from greyscale to rgb, from poly to SubD, from full of excitment to full of blasphemy…
Do you have a file that worked ? I will like like to check your Shader network if so…
Sucks

#4

Honestly I get crappy results from my Maya renders which is such a disappointment considering it was why I purchased Zbrush in the first place.

Do you get any displacment at all? I get minor surface changes even when I use a displacment and a bump map and only then when I tweak the offset and gain settings randomly.

I uploaded a ziped copy of my scenefile here http://www.scottspencer.com/box.zip
I included the original ztl file and alpha as well.

since it sounds like I might be getting more than you are. lemme know if you have any more questions, I am on AIM at eindoppelganger and will be up all night working on this : )

Hopefully we can get this thing working.
If anyone who is having Mental Ray success wants to check this file please do and let me know why I loose all the fidelity between Zbrush and Maya I will buy you a truckload of Duff beer! : )

Scott

#5

THanks dude, i’m back into maya now.

#6

cool, let me know if the file works fo you> i am playing with adding bump maps now and using the same alpha offset/gain settings to see if it helps.

Scott

#7

For some reason, i’m thinking that its the way we generate our displacement map.
I went into maya.
Convery Displacement>polygon and look at the displacement. Mine is almost as good as nothing.

Sucks.

#8

Could be, I am at such a loss at this point.

I wish someone would post a Maya scenefile that works that we could compare to. Any
beta testers listening?

Hopefully this thread will stay alive and we can get some discussion of this kind of maya/zbrush pipeline going.

Scott

#9

btw did you get anything when you rendered the box test?

#10

I did, yours work.
I realize its the issue with the displacement i generated.
Still can’t fig it out.

#11

well I dont get it. I render my test and I dont get nearly the fidelity I get in Zbrush from the Mental Ray renders. The shape changes but even with a bump map it looks odd. Can you post a render so I can see if you are getting different results than me?

Thanks

Scott

#12

maybe we should shift to normal mappping for a try http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001756

I’ll try to post when i can it to bump.
I think i must have make some wrong steps in zbrush
spid3x is my aim

#13

but, unless I am wrong on this,
normal maps wont change the profile of the geometry it just works like a bump map : /

In conjunction I can see it working but I cant help but think I am supposed to be getting better results from the displacements on their own.

Does anyone know if it is normal to get this low fidelity?!?!? If I can find that out I can just move on and try and get the most out of what I can get. I have been at this for a few days short of a month now and I really would like to get on with the show. Please post if you have any suggestions.

Scott

#14

Hey Spidex,

Scale may be the reason your not seeing your mesh displace. try really cranking up the alpha Gain number, by double or triple until you start seeing results. I have found that the low numbers use in the Zbrush2 practical giude are for mesh made at a very small scale. I use the default cm in maya, but I build to real world scale in meters. So my alpha Gain numbers can be like 300 and -150 for the alpha Offset. Hope that’s helpful to you.
Craig