ZBrushCentral

importing displacement maps?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Is this possible? I have a Genesis figure for which I have already created displacement maps for the head, torso and limbs. I would like to import the figure into ZBrush, and then import and apply the displacement maps to their respective groups, then edit the whole figure including the displacement maps, and afterwards export the modified displacement maps.

Although I have no trouble applying different textures to different parts of a figure, I can’t figure out how to do that with displacement maps. Perhaps it’s not possible?

#2
  1. Import the displacement map into the Alpha palette.
  2. In the Tool>Texture Map sub-palette make sure a texture map is applied to the model. A white map will mean you can see the displacement more easily but you do need a texture map on the model for this to work.
  3. In the Tool>Displacement Map sub-palette, click on on the thumbnail and select the image you imported at (1) from the pop-up.
  4. Turn on the Tool>Displacement Map>Mode button and set the Tool>Displacement Map>Intensity slider to a value other than zero.

This will display the map as displaced geometry. You will need to adjust the Intensity value to get the result you want. To create actual geometry from the map, subdivide the mesh so that it has a high enough resultion to support the detail and then press Tool>Displacement Map>Apply DispMap.

#3

My question was not how to apply a displacement map, but whether it is possible to have more than one displacement map active on a single subtool.

If a subtool has multiple polygroups, each polygroup can have a different texture map, right? Can each polygroup also have a different displacement map?

#4

ZBrush can only display one texture map at a time on a single subtool. You can isolate a polygroup and display a map on it but you can’t have several polygroups all with maps on them unless you split them into separate subtools. The same applies to displacement maps.

#5

Perhaps my terminology is inexact, but I’m thinking in terms of what this tutorial is doing:

http://hivewire3d.com/forum/showthread.php?803-How-to-Load-textures-on-Dawn-in-Zbrush-Mini-Tutorial

Individual textures are loaded for the face, torso, and limbs, and converted into a single seamless polypaint texture.

I’m looking to do something similar with displacement.

#6

Yes, that works because the polygroups are isolated while the texture map is converted to polypaint. As I said, displacement maps will work in the same way. If you want to convert existing displacement maps to geometry then you will need to use the method I described in my first post, after first isolating the polygroup you wish to work on. Creating and exporting displacement maps is similar to texture maps, as it says at the bottom of the page for the link you gave.

#7

Okay, thanks. I was overlooking the “apply displacement” button. Everything works great now.