ZBrushCentral

Importing/Exporting OBJ's to MAYA

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi
I’ve read most of the practical guide, many FAQ’s, tutorials, and tinkered with ZBrush for hours on end. My question is:

Is there just a simple way to bring in a character model mesh OBJ from Maya, LW, or Poser - alter it, sculpt on it, increase the resolution, then simply export this new 3D mesh to an OBJ again so I can display it or pose it in Maya, LW, or Poser? It seems there is this long, confusing procedure of Storing MT, launching Projection Master, exporting Displacement maps, lining up UV’s, exporting the crude OBJ, and mapping displacement maps in Maya, etc.

Can’t I simply alter my mesh and export the new art as an OBJ and use it instanly in another app? Please advise. Thanks
Rockit

#2

That would depend on how many polys you end up with and whether or not the program you wish to import it to can handle that many.

Right now alot of programs can’t handle loading high poly models. I haven’t tried it with the new poser yet but keep it low if you have below 6 and use displacements.

I haven’t tried importing high rez meshes in either maya or lw so can’t say for sure what their limits are. I guess experimenting by exporting each subd level and trying to import it into chosen program would tell ya quick enough.

#3

I’ll rephrase my question: It’s not so critical about the hi-res, increase in polys thing - I’ve been able to subdivide the character mesh to a fairly smooth result and export it to OBJ, then MAYA imports it okay.

My question is about the specific procedure in ZBrush to have the export option appear in the TOOLBAR after I’ve done some sculpting on it,extruded the fingers, put some bumps and ridges on it, altered it. ZBrush seems to go into this mode after I sculpt and paint on it, whereas the EXPORT option disappears from the TOOLBAR pallette, and so I just want to know how to make this EXPORT option reappear, so I can to take this altered mesh, and simply export it back to a new OBJ.

Is that possible? and how can I do this? Thanks

#4

if you’ve switched to another tool (and out of the edit mode for the first tool) then you won’t be able to export the tool. otherwise, the export button should be there. you can also find it at the bottom of your submenus (under the Tool menu). remember, if you switch to another tool, you’ve effectively “flattened” the first tool - making it a pixol image (x,y,z) instead of a polygonal mesh, and you won’t be able to export that…

cheers,
sunit

#5

Thanks Sunit
I was afraid of that.
So, any additional modeling I do in ZBrush, I have to export my final
Displacement maps, and do the long procedure from the manual
to get my changes back into Maya?
thanks again
Rockit

#6

one other question,
Maybe I don’t need to get my sculptured character back into Maya.

Is there a way to animate him into a little movie, by just rotating him around in ZBrush, to display him on all sides in a little movie clip?
Like Poser, or Maya?

#7

When you have a model in Edit mode, the ZSpinner feature becomes available in the Transform palette. You can record a movie of that spinning motion by using the Movie palette, and then export the movie through the Movie>Inventory>Mexport button. This will save the frames as separate files that can then be assembled into an animated .gif or other movie format.

#8

Thanks Aurick,
Mucho Appreciado

#9

One more question:

After I’ve done some sculpting on my mesh, my character.

How do I go back into Edit Mode at will?

It isn’t apparent how to get back, am I permanently in pixol image? I’ve tried projection master, but then when I leave it, my character is all jacked up.

#10

I Mexported a zpin of my character.
Damn, the movie images are so tiny.
Is there no way to Mexport standard 720x480 images with this program?
What good are these little thumbnails?!!
Ow, frustrating.
Maybe I can manually do 30 screenshots, one at a time and make a descent movie with After Effects or something.

#11

Once you drop your model to pixols, you need to redraw it on the canvas by choosing it from the tool menu then you can enter edit mode and have at it.