ZBrushCentral

painting in Zbrush

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello,

I heard that I can paint a model in Zbrush and skipped the uv mapping stage. How often this technique is used in the movie or game industries.
I am studying 3d game character modeling and I wonder I should even try this technique.

Thank you.

#2

Polypainting in ZBrush isn’t dependent on uv’s at all, but you need uv’s to export the painted texture for use in other apps. With uv’s applied to the model go to tool>texture map>new from polypaint. Viola.

It doesn’t have 3d paint layers, but I really like the painting tools. You can create some detailed textures fast.

#3

Thank you for the reply.
So if I want to the painted texture export back to maya, I need to uv map it anyways, correct?
Hum…so when do people do polypain in Zbrush? I guess people don’t use it in the game industries??

#4

People definitely use it in the industries. I think there is a specific workflow for certain outputs, but I’m not in the game industry.

For me, I sculpt or paint whenever I want in no particular order. It’s great. Then I generate puv tiles right in ZBrush, create the displacement or normal maps also from the lowest subdiv level, and then create the texture from polypaint in the highest subdiv level. From there, I simply GoZ to modo for rendering.

For game industry, I don’t know the deal, but I’m positive that polypainting can be a way for you to paint your models. I would seek advice from someone that uses ZBrush within the work flow of that industry.

#5

Thank you for the reply, jamespthornton

I will ask questions to people who work in the game industries.
I also have a magazine that shows how to use polypaint in zbrush :slight_smile: I will read it through and try it.

#6

If you are in the game industry, fully learning ZBrush will be EXTREMELY valuable to you.

For painting, polypaint and the projection brushes and tools are sweet. However, there’s something on the way you will probably find interest in:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=071829

I’ve seen many visually awesome games and movies where ZBrush was a key player. Here’s a few:
http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/industry/

Here’s some cool interviews. At the bottom, there’s some with studios where they specify how it was used. Ubisoft shows some hard surface stuff and some painted models:
http://www.pixologic.com/interview/

Here’s the actual hard surface tutorial in the zclassroom from Sebastian at Ubisoft. It’s about half way down:
http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/

Groovy stuff.

#7

Wow, thank you so much for the info and links.

Those interviews were so much fun to read, and their works are amazing…
I have been studying maya 5 month and 2month on zbrush. I made one model using maya and zbrush, and sculpting a model with a mouse was really hard. I didn’t like the way it came out so I just bought a tablet.
Time to study again!!!

#8

I use Poly Painting to texture game models. I mainly use it to paint skin tones and very smooth and organic texture, I prefer to do the sharper details in Photoshop the old fashion way.
Here are few things to keep in mind when you decide to poly paint for games:


  • You need high resolution mesh in order to generate high resolution textures afterwards. About 4 million polys would be good for generating a 2K map [the max resolution most game engines support]. If your computer can’t handle that many polys smoothly, you’ll find poly painting a bit annoying. Consider chopping up you’re model and painting pieces separately
  • If you end up retopologizing your model to create the in-game model out side of ZBrush, you’ll probably not have much luck project the details of your original model to the retopologized one. and you’ll end up painting a very bland and un-detailed subdivided in-game model. I’d apply the cavity+occlusion map onto it, convert it to poly paint, then paint over it while using it to tell where the sculpted features are.

Also, Poly painting is not the only way to texture in Zbrush. There was a cool little tutorial on the Old Pixologic site that uses the projection master and the plane tool to drag textures onto the model, I have no idea where it is now.
Also take a look at ZAppLink If you haven’t already.

I hope that made sense…

#9

Thank you for the advice.
I have another question about work flow of creating game chracter.
I know people create a base mesh and import it to zbrush, and sculpt it, and back to maya to do whether retopo or do other stuff.
I recently found out about zsphere…do people just create zsphere, create a high poly model and bring it back to maya to retopo?

#10

>>> do people just create zsphere, create a high poly model and bring it back to maya to retopo?

Some do. I use topogun or ZB’s retopo tools more often. I’m also old fashioned, so I spend a little more time with my base meshes to eliminate the need for retopology whenever possible. I find the time spent analyzing the model and what I want to do up front pays off in the finished result.

I will sometimes sketch a more free-wheeling model from a lump of virtual clay strokes, but for finished work, I like to have my underlying structure clear in my mind before i begin final sculpting. (My technique is sometimes referred to as incremental refinement in the sculpting books–I start with the macro structure of model and then keep refining with smaller and smaller details only after the bigger details and structures are worked out.)

Other sculptors, notably Ryan K, has excellent skills and tutorials from building up from single simple forms and then refining and retopo-ing as he goes. You should check out his work on Gnomon Workshop.

There really isn’t a lot of right or wrong answers to approaching topology before, after, or middle with Zbrush 3.5. ZB 3.5’s flexible projection tools and retopo tools make it relatively painless to rework topology as you need to. It will become more and more a matter of preference whether to have a well-refined topology first (more of my style) or simplely start with a loose clay “sketch” of your subject and work out the topology at the finish.

I suggest trying both techniques and find what works for you. ZB is so flexible, that it is now your choice–not the software’s. :wink:

-K

#11

guys
i know about normal mapping and rendering out in maya, but what if i have a model in zbrush and i want to polypaint on the surface directly and render some passes for photoshop composition. does it matter which base material i use?

ie. matcap or basic material, which is best to start with and what do you think i should use?

also, when i switch materials i get a horrible seam and jagges apperaing, any ideas?

any help much appreciated here !

jimbo

#12

Are the jaggies you referring to when you partially paint on a different material or in your actual polypaint? Color can have smooth blends, but two materials side by side will look jaggy. Not only can they not blend, but each individual polygon can only represent one material, where as it can hold multiple pixels of color value.

ZBrush is excellent for render passes. I recommend painting over a white material, and which ever one feels natural for the subject. I often use metcap white.

The flexibility is endless. What gives a lot of control is rendering/exporting your color (flat material), depth alpha, and various materials separately. Then you can blend them together in Photoshop. Lots of info on this is in Scott Spencer’s character creation book, and I’m sure you can find some good examples of it here.

Here’s one of many examples:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?p=602935#post602935

#13

right

im currently polypainting a chucky model.

i started with a matcap white but it looks better when i switch to skin04, problem is when i swap to ANY other material type i get horrible seams as shown in the image (arrows)

help would be very grateful !

Attachments

chucky.jpg