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3.5R3 (Import/export Scale issues with subtools and transpose master)

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

After using Zbrush 3.5 R3, I have encountered an issues that I need to get resolution on to move forward with my current project.

I am changing this thread a bit to make sure the most important issue is top and center. (Sorry if some of the post below seem odd now.) It is in regards to the issues I am having with scale when using subtool exports and working with transpose master.

  1. Exporting out an OBJ into Maya and then importing it back in will cause the scale to be way off. This is also happening with subtools and also when using transpose master to try and fix some of the scaling issues.

If you look at post below you can see that in some cases when scaling my model up to get it back to the correct scale I am loosing all sculpted detail.

It looks as if this could be due to the values set in the tools export settings.

Export scale 92.054451 X Offsett -0 Y Offsett -.994831 Z Offsett -.020188

Why is the default not set to?

Export scale 1 X Offsett -0 Y Offsett -0 Z Offsett -0

It seems these numbers change every time I export. (They are tied to each model is some sort of way.) Why is the artist exposed to these numbers if they are not predictable?
Also I can not copy or paste into these numbers. They have to be hand typed.
This scale issue is very frustrating; I never had to worry about this issue in the past.

No resolution on this yet. Still trying to work through the issue in the thread below.

#2

I still do not have this scale thing figured out, so I tried using subtool master to scale up my entire character, I imported it back in (scaled up) and then pushed the Tpose>SubT button, all pieces updated but I have lost all sculpting changes. Yes ALL!

All scale issues were worked out in 3.12 and then moved over to 3.5R3. These scale issues need to be resolved ASAP!

Edit-this is happening when I just work with one sub tool at a time. I have to scale things up very large in Maya because I am working in Meters and not CM. Scale is 92.054451 in the X Y and Z. Still loosing all the sculpt work.

As if I imported in the lowest SubD and then just hit CTRL D 5 times.

#3

Also, this is version 3.5. I still can’t for the life of me can not figure out why texture maps are flipped in the Y axis. What program out there calls for this? Flip the texture please or make it an option to always see them right side up.

#4

Zbrush has it’s textures oriented correctly…
It’s photoshop and other image viewers that has it wrong, other programs have followed photoshops lead to be compatible.

Photoshop places the 0,0 (0 on *x and 0 on *y) pixel in the upper left… the origin of a 2D grid is in the lower left… where zbrush places it. If you showthe rulers in Photoshop, you will see that the origin is in the upper left, which is incorrect for a grid.

Many programs work like this… houdini, renderman, zbrush, to name a few.

#5

This scale information is crucial.
The numbers it provides is what Zbrush did yo get it into “1 zbrush Unit”, by reseting it back to a scale of 1 and offsets of 0, you will get a very small model back in your 3d package… zbrush scales and moves your model back by these values to keep it at the size it was when it came in.

It’s because of this that you dont have to worry about scale.

Every time you export a different piece of geo from your 3d app, yes the number will change, as each one needed different transforms to fit Zbrushes workspace.

If you just leave them as is and import and export, you will not have anything to worry about. If you do something in Zbrush that resets those numbers, you can go to an earlier version and manually enter those values.

#6

I was having scaling issues before I rest these values, that is why I reset them. I really don’t care what is going on under the hood, I just want reliable results when moving a mesh between Maya and Zbrush. Right now this is not the case.

As far as the texture orientation, why not have a setting in the prefs? This way the user can use said 3D/2D program without any issues.

#7

Well, just sayin, it’s much easier to get reliable results when you know what is going on behind the scenes. I have no scale issues personally. What exactly happens from maya to Zbrush and back?

As far as the texture orientation, why not have a setting in the prefs? This way the user can use said 3D/2D program without any issues

I agree, it should be a global option.

#8

Here is what my sculpt looks like currently in ZBR3

[heavyDemon_012.jpg]heavyDemon_012_detailLoss.jpg

You can see by scaling the model up I am starting to loose detail, take this all the way to the correct scale that my project had in ZB 3.12 and I have lost all of my sculpt.

At first I thought this was a subtool master problem but this is happening with just regular import as well.

My Maya project is set in Meters. Don’t know if that is playing a role or not.[
]heavyDemon_012_detailLoss.jpg

Attachments

heavyDemon_Thumb_012.jpg

heavyDemon_012_MayaScale.jpg

#9

>>hings seemed correct to me until I imported in a flat plane from Maya to check and see if my feet were flush to the ground.
You do not nee to import a plane, simply set Elv value in the draw palette to zero. This will set the floor-grid at the center of the axis. By default, the Elv is -1 which instruct ZBrush to move the ground to the lowest vertex in your model.

>>…correct scale and re export it out of Maya and re import it into ZBrush…
Are you taking advantage of the .ma export/import from ZBrush (this is part of GoZ) or simply using Obj format?

#10

I tried out the grid when it is set to 0 and it works like a charm! Awesome!

Here is what my model looks like:

[heavyDemon_013.jpg](javascript:zb_insimg(‘168643’,‘heavyDemon_013.jpg’,1,0))

Not sure how the model was moved below the ground plane. This was set up correctl in 3.12??

I am currently using obj format. I will give maya.asci a go and see if the results are any different.

I did a test where I put the export values back to
Export scale 92.054451 X Offsett = 0 Y Offsett = - .994831 Z Offsett = - .020188

This gets my model into Maya at the correct scale bu the location is off in the Y axis. Just like the picture in ZBrush witht he grid plane on set to 0.

#11

>>I am currently using obj format. I will give maya.asci a go and see if the results are any different.

In ZBrush 3.5(R3), you should use the .ma format, this will allow you to export the mesh and any texture map, normal map, displacement map in one save and when loaded into Maya, you’ll have the shading network already setup with accurate displacement scale+offset values.

#12

OK. I have used the Maya.asci format, this works well but…

I am now trying to use transposeMaster to move all the meshes above the floor/grid.

When I push the TPoseMesh button and make a TPose mesh for export it enherits the export scale and offset from the original ZTool.

This has scale values and offsetvalues:

Export scale 92.054451 X Offsett = 0 Y Offsett = - .994831 Z Offsett = - .020188

If I export this to Maya it will come in at a ver large scale, if I set the values to

Export scale 1 X Offsett = 0 Y Offsett =0 Z Offsett = 0

everything comes in as expected.

So in Maya I move the meshes up and export everything back out as a Maya.asci.

heavyDemon_013_5.jpg

Very odd.

Attachments

heavyDemon_014.jpg

#13

Sorry about the bump on this thread but this is a blocking issue for my project right now and I have not seen any suggestions as to fixing this issue.

Is this an isolated issue on my end or is anyone else seeing these types of issues?

Thank you!

#14

Thanks for this thread, I’m having the same issues over here. This basically makes r3 useless to me right now. My workflow is completely dependent on subtools and objs retaining the correct position and scale when migrated back and forth from other apps. Hopefully a fix will surface soon. I guess in the meantime I deactivate r3 and go back to r2

#15

Unfortunately for me I will have to do the same. I will not be able to advise others to switch to the new rev for production until this is resolved. :frowning:

#16

Nick

Its Paul. Can I have the original tool that you started with from 3.12? I would like to do the tests here. When you imported the mesh did you import it on the polymesh Star and when you were appending the tools what was the first tool that was selected that you were appending to?

Paul

#17

this is getting well beyond a joke. suffered enough headaches with it in version 3.0. can we please get a fix for this as soon as possible

#18

Thanks for working with me on this Paul! Much appreciated!

#19

I think I understand what might be happening. Some how when I work on other subtools other than the one on the top of the stack, and then go back to the top sub tool, the export scale gets set to 0.

export0.JPG

If you do not catch this it will cause your export and import scale to be off. If you know the scale number and offset before this happens then you can simply re input the values and all is good. But if you don’t cach this and don’t understand what is happening it can lead to hours of frustration.

#20

Here is something that might help. I made a cube that, when imported into ZBrush will come in at scale 1 and XYZ offsett of 0 0 0.

Append all of your geometry to this cube and they will recieve the scale from this cube. So everything should have the same scale as the cube. I even deleted the cube as the top subtool and the appended geo held their export and offsett scale and location.

I then exported this Subtool into Maya as a .ma file and the scale was perfect.

Now if anything goes wrong with scale, I am fairly sure you should be able to set the export scale and offsett back to a scale of 1 and offsetts of 0 0 0.

I think I am going to add this cube to my lightbox start up meshes.