I’ve got a model w/ a few subtools- what’s the workflow for dealing w/ storing a morph target before sculpting? Do I have to highlight each separate subtool and hit “Store Morph Target”, or is there a way of selecting all the subtools and then click on Morph Target? My understanding is that the Morph Target needs to first be made before sculpting so that the Displacement Map matches the original mesh.
You will need to store a morph target for each subtool.
The point of the morph target is to store a copy of your base mesh as subdividing the mesh alters the mesh on all levels. So a basic workflow would be:
- Import the base mesh (with UVs or create UVs in ZBrush).
- Store a morph target.
- Subdivide the mesh and sculpt. Optionally polypaint at the highest level.
- When ready to create a displacement map, go to lowest level and switch the morph target. Create displacement map.
- Switch the morph target again before switching to higher subdivision levels, for example to create a texture map from polypaint.
Alternatively you can re-import the base mesh at the lowest subdivision level just before creating the displacement map.
This is only necessary if you need to keep the original mesh exactly as it is, for example because it has been rigged for animation. Otherwise you can simply export the lowest subdivision level from ZBrush after creating your displacement maps.
Thank you for clarifying the steps. I’ve tried learning Z Brush several times over the yrs but have always found the process of converting the ZB sculpt back to the original 3D program where I built the mesh a difficult task. Also, the settings for displacement maps vary according to the source, and I’m unsure which settings to use. Compounding that, whichever 3D program is receiving the maps requires more consideration. For what it’s worth, I’m using Modo to build the original mesh, and I’m using ZB to add more organic elements (clothing wrinkles and folds). I suppose it would be easier to render the ZB sculpt within ZB to avoid dealing w/ the maps? How do most ZB artists render their sculpts?
Input /output paths between 3d programs is always a drag, because each program does something a little differently. GoZ has helped, but there will always be application specific issues to figure out. Zbrush is a common tool though, so you may be able to find more specific information on a workflow in a resource dedicated to the specific other application you are using. We tend to be more generalists here.
AS for how most artists render their stuff, it depends entirely on intended output. The Keyshot partnership has made Keyshot a popular choice for quick concept work. The bridge makes it very easy to work with. I’ve seen great multipass compositing out of Zbrush itself for illustration. Low poly/game stuff gets done in Marmoset a lot. Personally I work mostly for print, so rarely bother with digital renders anymore.
You can make it work anywhere though. It will just take, as you said, knowledge of both programs and their quirks.
Thank you very much- I’ve never fully learned ZB sculpting since I’ve been unable to successfully bring test sculpts back into the original 3D package (first Maya and now Modo), and it’s hard to pinpoint if the problem are settings in ZB or the other (or a mix). It’s definitely more involved than hitting “GoZ”! I’ll just continue trying to figure out the magic map settings… I tried the sculpting in Modo and of course it’s not as robust as ZB. I’ll look into rendering within ZB, thanks again-
I’m sympathetic. This is simply the nature of 3d work though. 30% of your time gets eaten up with learning, 30% eaten up by troubleshooting unforeseen issues often with crushing trial and error, leaving only the remainder for the fun stuff. I wish i could say that moving to print has freed me of all the troubleshooting issues, but I just traded one set of issues for another. I’m jealous of the artists in 30 years, that will have far more intelligent tools, just as what we have now is light years beyond what I was doing 20 years ago in polygonal modelers with a practical poly limit of 15k.
Any time I approach learning in Zbrush or elsewhere, I always set small, specific daily goals, and figure that out before moving onto the next. So you might first learn, on a simple object, how to create UVs that will properly display a color map created in ZB in your target program. This will require you to understand the concepts of polypaint and texture creation in ZB, and possibly Projection if you want to be able to remesh frequently–each of which should be their own daily goal. You should always be able to retire at the end of a day, and say this is something I know now that I didn’t yesterday. After 30-60 days of this, you will be much more comfortable doing things. It’s unrealistic to expect to master all these things in a few days of unstructured learning.
From there, move on to the much trickier subjects of normal and displacement map generation. You can generate these in ZB, but some artists prefer external tools for this.
Don’t come out of the gate trying to do all this stuff at once, on a complex character piece. Do these learning exercises with simple objects, and work your way up. More complex objects will introduce additional issues to have to consider. Understand the the fundamental first, so you can recognize where additional complexity is creating a problem.
Thank you again,
I have been trying “small stuff” involving just adding wrinkles to Maya/Modo meshes, and I’ve brought them into ZB pre-UV mapped. I’ve got a fair ability/understanding of the sculpting tools, but the problem has always been getting decent disp/normal maps that look the same as the sculpt . Also trying to figure out what causes weird bloating around edges where separate meshes meet each other meshes. Sadly, most of the tutorials I’ve watched don’t address trouble shooting issues and tend to focus on sculpting only within ZB. Attached is what I’ve been able to do so far- Modo doesn’t seem to like Disp Maps and required some setting changes, while the Normal maps worked fine. Modo has a very nice procedural stitching feature and ZB is amazing- I’d like to learn more and I’ll re-read/digest your advice, thanks again.
Render time displacement in rendering engines has always been a pain. Large performance tax and a lot of potential issues. Consider avoiding it if you can, unless your render will require scrutiny that it cant bear without it.
Programs these days can generally handle much larger polycounts than they used to, even if nothing near what Zbrush does. From my experience, increasing the polycount of an object doesn’t impact render performance nearly to the degree it used to, and often less than applying a displacement effect. All you really need a displacement for is to alter the actual shape of an object silhouette. For straight on detail, it’s often indistinguishable from a normal map.
If practical, consider increasing the polycount of the object to be rendered sufficiently to make its silhouette reasonably accurate, and rely on normal maps for the fine surface detail.
I mean obviously, you want to understand displacement mapping in your chosen program–I understand that. But dont invite headaches you dont have to, and see how far you can get without it.
Thanks again,
I need realism in the clothing folds, so Disp maps will be needed. I’ve tried modeling in folds in clothing manually, but it’s near impossible, and sculpting them in ZB is much better- I believe I have to figure out the Disp map settings for Modo, or else rendering within ZB