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Uv Check?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello,

I have a question that I haven't found an answer for yet...

The ‘Uv Check’ option shows you the gaps or overlaps in your UV layout, so when you hit that option, it gives you a new texture map that represents your layout.

I have gaps, so I hit ‘Fix Seam’ and all my gaps go away. I hit ‘Uv Check’ again, and the gaps are still there. So, this doesn’t actually tweak the UV layout, does it? Only helps to blend your texture?

That being said, I am trying to kick out disp and bump maps of this tool, but they have gaps. I hit ‘Fix Seam’ with FSBorder between 1-30 (several tries) before starting the bump map calculation. I then export that map and find it has seams anyway.

It used to work on this tool, but for some reason it isn’t anymore. So again, my question is: Does ‘Uv Check’ actually tweak the UV layout? Or does it only help to blend your texture? Do I ‘Fix Seam’ after the alpha map is made? Im confused as to why I am still getting seams…

Thanks!

#2

Tool > Texture > Fix Seam changes the texture map but not the UVs, which is also why it is disabled when no texture is selected. So it is an operation you want to perform after texturing or calculating normal/displacement maps. What it does is extend the texture data within disconneted UV areas to outside the disconnected UV areas. This can help avoid seams in some applications and, during my testing, it can also allow you to use texture antialiasing in your renderer of choice.

Tool > Texture > UV Check is not intended to show UV seam problem areas. It is meant to reveal overlapping UVs.

#3

So it doesn’t help at all when generating disp or bump maps? Only for textures?

#4

Displacement and Normal maps are also textures, so are specular, bump etc. They are just applied and appear on a model in different ways.

Fix Seam will work on all models that have UVs and a texture map selected.

Sorry about that. Textures for me is a wide concept. What I call a color map you would probably associate with a texture.

#5

How do you treat a disp or bump map as a texture?

Do you have to make alpha (newly created disp) a texture and then apply the ‘Fix Seams’ to it? I have been fixing seams before calculating disp or bump.

Also, is there a way to view bump or disp on your model to see if it has any gaps before sending over to my other 3d package?

#6

A bump map can be turned into a texture in ZBrush by pressing Alpha>Make Texture. You can then use the Fix Seams option on it.

Displacement maps cannot be treated this way, though, because they have 16 bits of data (or 32 bits) while textures only have 8 bits. Instead, ZBrush automatically performs a Fix Seams operation when creating a displacement map. If you want to control the width of the border, use Multi Displacement 2 (which comes as part of Displacement Exporter). This lets you specify the size of the border for the map that you’re about to create.

#7

Makin more sense now. Gracias aurick.

So applying “Fix Seam” before calculation does nothing for the disp or bump map.