Pixologic Release: ZBrush Learning Series - Texturing with Photoreference

[ryankingslien]

fnrtPeice.jpg (http://javascript%3cb%3e%3c/b%3E:zb_insimg%28%2729674%27,%27fnrtPeice.jpg%27,1 ,0%29)












PIXOLOGIC PRESENTS THE NEW ZBRUSH LEARNING SERIES




In this first release of the ZBrush Learning Series you will learn how to use photoreference and ZScripts from Marcus_Civis to rapidly create detailed textures for characters.

Starting with very detailed photos from www.3d.sk (http://www.3d.sk/) we project three views onto the model: side, three quarters and front views. Later, you can take these images into your graphic editor of choice and pick and choose what parts of each projection you like.







:b3: :b3: :b3: Download Movie Here (http://download.pixologic01.com/download.php?f=/ZBC/texturing_w_photo_ref.mov.zip) (8 mb) :b3: :b3: :b3:





Quicktime 7 required







:b3: :b3: :b3: Download ZScript: Image Plane Here (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=217555#post217555):b3: :b3: :b3:





Please note: you must use the most recent version of Image Plane. Download it from the link supplied above.







:b3: :b3: :b3: Download Zscript: Texture Library Here (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=30425):b3: :b3: :b3:






Please note that the textures shown in the movie come from www.3d.sk (http://www.3d.sk/) and do not come with the ZScript.



Happy ZBrushing!

Ryan

fnrtPeiceThumb2.jpg

[lemonnado]

That's great Ryan! THANKS!
Lemo

[anguyen]

thanks ryan! theres so much you can do in zbrush, its definitely becomming a better texture editing software :) we're using it for a majority of our texturing needs.

-anguyen

[ZippZopp]

sweet! Thanks Ryan! good one. I like using zbrush as much as i can for painting textures. really quick for me to build up skin tones with the tools zbrush has!

[upham]

Great Tutorial Ryan!
Thanks for taking the time to share this knowledge with us!

I don't surpose there is a follow-up tutorial about compositing the textures together in Photoshop?? I know it's not ZBrush, but I'd love a conclusion to your tutorial and follow it through from ZBrush to Photoshop and back to ZBrush!

Thanks again!
Upham :)

[ryankingslien]

Thanks guys! Glad you like it.

ZippZopp - congrats on the great work you posted! :)

Upham - The follow up is an interesting way to bake your texture into your sculpt to get perfect registery between your high detail modeling and you texture map!

Best,

Ryan

[Svengali]

Excellent Tut Ryan, so that's how you do it!

Sven

[Vegan]

Thank you !
This is just what Ineeded. :tu:

[Marsyas]

Great Tut! Thanks, guys. :)

[upham]

Hi ryan
Are you making a follow-up movie on baking a texture?? I'm looking forward to that!
Upham :)

[3Point14]

I've been looking for something like this for a while . The follow up with
Photoshop questions answered would be great.
Thanks for putting this together.

[cy]

Thanks Ryan for posting this I have been using a similar technique lately.
But I was too lazy to post a tutorial. Glad you beat me to it.

[mathieu77]

so nice Ryan, thank u very much. Will u be able to post a quick tut on the photoshop part of it and the final texture of your old lady?

Thanks once again
Mathieu

[Hardtwist]

Excellent tut. Thanks for doing and posting it Ryan. Amazing.:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

Jim

[Plakkie]

That's great! Just what I needed. :cool: Thanks ever so much. Me being not a Photoshop master, I also would welcom a follow up for the photoshop part of the story...

[Abyssis]

Dear Ryan, thank you really very much...I used my own noob but similar technique, but now, with your great help I know much, much more about it:cool:

one more: simply great:tu:

-cheerZ-

[Buckie]

Ryan, props to you for a great tut...

Marcus, uber props to you for another awesome script you are becoming a legend...

[Mahlikus The Black]

excellent stuff ryan.

[warpy]

yep awesome, definitely need to see that whole photoshop side of things.

[mindofchester]

Wow! That's awesome. Finding stuff like these video tutorials is like finding gold.
However, here's my noob question: Can this method be used when you apply a Adaptive UV in Zbrush?? There's a mention to a some follow-up tweeking in Photoshop but with AUVs, that'd seem impossible to do. Just wondering if you can use this method with AUVs rather than Unwrapping UVs.

Thanks

[warpy]

dont think so, unless you are totaly crazy, you would have to do it all in Z

[mindofchester]

Hahha...
Thanks Warpy.

[SpaceMan]

Ryan
Downloaded the video and files
Would not play - updated the video player files played sound
tried updating the files for the video player and the site says the video image file I am looking for is not for download.
Are you using a bets ver of Quick Time? if not what file(s) do I need to play the downloaded quick time video.
Thsanks

[ryankingslien]

Hello! glad you guys liked the movie.

Spaceman - the movie requires Quicktime 7. You may have to uninstal and reinstall Quicktime. That seems to have worked for some people.

mindofchester - This method assumes you have your UVs laid out. You could do this using AUV tiled UVs. The process is the same except you simply texture both sides and don't stop after doing just one. :)

Best,

Ryan

[ryankingslien]

old_kitty_hair_blonder_web.jpg

Hey Guys -

Just wanted to post the final result of the texturing from this video. This was sculpted and textured by myself using the technique in the video. Dilip Singh of Softimage created everything else, materials, lighting, rendering and hair in XSI. Facial deformation in Face Robot.

Check out a movie of her in action here. (http://www.softimage.com/products/face_robot/video_gallery/default.aspx)

It was great to work with the guys from XSI on this!

Cheers,

Ryan


old_kitty_hair_blonder_thum.jpg

[slocik]

your da man :] thats actually funny :P :tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu:

[odhinn]

Beyond words...
Shows were the next evolution of animation and games are going.
Have a few questions when you have time.
What was the render time on this animation?
Did you use normal-maps or displacement?
Wicked job bro, amazing work. 5 stars

[Bas Mazur]

Real nice talking photo carried by a base mesh! Long time ago I could do the same, but only in 2D, time goes fast:-)

[ryankingslien]

odhinn - Dilip took care of the rendering and deserves the lion share of credit for a gorgeous render. The detail was done with ZBrush displacement map.

Best,

r

[Evan Gaugh]

I saw this model on the FaceRobot Demo over at cg channel. I have to say it was animated horribly but face robot was a very impressive tool.

[voodoomonkey]

Ryan, you the MAN brother!
I still remember clearly the moment you showed me this.

OH CRAP!:eek:

I had to check...:o

Thank god, I didn't load my pants.:D

Thanks for given me the spark...
I'm off and running baby!;)

Later
Cesar Dacol Jr.
Aka, The Voodoo Monkey

[lemonnado]

WHO's YOUR MAMA ! :D

[bpmufx]

She looks like Farrah Fawcett these days. Really nice.

[ryankingslien]

Should I say who the inspiration was or let ya guess? :)


Ryan

[plutten]

What kind of uw:s your model have.

[plutten]

Hoe do you get that long fade on double side. Has it do do with the uw:s

[Hardtwist]

I am having a hard time seeing my model threw the image plane. Is there a way to make the IP more transparent?

[ryankingslien]

Hardtwist - make sure that your Zintensity for the plane is set to 0 before you go into Edit mode. :)

Ryan

[warpy]

hey ryan,

continuing my email, how come you didnt use liquid for that..

cheers.

[Hardtwist]

Thanks Ryan. :tu:
That did the trick. This is a great technique. I cant tell you how much fun it is. Oh wait I just did. LOL

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.


JIM

[mindofchester]

Wow Ryan, that`s awesome. I saw that in action at the TD Love Tour here in Montreal at the Softimage complex when they were showing Face Robot. Are you from Montreal? I remember seeing that whole concept that Face Robot creates an animated Stress Map so you can sculpt in some more wrinkles in Zbrush that`ll only appear when that certain area is "stressed" making the facial deformations even more realistic. Just want to express my appreciation for this tutorial and would hope to see much more and all the best.

[ryankingslien]

Warpy - Liquid grabs a snapshot of the canvas and applies it. Image Plane will take what you have in your texture palette and use that. :)

mindofchester - I am in the LA office though I love Montreal. :)

Best,

Ryan

[Prayer]

Hello! glad you guys liked the movie.

Spaceman - the movie requires Quicktime 7. You may have to uninstal and reinstall Quicktime. That seems to have worked for some people.

mindofchester - This method assumes you have your UVs laid out. You could do this using AUV tiled UVs. The process is the same except you simply texture both sides and don't stop after doing just one. :)

Best,

Ryan
hey ryan i got a model made and i got some high detail photo's of myself.
im picking up 3d again after not working with it for about 6 years so i realy have no clue about uv mapping, so im asking could you explain me how i can lay out uv's so i can aply the texture ?
i hope you can thnx if you do !@

regards: tamis van der laan

[lw3d]

Thank you for this tutorial :)

Please consider making a video showing how you combine the three textures in to one final texture ... this tutorial is incomplete with out it ... plus, the second tutorial in this series, modeling with textures, is useless with out it, especially on organic models

[ryankingslien]

Prayer - I will look into what I can offer along these things. The same process can be used with AUV tiled UVs. You will just have to use the Clone brush to clean up areas. There are a lot of directions that this can go. My hope is to spur peoples interest and thinking into new directions. I for one am not a fan of the UV layout process so getting me to do a video on that process may be difficult. :D

I would recommend Sean Mill's DVD here (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/smi04.html). Sean taught me a lot about UV layout and is very good about explaining things. :)

lw3d - I am considering a tutorial on the Photoshop aspect, especially since I used ZBrush's Texture Auto Update feature alot to make this work. However, "useless" might be a bit harsh of a judgement, no? :D You can use the Modeling With Your Texture technique with textures generated with Antropus' technique here (http://pixologic.com/zbrush/class/artaction.html) or even if you handpainted a really amazing texture. Take a look at what you can do with painting by hand here (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showpost.php?p=264613&postcount=25), as well. :)

plutten - I missed your comments earlier. I'm sorry. :cry: The UVs were laid out similiarly to here (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.illuminatelabs.com/tutorials/surftrans2/uvLayout.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.illuminatelabs.com/tutorials/surftrans2/surftrans2.html&h=639&w=645&sz=418&tbnid=AouKy_vsW28rwM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=135&hl=en&start=19&prev=/images%3Fq%3Duv%2Blayout%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26 lr%3D%26sa%3DN). To get the fade on the sides while texturing make sure that in your Tool pallette you have Display Properties: DSmooth set above 0. Set it to something like .01. Then when you turn on Fade in the Projection Master dialogue box it will fade nicely at the edges. :)

Best,

Ryan

[honiley]

They mention Face Robot in this months 3D World Magazine. If anyone's interested in buying it, it'll cost you £94 000 :(

[lw3d]

lw3d - I am considering a tutorial on the Photoshop aspect, especially since I used ZBrush's Texture Auto Update feature alot to make this work. However, "useless" might be a bit harsh of a judgement, no? :D You can use the Modeling With Your Texture technique with textures generated with Antropus' technique here (http://pixologic.com/zbrush/class/artaction.html) or even if you handpainted a really amazing texture. Take a look at what you can do with painting by hand here (http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showpost.php?p=264613&postcount=25), as well. :)



Ryan The method you show relies on the fact the model should have its skin texture complete thats why I say showing how you complete the pshop part is very important, especially to the modeling with textures lecture

Unless I am not understanding your lecture

[Abyssis]

Hi Ryan, thank you well for posting of next great look in your artist's "wizzard-kitchen":cool:

(I was experimenting with similar technique too, but now with your great help am I able to use it right - thumbsup...)

-cheerZ-

[mikemagruder]

Ryan,

Amazing tutorial! Thank you for putting this together. I can't wait to get started on this technique. One question though, unless I missed something, can you briefly explain what you mean by the "Morph Brush" when you go into smoothing out her ears after applying the Texture Alpha to her face in "Modeling with your Texture"? Thank you very much in advance :)

Mike

[SolidSnakexxx]

I tried out your technique, and I must say it's completely Awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge.

[whoyaposan]

i was trying to try out the tutorial but it seems the link is broken can you please help me thx:D

[ryankingslien]

Abyssis and SolidSnakexxx - Glad its helpful. :tu: :tu: :tu:

lw3d - another video is under consideration. :D

mikemagruder - The morph brush will store the shape of the model at it current resolution into memory. When you have done this the Morph Brush becomes visible in the Transform palette. You can then use the morph brush to paint the stored shape back into the model. :)

whoyaposan - I just tried the link again. It seems to be working for me. Are you still experiencing the problem? :)

Best,

Ryan

[mikemagruder]

thanks Ryan! so, it sounds like when you STOREMT (store morph target) a new brush is generated in the transform palette called "morph brush" and that allows you to "paint" back your original shape. cool :) A LOT simpler than trying to go in and smooth out all those details with the smooth brush. not sure if that's a newbie question, but thanks for answering!

I take it you laid out your uv's in another package? how did you handle that?

Mike

[ryankingslien]

Hey Mike - not a newbie question at all. Kind of an unrepresented side of ZBrush. More my fault than anything else. Using it to do blendshapes is a fantastic options. :)

r

[havok9k]

Ryan,
First off, friggin' brilliant tutorial! I am very much a noob and your tutorial was very helpful.

Along that line, I have a (hopefully) easy question for you: I used a modified version of this technique (I am working on an alien, so there wasn't really any photo reference available ;) ). So I created some skin samples in PS and brought them in as Alpha masks. I then used the Deco brush in PM to ZAdd them all over the skin. I then used your "Inflate/Smooth" process. I was really happy with the results.

Unfortunately, it has resulted in some skin "deterioration" or pits (especially on the lower SDiv levels). They are almost non-existent on the highest level. I wouldn't worry about it except that this deterioration is very pronounced on the displacement map and is creating some "unpaintable" areas when I am working on the texture (usually shows up as little white flecks that can't be painted).

It almost looks like the polys have folded up on themselves making the normals whacked, but I don't know how to fix it. Making another smooth pass does nothing or makes it worse (depending on the strength). I have also tried getting rid of them by hand (ie, smooth, inflate, morph, etc.), but I am not having much luck. :cry:

Any help you can give me figuring out how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
-Matt

skin_deterioration.jpg

[ryankingslien]

havok9k - there is a point in the inflating process where you have to be very careful to not over do it. The pits you are seeing is the result of using Inflate too many times. It is hard to say when this will happen or when it is "too much" until it actually is too much. I would suggest you start over and save out iterations every few cycles of smoothing and inflating. :)

Ryan

[havok9k]

That's the weird part. I only inflated and smoothed it once or maybe twice. I think I have saved off a pre-inflated version at home, so I will go back and check. Thanks for the reply. It is much appreciated. :)
-Matt

[andreseloy]

Hi Ryan, in your tutorial you get the texture map that is not auv or guv tiles, that allow you to crop and fill the mask and reworked it on the canvas right?
but i always have the guv tiles or auv like the image in sending, in that case i cant rework the mask in the canvas, have you some suggestion for this?
Thanks in advance and thanks again for your smart tutorial:tu:
Andreseloy

[Bas Mazur]

He Mario, use uv-mapper for it. Also Hexagon comes soon with this option:-)
www.uvmapper.com

[andreseloy]

Bas I dont understand.
I have UV Mapper Professional from that i took the image im posting below but how i can use it with the PM and Marcus Image plane script?
Thanks friend
Mario

[Bas Mazur]

Andre, before you use uv mapper first make some groups from the overlapping partsin the model. In uv mapper you choose spherical or cylindric mapping. Drag out the groups to an empty place (you can scale parts to get more place). When there are no overlapping parts you export the model and the texturemap. See the picture how it looks like. Now you can use ZB to texture the object.

[lw3d]

Andre, before you use uv mapper first make some groups from the overlapping partsin the model. In uv mapper you choose spherical or cylindric mapping. Drag out the groups to an empty place (you can scale parts to get more place). When there are no overlapping parts you export the model and the texturemap. See the picture how it looks like. Now you can use ZB to texture the object.
How long does it actually take to make such a nice uv map like above in uvmapper pro ...

[Bas Mazur]

lw3d, it depends how many groups there are in the model and if there are a lot of overlapping polygons. I do not have the pro version (I work on a mac). I asked Tartan to change the map and drag out the teeths, tongue and noseholes. But making the base of the map takes not a long time, just import, map and save the model with the texture.

[safe05]

Nice tutorial! I'm reallying enjoying texturing my models with this method, I'm just having a little problem when it comes to precision adjustments. Even if I divide my image plane quite a bit, I can't get accurate control over it. It's as if there's an offset between my cursor and what gets modified. (see pics) Anyone else run into this? Any solution? Thanks. :)

[jasongri]

can someone help me with this. when i go to project my second image it doesn't, i went to front view, forgoing the angle, and followed the proceedures but when i click edit and move, the image doesnt project. i can maniplate the image and all and it even turns to grid when i miss a vertice, but its behind my model and is still in a square.

[safe05]

Did you drop the ZDepth value down to zero before switching over to "Edit" mode?

[jasongri]

i got it to work. I removed the script then put it back in after initializing. works now.

[Conan_Italy]

Amazing 3D work and a great tutorial!
:D

Many thanks.

Ciao!

[SpriteD]

Since I finally got quick time to work I have been trying to do this, but I must be missing a critial step. My question? Is there a PDF tut here that I can d/l and be able to follow step by step. Thanking U in advance.

[Bas Mazur]

Please don't shout so loud. It's better telling us where it went wrong...

[SpriteD]

Sorry didn't mean to shout....I am old and it was hard for me to see what I wrote. I can get the image plane with the texture to work. I can get the model and plane in Texture Master. Problem when I "pick up" in Texture Master the image is NOT on my model and I am left with a "gray square". I know I must be missing a step, but where? I wanted to know if there is a PDF page that explains step by step just what to do, so I can find my missed step. Any and all help appreciated. Again sorry for the screaming.:rolleyes:

[ryankingslien]

SpreuteD - There is no PDF guide for this. What version of ZBrush are you using? You mention Texture Master so that would lead me to think an early version than ZBrush 2.

r

[SpriteD]

Ops!!! No I have z-brush 2 and its Projection Master. Just never got used to the new name.

[Bas Mazur]

SpriteD, here is a small script. Try if it works.

[cwess]

Not sure what's causing it, but I also have the offset problem when editing the plane as in your case. It seems to get worse/be more apparent the more the plane is subD'd. did you ever find a solution?

-wes.

[SpriteD]

No I still can'tget any of it to work. I resize my photo reference. I load my model, I load Image Plane, and when I drop it into projection master, and get it fit, when I go to pick it up, everything goes away, or I get an error message tell ing me that Z-brush as anexecutible error and will shut down. UGH :( I have tried so many time to make it work I am about to give up. As you probably realize I am a newbie and NOT a professional modler I love Z-brush but just can't get things to always work. Hope you have better luck.

[Bas Mazur]

But the script, did it work or not?

[Tartan]

Hey Sprite,

I know what you mean about writing large text. Much easier to see that way. I need glasses! I think I know what your problem is after a few struggles of my own. Maybe lol.

First thing first, make sure that Image Plane and Texture Library scripts are in the Zstartup/Zplugs folder so you dont have to worry about loading them up.

bring up Texture library and load the Texture image you want to use. do the crop and fill thing.

Do Not load up image plane until after you do the next step

load the tool you want to use, position it, ctrl n the background away and Then drop into projection master.

Make sure you click Plane 3d in tools at this point after you are in projection master. Then go ahead and load the texture you want to use and hit the image load button. After that image is loaded set Z intensity to 0, make sure that rgb is on and hit edit.

Now Here is where I have messed up the most trying to use Image Plane and where I think you are hanging up also. Instead of hitting my Move edit I would use the default draw instead without thinking. Sometimes if you do that the texture disappears from the plane and even if you hit Move after that nothing you can do is going to allow you to manipulate the texture you want onto your model and you have to start over. Unless someone knows of an easy way to get things back on track again? This appears to me to be a bug as is the next problem. It isn't consistent.

Here is the second part that had me tearing out the rest of my rapidly departing hair and if anyone knows a simple solution that's right under my nose please enlighten me. When I create a new document in Zbrush after I have made some mistake in the Image Plane phase, Projection Master is still active. Even if I pick up before I create a new document there is Still an image plane in the New document. Even if I select a tool like the head I am working on. I have been solving that by simply restarting Zbrush which is a pain. I must be overlooking something.

Bas I tried the script out and it works fine :tu: but it runs too fast! lol

Anyway Sprite, dont give up and keep plugging away at it. :)

ooops Thanks Ryans for a great tutorial. This is a Great method!

[Frenchy Pilou]

Missed this one :confused:
Trying to make the same with Tattoo (http://www.terabit.nildram.co.uk/tattoo/) ;)
Seems your method a little bit more powerful :D

[Revilo]

mmm.. seems everybody here has not had a problem loading these scripts..

I extracted the .zip to my (now created) Zstartup\Zplug folder - nothing.

I ran the Zscripts from in zbrush to try manual loading - nothing

I cant get this going at all... please help

:(

EDIT.. DW I got it.. I though it created new buttons somewhere else.. my mistake :)

[MilitaryT0m]

For some reason when i use this method... the texture is a little bit more blurry then the original reference image. Any ideas why?

[ryankingslien]

For some reason when i use this method... the texture is a little bit more blurry then the original reference image. Any ideas why?
Can you upload examples? The most important thing is that you increase your canvas size to the same size as your photoreference. That will ensure the best quality. :)

Ryan

[Erklaerbar]

Tom, this together with ryans tip will help you :

http://www.pixolator.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=290391#post290391

[Duder101]

Can anyone Tell me where I am going wrong with this. I have watched the tutorial numerous times and have follwed each step carefully but each time I get the same result.

The image looks as though it is tiling around the model as can be seen in the jpegs. The first is how everything looks just before I pick it up from projection master. The next two are how it looks after the pickup is complete. As you can see the entire image is being placed on the model instead of just the face.

Any suggestions are much appreciated. I'm fairly new to ZBrush so please dont be too technical.

[tigerxd]

My English is not good ,so I just say thank you .this tool very good!

[safe05]

Duder: it looks almost like your UV coordinates are messed up. as a test, try applying GUV to your model and try again.

[megalooser]

Duder101: You have a bad UV coordinates. I my opinion same face in your model are overlaped. Try unwrap it in other soft or use AUV/GUV and texture the head again.

[Duder101]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. The uv coordinates are indeed all screwed. up. I'm new to Zbrush and 3d modelling in general so I didn't realise what was wrong.

Much appreciated guys!!

[aurick]

You can map your model very quickly in ZBrush by simply applying a blank texture to your model and then pressing Tool>Texture>GUVTiles or AUVTiles. The texture should be a power of two in dimension, such as 1024x1024, 2048x2048 or 4096x4096.

[scratchedscott]

So I'm trying to use this method for texturing a head I built and laid out in maya, and I'm getting some rather strange projection errors. I've got double sided on and my UV's aren't overlapping or mirrored or anything but I'm getting very strange results when I pickup from the projection master.
I've exported the mesh out of zb after this process and brought it back into maya and the UV's are still fine. Now here's the really weird thing, if I just paint some color in the projection master using a single layer brush or whatever I can paint across those weird boundaries and it works fine. So its something to do with the projection of the image plane onto the mesh...
Anyone have any ideas?


http://www.scratchstudios.com/z_misc/zb_error.jpg

[ryankingslien]

scratchedScott - the first thing to do is always check for overlapping UVs. Even if you are absolutely convinced there are none. To do that go to the texture palette and select Texture Off. Then go to the tool palette, Texture sub-palette and press Check UV. If there is red then that is likely your problem. if not, then it is somewhere else. Can you do that test first and then get back to us?

r

[scratchedscott]

Thanks Ryan, that was totally it. I had a couple stray polys way outside the 0 to 1 uv space that were screwing it up. Total noob mistake :) Anyway thanks again.

[iseu]

thank you for the video tutorial,i am a beginner,thanks ryan

[Joyce]

I am hoping you can help me. I have watched the movie several times and cannot get this to work. When I am in Projection Master the image does not wrap to my model, it stays as a plane. It will project, but I cannot edit it as you show in the movie. Any ideas?

[ryankingslien]

You must make sure that you are have pressed RGB and set ZIntensity to 0 before you go into Edit mode. If you didn't then just leave Edit mode, press RGB and set ZIntensity to 0. Make sure that ZAdd is on. You should be fine now.

:)

[aphroditej7]

I tried seeing how you made the 3d mesh head but i can't figure it out... and its a great tutorial by the way....:tu:

[caseybasichis]

Is there a way to get a wire fram on the model, or perhaps lower the opacity of the image map temporarily? I have a model with really subtle features and I realy cant make head or tails of where they are with the map on top.

[Moka]

Hi, Ryan
I love your tutorials they are very helpfull !!! :tu: :tu: :tu:
Tanx a lot for your help.
I have just a question... what did you means in the Texturing with Photoreference tutorial that we have to move the texture projjected in the 3d plan with push and pull point around selected ??
I can just move the texture when i move the points....i make something wrong
Anway.... i can live with that but the big problem is.....
terrible.jpg
It works fine in the frontal view but terrible in the side view :( (please be patience... it's my first head in Zbrush....i come from Maya)
Tanx for you support....it's like gold for me :)

[Twitchmonkey]

I think your problem here is you have double sided on which is projecting all your frontal textures to the back of the head, and while these textures may look great on the front, most people do not have eyes on the back of their heads, so that can come off looking a little odd.

[Moka]

Twitchmonkey... my official mentor !!! ;)
OK i go to try these one....

[Moka]

Sme thing .... i think it's why i use UVTile...may be ?

[joep]

hi moka.
i did it like a week ago :), try going 2 lowest sub-division and switch textures on cylindercal,if you got no overlapping uv regions it will work really well.
and the texture is a bit more logic for photoshopping afterwards.
goolduck!

el joepé

[ryankingslien]

Is there a way to get a wire fram on the model, or perhaps lower the opacity of the image map temporarily? I have a model with really subtle features and I realy cant make head or tails of where they are with the map on top.
Hello caseybasichis,
There are two things I would try:
1. adjust your lights to highlight the features you are interested in a bit better.
2. use a dry erase marker and mark on your monitor the areas that are important. I draw on my monitor all the time. :)

r

[ryankingslien]

Hi, Ryan
I love your tutorials they are very helpfull !!! :tu: :tu: :tu:
Tanx a lot for your help.
I have just a question... what did you means in the Texturing with Photoreference tutorial that we have to move the texture projjected in the 3d plan with push and pull point around selected ??
I can just move the texture when i move the points....i make something wrong
Anway.... i can live with that but the big problem is.....
It works fine in the frontal view but terrible in the side view :( (please be patience... it's my first head in Zbrush....i come from Maya)
Tanx for you support....it's like gold for me :)
Hello Moka - I am not sure I understand your question but the problem your image shows is most likely the result of your UV layout. To test this follow the steps below:


turn off your texture in the texture palette.
go to the Tool:Texture sub-menu and press UV check
if there is any red than you have overlapping uvs which will cause the results you see.

to create new UVs go to the Tool:Texture palette and press AUV or GUV. its as easy as that. :)

Best,

Ryan

r

[Moka]

Tanx Ryan

I tryed also and the model looks fine but.....
my texture look than like that (it's just the frontal view-texture)
texture.jpg
and i can't modify something like that in Photoshop
Anyway i'm tryng to remap the UVs in Maya ..... the bad new is than Maya can't export files OBJ.
I know that normally that may work and i know also how but my Maya (7.0 unlimited - Mac) can't
maya.gif
that's why i tryed to make it on Zbrush.....

I will learn... ineed just time...

[ryankingslien]

Moka - the OBj exporter in Maya is not always turned on and so not visible in the export options.

I think the place to turn it on is in the plug-in manager which is under Edit: Preferences.

r

[Moka]

Ryan ...... you are more than a mentor... you are a GURU !!!

In Maya Window -> Settings/Preferences -> Plug-In Manager

TANK YOUUUUUU :D :D :D :D

[pete330]

hey moka (and other maya 7 mac users),

you might be interested in this. can't vouch for it as i use lightwave but some other folks i know said it works ok... some sort of pelt mapper plugin i believe...

dl in this post
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=3801603&postcount=12

full thread
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=393192

cheers!

[Elixir]

There is an export OBJ plug-in for Maya. I tried to get you a link at HighEnd 3D but I couldn't find it. Have a look in your plug-in manager in Maya. I am not sure if it comes as standard but not loaded.

I didn't see that Ryan had beat me to the answer. :)

[HannesJ]

Hi,
thanks for your great tutorial, I spent the whole day trying to get my model textured. Everything is OK until I see the texture mapped on my model inside image plane.
Each time I try to alter the texture (yes, I switched to "move"), it vanishes and my model stays grey.

I tried to add both GUV or AUV to the model and switched also to a low resolution, but nothing helped.
I did the whole thing with a simple zsphere and everything was fine. What am I doing wrong? I hope you can help me.
Thanks in advance,

Hannes

[ryankingslien]

HannesJ- make sure you are using the latest download of ImagePlane. Redownload it from the site. :)

r

[HannesJ]

Hi Ryan,
I downloaded it 2 days ago, so I guess it has to be the latest one.
Just checked it - it's the latest.

As I said, it works with a model built directly in zbrush. My model is an imported .obj-file. Probably it's some incompatibility or something like that.

Hannes

[franzl]

Hey Ryan,

i am new in using Zbrush and i use the Plugin Imageplane since 2 Days. Now i have a Problem. In your video Tutorial, i can see that the Option Fade from the Projection Masters works. But in my Project, the Projection Masters Projected the Texture with hard ends. It doesnt fade out in the Background Color. What am i doing wrong. It also doesnt work with a zsphere Modell. I habe tested all UV Projetions in Zbrush, watched your Video thausend times. But i cant find the problem. Or have i used an older version then you? Can you help me oder anyone else?

[Bas Mazur]

Franzi, an earlier post in this thread:
To get the fade on the sides while texturing make sure that in your Tool pallette you have Display Properties: DSmooth set above 0. Set it to something like .01. Then when you turn on Fade in the Projection Master dialogue box it will fade nicely at the edges.

[franzl]

Thanks Bas Mazur,
thats what i found out last night. Sometimes small things can be very hard to find out.
Great forum.
Your support is very quick.
My next problems will be come.

[MuTe]

I am currently creating a workflow for using texture projection methods as showed in these videos for film-set design.

Where with character design one might want to alter the texture to fit the 3d model, i would like to know if i can switch between layers so instead of altering the texture with the image plane, i can switch back to my 3d model (keep image plane projecting), select a row of vertices of my 3d model and move those.

This way i could match the model to the texture, in what way can i do this?

Superthanx for you support,

Mutey

[MuTe]

Can i switch layers so i can edit the 3d object on mesh level?
For film set design i am currently working on its not of use to modify the texture so i would like to modify the mesh so it matches the projected texture.

Is this possible?

Thanx,

Daniel

[partick]

Hi there
as a pensioner I just cannot pick this up maybe I'am out of my depth here can anyone out there put the above into a pdf for me as I can follow tutorials in a written fashion.Thanking you all just the same.partick.

[partick]

Hi Ryan
what software did you use for the Head and the UVs if I had the head and uvs then I probally could do the exercise.
Thank you Bas for script I followed it quite easily by opening zscript palette slowed it down and got help notices.Is this the same as Ryans the one I cannot do.partick

[ryankingslien]

muTe - You can certainly edit your 3d model but I understand you want your texture to continue to be projected as you sculpt. You could use Reference Image 2 to establish your photo as a background plane and then set the transperancy slider to let you see the image behind it.

You can access it here: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=38313

Patrick - I understand your desire for a pdf version. Right now I do not have one available. Though some of the information may be available on our wiki at www.zbrush.info (http://www.zbrush.info). :)

This model and its UVs were done in XSI. :)

Thanks for the script Baz! :)

r

[partick]

Hi Ryan
i'am back again as the Tutorial shows how easy you can do it I have decided to call time on it and leave it to you Experts ,as i'am to thick to grasp it all I noticed you had UV maps in texture palette so maybe thats my problem as it doe's not say anything about UVs.partick

[nofounture]

very helpfulvery helpfulthanks a lot

[partick]

Hi there
in reponse to thank you very much, when I have to go to the Library to use internet so when I saw Ryans tutorial I downloaded it,on trying same I did not know I needed image plane or texturlibrary so back to Library where i'am allowed 15 minutes or an hour depending on how many people where waiting.I could not get it to work I needed power of 2 so tried again no luck back to forum and found out that I had to select plane tool in order to select the texture still no luck back again I saved in wavefront in c4d and flipped head in preferences but what I got was upside down back again found out i needed Riptide flipped UVs still could not get it to work called time on it.Twodays ago I tried again still the same could not get image like Ryan doe's but this time after edit and move instead of destroying mesh as I was doing I went into texture palatte and used the imagesize slider I moved it to 50% and back to 98 99% and this gave me the image where I increased brush size got eyes where they should be also nose and mouth ,I shut computer down and went back to it day after and repeated imagesize slider and got it to work I do not know if this is the answer but I finally got it to work.Before the thank you very much know the circumstances before tou start throwing the stones.It took me weeks back and forth where someone at home would take an hour.I thank Ryan and marcus and also Zbrush for making it possible I can do the same thing in Bodypaint but get a better result in zbrush it has taking a lot of back and forward to library but you cannot ride a bycycle without a chain I would still like to know how it works and maybe I would know how to fix it.Thank you all for your patience.

[Doomeduser]

Hihi

This thread has answered my previous issue; was having problems with my Uvs, so downloaded UVmapper and made my own :D Promblem solved!

The only problem I have now. is when im in Projection Master and trying to move the texture around, the plane gridlines come up instead. I understand this is because Im not selecting any verticies...

But, anywhere I click, the gridline pops up. I`ve tried subdividing the texture plane, but it only makes the gridlines smaller.

Any suggestions?

[ryankingslien]

Doomeduserr -

In the transform menu turn Dots off. :)

r

[JesseGraffam]

great tutorial. This helps save a ton of time.

[kkempster]

for us with a mac, who don't yet have zmapper, and are brand spanking new to this whole 3d stuff. But I guess in the long run it has made me want to learn how to UV map so I can use this most awesome tutorial.

[SirNeo]

I have a problem with this,

fail1ml8.jpg
fail2bw8.jpg


I checked the UV and uvs;
Result;

fail3ij7.jpg


How can i solve this problem?

[gulliver]

thank's Ryan, great tutorial!
i tried this tutorial, about texturing whith image plane,
and i still whith a big problem, maybe you can help me,
in my example,i don't have a three quarter view image,
so, i flipped the side image in photoshop, and i cloned the texture beetween
each steps, but the other side i did before, is destroyed and twisted...
and very bad seams...

why?

[phucdv]

Good tutorials !

[MATT_KB]

it looks to me that your uvs are messed up (overlapping) how did you do them? if you didnt need to edit the uvs in a 2d package you could just use tile uvs in zbrush, but i recently followed this tutorial and you need to piece the projections together. what i think you need to do then is export your lowest sub division into max or some other 3d package and do your uv layout in their and then import it back to zbrush for it to update your uvs, its fairly easy to make and check your uvs in max. thats what i used and iv just finished the texture process today with it working fine. if you search for "exploding mesh" in the main forum their is a link to a thread where i wrote down the process i took to do this to ensure the mesh doesnt explode when you re-import it to zbrush (as stated on that post i dont take credit for that, theirs two other very clever guys on the post who sorted it). also if your new to uv layout google a guy called "eric masouwski, organic modeling", hes got a great tutorial for the basic concept. hope this helps

i strongly recommend you check the explode mesh link as this will save you a lot of trouble

p.s im a noob so their may be a better way to sort this

[SagaAP2]

this tut looks great! i was wondering if you guys can help me out. Im having trouble when i get to a certain step...

i turn on projection master and i can't seem to select the texture anymore. The docked texture palette becomes grayed out.

i then try to run the image plane script. since i couldn't select the texture in the previous step, it brings up a navigation window asking me to select which file i want to choose. after choosing the file i get a message saying:

ZScript Note: Interface item could not be found.

Alpha:Brush00
in...
[IPress,Alpha:Brush00]

am i missing a step?

running zbrush 3.1 thanks!

[shellsing]

Great tutorial!
Im having the same prob as SagaAP2 though with the Texturepalette being grayed out and unusable after dropping my mesh in projection master. Im also running Zbrush 3.1

[octypants]

Thank you very much! I use this and modeling with photo ref tutorial all the time.

I have one quesion. When I "pickup" on projection master, texture created always goes 1024x1024.
Is there anyway to keep it to original size? In the tutorial, your texture stays original size which seems to be 2848 x 3122. Then you change it to 4096 and clone it and exported it to psd.

Thank you in advance :)

[Heiner_hink]

Hi there,
i dont know what it is, and it also may rather belong to the thread regarding the plugin Image plane, so, i am sorry if i post something here which belonges somwhere else.
I follow the steps of the tut, and all works fine, till i have to use Image plane. As soon as i try to use it, it tells me that it is missing Alpha 00. My alphas in ZB 3.1 start with 01. Could it be, that this is just because of bad numbering?
Best regards,
Heiner

[Bas Mazur]

Please no more problems, they are working on a Mac-release!

[Heiner_hink]

I am sorry, i just asked a question, i thought thats what a forum is good for. And i am sorry for the problem, i did not invent it, or make it up and rather would have it working and not posting stoopid questions.
Again, sorry ...
Heiner
(somehow still clueless)

[dsg5]

Doesn't work

I appreciate all the work they are doing but what is the point of a mac version if the pc version doesn't work? what is this brush00 error everyone is getting? I have the 3.1 plugin. It doesn't work. Sorry mac users lets get it working first.

[Bas Mazur]

Heiner, just a joke, do'nt care ;) Good luck solving your problems.

[marcus_civis]

If you get the Alpha 00 error with the Image Plane plugin this means that either you don't have the correct version installed or an older version is still present and causing a conflict.

Shift-click the LoadImage button. The correct version will show 'Image Plane 3.1" at the bottom of the help screen.

[Jorge Lescale]

hello..ive been searching all day inside the forum a way to make this tutorial work for zbrush 3.1 and i havent find a good answer yet..maybe my search wasnt good enough...everytime i try to move my plane 3d i get the "convert to polymesh first" and when i do that the tutorial is no longer the same (sux)..i think this is because the image plane plugin creates a plane 3d and we need pm3d plane, is it possible to fix this issue into your plugin?
where can i find a new tutorial that work for zbrush 3.1

i think that if zbrush 2 and zbrush 3.1 are different , u must separate tutorials section too.

any help will be very apreciated:)

[aurick]

hello..ive been searching all day inside the forum a way to make this tutorial work for zbrush 3.1 and i havent find a good answer yet..maybe my search wasnt good enough...everytime i try to move my plane 3d i get the "convert to polymesh first" and when i do that the tutorial is no longer the same (sux)..i think this is because the image plane plugin creates a plane 3d and we need pm3d plane, is it possible to fix this issue into your plugin?
where can i find a new tutorial that work for zbrush 3.1

i think that if zbrush 2 and zbrush 3.1 are different , u must separate tutorials section too.

any help will be very apreciated:)
Which version of Image Plane are you using? The most current is found here: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=46396

[Snaglepuss]

My model looks ok when I follow the tutorial, however the textures that are created are unusable. What am I doing wrong?

[aurick]

There's some sort of problem with the UV mapping on your model.

[Snaglepuss]

I am new to all this, so I appreciate any help you could give me.
My model is improted from 3DsMax 2008, if that makes a difference. I have never experienced UV problems like this before.. Any suggestions on how to resolve this?

[Snaglepuss]

I realize that my question was way to vague. I decided to scrap my model and work directly in ZBrush. I think there may be a bug when importing UVs from Max 2008 to ZBrush, so I will keep the process "In House" for my next try. Thanks

[MimiFouchon]

I've been using this in ZB2 and it works just great! Today I'm trying ZB3, yes have latest version of Image Plane) and after positioning my model to line up with the texture, I clear image via Layers Palette and my texture clears from the background but my figure turns invisible!

I know it's still there but what the hay? How do I get it to appear again or get it to not go invisible in the first place?

[ryankingslien]

I've been using this in ZB2 and it works just great! Today I'm trying ZB3, yes have latest version of Image Plane) and after positioning my model to line up with the texture, I clear image via Layers Palette and my texture clears from the background but my figure turns invisible!

I know it's still there but what the hay? How do I get it to appear again or get it to not go invisible in the first place?I can imagine this happening if your color swatch is set to black or if you have a black texture active. Could you upload a screen grab of this?

ryan

[octypants]

Hello,

I asked a question while ago, but I didn't get answer so I like to try again.

I followed this tutorial and everything works fine except when I "pickup" on projection master, texture created always goes 1024x1024.
Is there anyway to keep it to original size? In the tutorial, the texture stays original size which seems to be 2848 x 3122. Then change it to 4096 and clone it and exported it to psd.

My photo is 3072x4096, and I'm just wasting that resolution if it becomes 1024x1024, I am quite flustrated T_T

I haven't updated zbrush yet. I have been using zbrush 2 and original image plane plug-in.

I guess possible solution is just update zbrush and plug-in.
But if anybody can help me, I'd appreciate it very much.

Thanks in advance :)

[ryankingslien]

Hello Octypants,

Its been some time since I used ZBrush 2 but my feeling is that you are not creating a for your 3D model before you go into Projection Master.

In this case, ZBrush creates a texture map at the default size of 1024. It does not use the texture size of the image you are using.

So, the solution, before going into projection master, go to the Texture palette, set the width and height and pres New. Then go into Projection Master.

:)

Ryan

[octypants]

Ryan!!

First, I thought importing a texture(photo) replace the one I create(as you told me to).
But I finally understand what you mean.

And yes! It worked!!!

Thank you very much!

I feel much much better now :)

[Nolan_R]

The only problem I have now. is when im in Projection Master and trying to move the texture around, the plane gridlines come up instead. I understand this is because Im not selecting any verticies...

But, anywhere I click, the gridline pops up. I`ve tried subdividing the texture plane, but it only makes the gridlines smaller.

Any suggestions?I also have this problem, I can't see the texture moving interactively on the surface of the model (as in the video) - I only see the edges of the plane moving in wireframe mode. Only when I release the mouse can I see the effect the move has had on the texture.

Ryan suggested to Doomeduser to turn off Dots Display in the Transform menu, but I've checked that and it's definitely off. Any ideas?

[octypants]

>Nolan_R
i can think of three things
-turn off the "Transform>Frame(or Dots Display, usually ppl use frame)
-Divide the plane few more times
-increase Draw Size

[Nolan_R]

Tried those Octypants - no joy :(
Anyone have any more suggestions?

[Nolan_R]

The problem I've mentioned above seems to be a performance issue related to the size of the image I'm using.
The original image was 2048x2916. If I halve the size to 1024x1458 then the technique works fine, and I can see my adjustments 'live' on the surface of the model.
I do find this limitation a bit odd though seeing I'm running ZBrush3.1 on a pretty powerful machine (Intel Core 2 Quad, 4Gb RAM, GeForce 8800 GTX).

Anyone else experiencing this limitation?

[marcus_civis]

Nolan_R,

Set the Preferences>Draw>Adots slider to its highest setting. That should do it.

[Nolan_R]

That worked a treat - thanks Marcus.

One lingering niggle though - when deforming the plane I can't see the red circles that represent the brush size, I can only see the red dot that represnts the centre of the brush. Any thoughts on this?

[marcus_civis]

Nolan_R,
I'm afraid that the cursor change is to do with using Move mode rather than Draw mode. There's no way round that.

[Nolan_R]

Fair enough, thanks anyway

[Dodger]

Is there any way to do this stuff in Draw mode? If I try and switch to Draw mode it tells me I have to convert it to a polymesh (somehting like that) and, if I do, it messes it all up.

I just thought it would be nice to use mroe than just move, like the nudge brush, or... !!! THE Smooth Brush!!! <-- It would be nice to be able to smooth things after manipulating to bring it back a little, like if I have to pull in a part to match a lumpy area, I'd like to smooth it out to less distortion, but I have to do this manually.

Two other things I'm wondering about, one of which is probably totally impossible, so the other one first:

I've noted that, especially after a lot of manipulation, the red dot indicating where you're working ends up being nowhere near the cursor and while I cvan deal with this and compensate for it, it's annoying and in some cases it's impossible to get to certain parts, because if you move the cursor to where the red dot would be, I'm off the mesh and, as a result, no longer getting the red dot at alll (and if I do anything I just end up rotating the image plane, which aappears to be not undoable on top of it all)

The other that is probably impossible due to the shamefully limited image format output options and the way Projection Master works and stuff, but hey, if I'm wrong and it IS possible, I may as well ask (besides, maybe this way Pixologic will hear about somehting interpreted as a lack that should be addressed anyway) So here it is: Alpha channel on textures.

Gonna elabourate on that last part, in the sense that Pixologic should make this possible, because if they don't someone like one of the open source coders for mudbox is going to eventually jump on this and make a standalone app, and I'll buy it out of potential ZBrush 4 funds:

Right now we can do some amazing stuff to wrap textures onto a mesh using Projection Master. Problem is, then once we pick them back up the "fade" fades not to transparent, but to white (or whatever was there before). This means we have things overlapping each other or fading into white and if we want to stitch them together we have to erase edges manually (and possibly need to erase near a seam, which introducsed texture seam visibility, which is bad)

If textures were able to maintain an alpha channel, we could start PM with a transparent channel and fade to transparent. Then when we take our sections and load 'em into Photoshop and layer the exports together, they marge up right, so we just erase the random little gray bars and anything that got onto the wrong area on a later layer, and viola.

Right now it's great that we can do that, but cleaning up the results takes nearly as many hours as making a texure the old-fashioned way.

(While I'm making a wishlist item in this post, I may as well add: Support for OBJ materials with separate textures built for each would make all this even better -- in case it gets heard OR said proverbial other programmer is trawling forums for ideas)

[3rdman2009]

Dude I could kiss you right now!!! thank you soooooooooooooooo much man, damn good workflow, wont forget this 4 real, cheers :lol:

[ryankingslien]

dodger - I'm responding to this very late but here it goes. problem 1 can be solved by a change to your workflow.
First, layout the UVs of your model with production level UV's.
Second, establish a basic rough texture for the face by projecting front, side, top, etc views and take it into Photoshop
Third, use ZAppLink to create specific spot texture maps for the chin, side of nose, under part of nose and other hard to reach areas.
Fourth, overlay the texture map for the specific area on top of the roughed in texture map. Create a Layer Mask that hides everything and then paint back in the area that you need (for example, the chin, nose...).
Fifth, check texture in Maya or ZBrush
sixth, repeat step 4 for all your problem areas.

3rdman2009 - glad it was useful. :)

[EL_LORD]

Thanks for this tutorial

[YouZC]

The download movie link is giving me the "This server can only be accessed by the proper referring server." webpage. Anyway of reuploading?

[xluox]

good idea to a freshman.

xluox

[msquared]

hey can anybody tell me how to do this in zbrush 3.5 as i can seem to get it to work no matter what i try

[ryankingslien]

I would recommend using ZAppLink for a more robust approach. If memory serves correctly, this approach pre-dates ZAppLinks' first incarnation.

[YouZC]

Will Zaaplink reappear or is it completely gone now in the latest and future versions of Zbrush?

[marcus_civis]

Will Zaaplink reappear or is it completely gone now in the latest and future versions of Zbrush?

ZAppLink is included in the installer for ZBrush 3.5 R3. If you've installed 3.5 R3 without ZAppLink then you can install it by modifying the installation through the Control Panel. If you've not got 3.5 R3 then it is free to registered users - raise a ticket through Support (https://support.pixologic.com/) .

[Aeron]

Hi everyone,

I'm new with Zbrush, and i'm trying to do what does this tutorial.
But, it seems very old for now. What would be the best way to achieve this with ZB 3.2 (OsX)?

Thx a lot!

Aeron

[marcus_civis]

I'm new with Zbrush, and i'm trying to do what does this tutorial.
But, it seems very old for now. What would be the best way to achieve this with ZB 3.2 (OsX)?


Hi Aeron,

This is the best method to use if on the Mac:

http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index.php/Tutorial:ZProject_and_Adjusting_Photo_Reference

Be sure to follow the instructions specific to the Mac - it's important that the plane is made into a polymesh and the Move brush is used to adjust the image.

HTH,

[Aeron]

Thx a lot Marcus

I'll will try that! :tu: