Architectural Rendering

[coreyschroeder]

Hey Everyone,

I got an idea for a sculpture this weekend, that I think would be a really cool way to test out fibermesh.
I want to sculpt a small apartment, and use short fibermesh hairs for the carpet, and longer twisted ones for a rug.
Maybe even make a few potted plants.. Make a tree and grass outside..
What do you think?! I think it could look pretty sweet, if done correctly, and tastefully.

This kind of work is hard for me to do rapidly and accurately within zbrush.
I've used another program to make the "base", and I would like to use zbrush to detail.... But..
Unfortunately, you can see it imports with some crazy tri geometry - subdivisions look like death. Any tips you can lend on cleaning things up would be greatly appreciated. I've tried retopologizing with zsphere rigging, but I cant seem to get results that look anything like the original mesh... Do any of you use other software programs for managing our geometry? It would be nice to find a program that can easily take care of this, so I can have nice quads to detail on.

So, since I'm kind of stuck at the moment, I'd like to at least share the work I've done on the initial base, as well as a quick render of it within zbrush.. I've been experimenting with lightcaps alot lately.

Thank you for taking the time to check this out!
Corey

[FatherO]

Did you build the models with that topology originally? Or is this something thats happening upon import?

[Gary Komar]

hi cool scene did you try tris too quad in import menu ?

[michalis]

Unfortunately, you can see it imports with some crazy tri geometry - subdivisions look like death. Any tips you can lend on cleaning things up would be greatly appreciated. I've tried retopologizing with zsphere rigging, but I cant seem to get results that look anything like the original mesh... Do any of you use other software programs for managing our geometry? It would be nice to find a program that can easily take care of this, so I can have nice quads to detail on.

Use another program to model these, having in mind a friendly topology for zbrush and subdivisions in general.
Like blender for instance.
You used an app that supports n-gons, sketchup probably. Though you can import, you can't subdivide these meshes, even in these apps, like blender, modo, etc etc Their job is quite different than zb's.

The right workflow is to construct the carpet, rag, export it to the other app and render.
So, the right question here is: How to export fibers with UVs?

[voodoodad]

Corey, have you tried Shadowbox to recreate your scene in Zbrush? It's incredibly easy to do these squared off shapes, even the walls with door and window openings. I made a quick (2 minute) approximation of the back wall in your scene with the shadowbox res set to 560 and the topology is great. Used masking and inflate in the deformation subpallet to do the doorframe viola! you have a wall with a windowed door! After you exit shadowbox you can duplicate the subtool, put the duplicate in shadowbox, clear the mask then turn on transparency and you have a reference on how to size other things in your scene.

Here's the wall I did. Keep in mind this was quick and dirty, I got a little sloppy with masking the doorframe shapes, but you can see what I mean.



Edit; I forgot to mention, turn polish to 0 in shadowbox, otherwise you won't get nice square edges.

[voodoodad]

Another 10 minutes of refinement in shadowbox and out. The proportions are a little different than what you have, but I just wanted to demonstrate how easy and versatile shadowbox is while keeping decent topology.

[coreyschroeder]

FatherO - This is something that is happening on import... I used Sketchup to create the mesh, then imported it as an obj into zbrush. There is an option when exporting, to "triangulate faces"... I unchecked this option, thinking it would give me quads and not tris, but it actually ends up not being able to open the file at all..

Gary Komar - I didnt know there was a Tris to Quad setting for imports.. Would you be willing to give me some more information on how I could go about using this feature?

Michalis - That is exactly what I'm doing... Exporting from Sketchup to Zbrush.. Gonna be bummed if I can figure out how to make this work..

Voodoodad - I would love to be able to do this kind of work in shadowbox, however there are a few issues I have with shadowbox... A) this project is VERY dependent on accurate measurements/scale for each object.. I used Sketchup, not only for the quickness factor, but also so I can type in the EXACT dimensions for everything... This is an exact scale replica of an apartment, and we are doing this for interior design ideas, so the wall sizes/entertainment center/couches/etc all need to be actual size... Something you cant do in Shadowbox... I dont want to guess proportions on this one.. And, I honestly never have luck with shadowbox, I can never get clean/sharp meshes out of this.

[voodoodad]

Gotcha... Yeah one big drawback of shadowbox is the lack of an exact measurement system.

[coreyschroeder]

michalis, I just read the last part, where you were talking about reversing my workflow, creating things in zbrush and exporting to the other program... The reason I want to use zbrush, is because I want to detail everythin... Add wood grain to the table and doors, texture the walls, texture the couch, etc.... I didnt create these assets in zbrush, as everything needs to be exact size and scale... Something ive yet to figure out in zb..

[Gary Komar]

ya not sure it will work in this case but select the polymesh (star) in tool menu opens the import and export options at the bottom of menu and set to highest - 90 then import your model thats all ! also a method too measure in zb i use is the plane tool - make polymesh apply texture
32 and inverse - then in your case use as floor - append and position tools - same for walls and windows - mask inverse hide and delete points - 1 square = 1 foot or 1 = 2 feet depending on room size ect. then re texture or replace floor - also with plane selected in subtools and poly frame checked gives you 1/2 increments - what your trying can all be done in ZB - hope this helps !

[Promethias]

This is a sweet idea about the rug and grass.Id love to see it. Also give groboto a shot its 100 dollar program but i have tons of fun with it making objects to import into zbrush and it meshes them real nice. takes a little practice but ive made doors,walls ect,i even did a christmas scene where i made a fireplace and brought it into zbrush for detail.

[Promethias]

this sounded like alot of fun so i tryed a wall with a fur rug just for fun.The shadowbox idea worked well i made this wall with shadowbox.

[coreyschroeder]

So, I went to the groboto website...
The were running a half off sale that ends today, it was only $50, so I felt like I had to get it.

If you know of any good places to learn how to use it, that would be very helpful.
I'm totally lost at the moment.

[Promethias]

Sweet ,YOu will like it> i got it a month ago half off didnt know the sale was still on.THere are a few tutorials on their webpage some are on there mac version which does have more features then the pc version unfortantly but the pc version is still nice.It makes basic boolean objects into meshs. I will help you where ever you need it. I did the walls and all here in shadowbox in zbrush only but if you look at some of my pictures some of the robots i have done where all in groboto. It does make good meshs ans seams which transfer to zbrush very nicely for basemeshs to start work from. Your model up top looks awesome by the way its to bad its all triangles.

[michalis]

http://forums.sketchucation.com/view...372812#p372812

It's about the obj free exporter.

I'm a little confused about what workflow you have in mind.
Some thoughts:
-To import a archi-vis scene in zbrush for rendering is a terrible idea LOL. BPR is a very useful engine but not for this.
-I need to know what will be your basic app where you'll set up the scene and render it.
-If it gonna be SU then everything will re-imported as .3ds format / some limitations tough. Texture file names must be less than 8 digits, max tri faces 64k for each single mesh. You can import groups of them.
-The app you gonna use for conversions? Blender is my favorite.

Now, let's see.
Blender can handle huge poly counting and you don't have the limits of 3ds files.
It's more capable for this kind of modeling (furnitures, etc) than zbrush
It has a much better UV editor, a good sculpting room, remeshing/retopology capabilities.
New Cycles render engine is a great GI engine, good for archi vis. There's a vray support as well.
All these for free.

But you still like SketchUp. Me too. So, start there, create some simple meshes in place of the organic models. Export these in zbrush and reimport them. Learn how to export clean topology from SU! The free ruby "remove inner faces" having normals looking out (no blue faces) and avoiding holes (make it waterproof) are the key. In blender under [W] menu, remove double (vertices). Yes, this is another problem of SU, it exports non welded vertices!

BTW, another reason to learn blender is that you can just UV a mesh, apply the wood texture as you like and finish. If a sculpting and painting method is what you had in mind (zb, subdivisions etc) then importing in SU, better forget it. A very good method for baking on low poly / videogame assets-figures but for achi vis use??? Think practically.

I wrote all these because, like you, I came to zbrush having some experience in Sketchup already. My workflow involves zb, 3dcoat, blender as base app, sculptris sometimes, but not much SU.