Multi Map Exporter - Information, Installation and FAQ

[Cryrid]

I have a flat plane. A floor tile. I started with an obj. It has 4 faces (8tris). I put about 10 divs on it and project a tiled stone floor on it. I then try to use the Multi Map Exporter plugin
-Is there anyway I get the map to fill the entire space? The Uvs are laid out to use the entire space.
-This created 3 useless maps, all the uvs seem stretched and moved. I've checked the obj and the uvs are fine.
After doing this option I now produce 3 normal maps everytime, even if restarting zbrush. I just want one useable normal map!!! How can I stop it producing 3?? can anyone help me use this plugin?

I've been giving this a few shots, and have been able to recreate what I think is your problem (multiple blank maps on a plane - for me even the regular method of generating a map was blank).

The error was happening when the uv's borders were directly on the 0 or 1 coordinate boundary, MME/zbrush sees this as extending beyond the 0-1 boundary, and then reads it as multiple tiles according to marcus_civis (here). Scaling the uvs in a tiny bit solved the problem for both generators, and created only 1 map for MME.

"You can check this by pressing Tool>Texture Map>New from UV Check. A UV problem will be shown as red."

[salacious_crumb]

Thanks Cryrid. Thats solved it.

[cobra6]

Hi,

I'm trying to export my maps but it keeps giving me this error: "SubTool skipped, no UVs assigned". This is weird because:
- I have modelled the mesh in 3Dmax
- Unwrapped it in MAX with proper UV's without any overlap
- Exported the object as .obj WITH texture coordinates
- Imported and sculpted in Zbrush.

In Zbrush 3.5 it would never give errors about UV's with this workflow.

Any ideas?

Cobra 6

[marcus_civis]

cobra6,

Are you quite sure that all your subtools have UVs? I've not heard that anyone else has had this error.

[cobra6]

Hi Marcus,

Yes I am positive that all my subtools have UV's. It doesn't export any maps at all. That's why I think it is weird.

When I subsequently exportmy sculpted mesh to an .obj and extract the maps via xNormals (application) it works and the UV's are exactly as they are in 3Dmax.

Cobra 6

[marcus_civis]

cobra6,

Could I have the ztool to test? I would only need the lowest subdivision level of all subtools. If MME is failing to detect the UVs then I need to know why and the only way is to test with your model.

I'll PM you with my email address.

Thanks,

[cobra6]

I will send it to you as soon as I get the email address.

Cobra 6

[marcus_civis]

Thanks, check your PM.

[cobra6]

After some messaging back and forth Marcus and I determined that the problem was that I pressed "Make Polymesh 3D" after importing which basically makes a clean clone of the object, deleting all the UV's.

So if anyone runs into it, here is the solution

Cobra 6

[sammokablamo]

I've been giving this a few shots, and have been able to recreate what I think is your problem (multiple blank maps on a plane - for me even the regular method of generating a map was blank).

The error was happening when the uv's borders were directly on the 0 or 1 coordinate boundary, MME/zbrush sees this as extending beyond the 0-1 boundary, and then reads it as multiple tiles according to marcus_civis (here). Scaling the uvs in a tiny bit solved the problem for both generators, and created only 1 map for MME.

"You can check this by pressing Tool>Texture Map>New from UV Check. A UV problem will be shown as red."

thanks so much!, i had this problem too and found it very frustrating. This should be added to the FAQ section of the first post. i had trouble finding this post.

[unitzer07]

ok, I'm pretty sure I know what problem I'm having. However I have no clue how to fix it.

So, being the total n00b that I am. I loaded the poly tool and imported my model onto it. When prompted about 5 sided polys i chose the "quads and triangles" option (which i think is my problem). When I try to export a normal map, I get a blue page with no details on it anywhere. When I re-exported my obj from XSI and re-imported it, I checked "all triangles" instead. Zbrush prompted me that the mesh had changed and asked if i wished to remap the hi res data onto the new mesh (of course!). So I clicked yes and while the details seem to have mapped onto my mesh, some verts from the low res mesh are pulled in crazy directions. I have no clue why this happens, when I choose instead to delete the hi res divisions I am left with a perfectly fine low res mesh. (although it should be noted that the mesh appeared to jump a few units down even though the obj hasn't changed...weird) I tried exporting normal maps on the busted mesh just to see what happened and they actually exported.(barring of course the horrendous artifacts from the mesh being messed up)

So, what should I do? It seems my problem is the geometry import method I used first doesn't work with exporting maps. How can I get my hi res detail onto the correct mesh without it exploding?

I guess it's kind of off topic, but any help would still be greatly appreciated.

-07-

[wayniac]

@unitizer07

Unfortunately, you cannot have zbrush bake from one mesh to another. Why this is so is beyond me as it's pretty standard procedure and has been for years. In game meshes typically aren't used as high rez models either before or after the fact, regardless of the ability of Zbrush to project sculpt data from mesh to another. The ingame mesh is typically full of tris and such which don't play nice with the subdivision algorithms.

A workaround is to use a program called xNormal or use XSI's ultimapper and take your low poly mesh and point it at the high for baking purposes. xNormal has become the unofficial industry standard for the most part but you can accomplish the same thing in max/maya/xsi/modo/etc....just not in zbrush

Hopefully at some point Pixologic will address this missing feature which is vital to those of us in the games industry.

[lgwng]

Hello,

Relatively new to Zbrush and new to the forums, so I apologize if I'm not following correct protocol here.

My mesh has been divided into separate meshes in subTools.I'm trying to export a color map, normal map, and mesh via the Multi Map Exporter.

I click the appropriate buttons and it seems to chug along just fine for the first object in the subTool menu.

But then I get this pop-up menu with the message:
"Popup:TextureOff
in..
{IPress,Popup;TextureOff]"

And it just stops the process

Help!?

Thanks!

[marcus_civis]

lgwng,

I don't know why you should be having this problem. Which version of ZBrush are you using, Mac or PC?

A couple of things you might try:

1. Save the ZTL with a new name before trying MME again.
2. Turn off the subtool so it is not included in case it is causing the issue.

[lgwng]

Yes, it does seem to be the subTool button that causes the tool to crash out.

But not being able to use that really diminishes the effectiveness of the plug-in for me. At that point, I'm exporting a dozen individual maps, which I then have to composite together in Photoshop.

I tried it again with a much smaller model (with subTool) and it stalled again, with the same error.

Any ideas at all?

Thanks!