anyone have a maya mental ray problem like this?

[KelE]

I assume this is maya and not zbrush but…
I have been working on getting a decent normal map displacement map workflow from maya 2008.

My previous efforts were ok except for seams–and then my computer went on the fritz. As I was waiting for it, I used my older machine and I altered the base model and altered the uvs to try and reduce diagonal distortion that may have contributed to the displacement seams–then after I got the new computer again I brought the obj model into zbrush and did the detailing again from scratch–did the standard displacements etc…

But in maya, now I have a new problem.
Discoloured seams that seem to show up whenever I use the mental ray displacement approx. node.
I also see a seam when I use software render and NO displacement or normal map. It seems to disappear in close up but you can see it in one image.
Did I do something wrong with the UVs?

And with the subapprox plugged in it crashes maya after a couple of renders.

4GB RAM Intel Quad Core2.40 GHz CPU ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/320MB DDR3 (Geforce 8800GTS)

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[KelE]

Here is another example. It shows the awful seams and the slight discolourization (mid back). This model was from maya 7-8.5 and I transferred it to maya 2008.

It doesnt crash however.

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[KelE]

Great.
Here is the last model opened in maya 8.5.
No seams!

I didnt make any setting changes.
Is it me or a maya 2008 glitch?

sigh

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[KelE]

Nobody?

This sucks.

[kaibosh]

I don’t have much help for you but I felt bad that no one was responding to you.
I do know that seams are a common problem and there is probably quite a few threads dealing with exactly the problem you mention. So do a little searching and you will probably see some suggestions.
Good luck!

[KelE]

I have it running on 4 different CG forums too.

Well i eliminated some things.
It seems to have nothing to do with displacements.

Its a colour map issue.

Even without a displacment I get the seams!

The displacement itself looks ok now(which wasnt the case a month ago when I was trying displacements on the new computer in 2008).
Its when i put on a colour map that it looks screwed up. All the colour details get washed out.

Something wierd is going on with the colour maps and the subapprox editor.

In fact–I dont think its a zbrush issue at all(I did work on the colour map inside zbrush but I dont see why that would be a factor. I took it from photoshop as a psd file into zbrush and then saved it as a psd and then changed it to a tga and jpg in maya.

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[KelE]

I solved the colour map problem by going into the filter type and putting it to “OFF” instead of Quadratic–which was the default I believe(I never touch it).
I dont know why it screwed up the colour map though.

Now I just need to confirm and see what i can do about reducing some of the displacement seams I still get from the jagged UV layout.

EDIT: I still have the seam issue and the program crashing. I get this fatal error message.

So the head scratching issue is that

the new model i made in 2008 crashes (it may have something to do with an auto rig script that was designed for use with maya 6-7). I havent been able to check it all over for the displacement seams but I noticed a bit.

Without that auto rig it the program doesnt seem to crash.

The real perplexing thing is the model i did in maya 8.5. It renders without seams in that program–but has seams when I bring the file into maya 2008.

Still searching for an answer to that one!

[KelE]

Well I think i nailed the crashing problem.

There was a couple of spots where the UVs werent sewn-so the points overlapped.

Unfortunately
I was going to export it back into zbrush to work on
but I cant with the points changed.
So I have to try exporting it back without the points merged(but move them into correct position)

then export it back to maya and fuse them there. It may leave a slight distortion but the alternative is redoing the sculpting…