ZBrushCentral

Medusa

ZBrush Artworks
#1

Yes, we all love z-Brush and it IS a one-of a kind product. HOWEVER…

Here is a concept pencil sketch I did, which I now turned into a model with ZB. I have gone through countless useless tutorials on how to export the diplacement map for Maya, but NONE of them worked with this. We need to export it PERFECTLY for use in Maya so we can mocap her face and the snakes. If there is anyone who can convert this, EXACTLY as seen in ZB, into MAYA, there will be plenty of work for you.

Pencil sketch…
medusa1.jpg

On a final note… does anyone know if the next generation of zbrush will have a one-click-export solution which exports a file directly (as seen on zbrush) into maya. P.S. I don’t mean the disp exporter, that is NOT a one click solution, and seems to work pretty poorly.

Attachments

madusa3.jpg

madusa6.jpg

madusa9.jpg

#2

amazing!!!
still WIP , i guess but your got 5 stars from me
Alex Oliver

#3

Dude! You are a Great Artist, i hate when technology gets in the way of art and the displacement map thing in maya is one of those things. Hopefully we wont have to worry about a thing like that 5 years from now, but while it lasts, you said you needed it taken into maya right?

Do you need instructions on how to get it in maya? If so email me: [email protected].

Basic -

  1. Export obj out of ZB
  2. Import obj into maya
  3. Export disp map out of ZB
  4. Import into maya and set it up(thats slightly complicated).

Good Luck
Aiman

#4

Interstesting concept very 50’s glamour like medussa! As for displacement, not really necessary for your piece most of the surfaces are quite smooth and don’t need a huge boost of details. Displacments work great for low level structural forms, which are still rendered faster if you use the higher poly mesh. Use a level 2 or level 3 model and use a normal map via zmapper to cover for details like wrinkles and skin bumps. Bump maps work great for the finer details.

If you still need displacements to work, I could try to get it to work in Maya. I can get them to work in softimage, and it uses mental ray as well.
I’d fix the edge of the lips, you have the correct forms in your original sketch there, but its oversimplified in the sculpt. Also I think when snakes bend there are some wrinkles at the bended part of the body.

#5

Thanks Aiman, I just dropped you an email.

Thanks womball. I do however want to export the displacement map exactly as she currently is. I will try with just a normals map, and I’ll see the results.

Overall I am pleased withe her lips. The snakes are also going to be rigged and exported into Maya, but for now, just to see the proportions, I bent them quickly in zBrush. They’ll be fine once I export them…

#6

Hey europeo, I have been through all of the tutorials as well and I’m still having a hard time… I can create every map that you can think of in ZBrush but I’m unable to still bring them into Maya. I know the frustration all to well. Let me know how you make out with the Normal Map.
As far as the Displacement maps… I think I’m flipping them 5-6 times and by the time it gets into Maya… I don’t know if it’s up or down. Scott Spencers new book is a great tool and recommend it for learning Displacement Maps…

Good Luck

#7

Hi,

I understand your frustration. You have to accept that the technical aspect of working with displacement, normal, bump, and texture map is part of the art of working digitally. Just like an oil painter needs to understand how his brushes, pigments, and canvas work together. You have to take the time to study the technology, just just the way it is. And if their ever is a “one-click” solution for exporting displacements I can guarantee that within a day of its release it will be replaced by a more powerful and realistic solution that’s twice as hard to use and poorly implemented. The demands of the audience will always outpace the technology.

The reason the ZBrush/Maya workflow is so complicated is because ZBrush is meant to be used with a number of different 3D packages - not just Maya. Its unfair to XSI users if ZBrush starts to favor a Maya-centric paradigm. So this means you have a few (and I mean a very small number) of programmers at Pixologic working to come up with a solution that is solid and yet flexible enough to deal with the multitude of ways that the other 3D packages implement their displacement and normal mapping solutions. Admittedly, its not always 100% successful.

For instance, there is no standard for normal mapping at this time which is why ZMapper has so many crazy controls. And Autodesks doesn’t really care what Zbrush users use or want - they have Mudbox and lots of money, they can do whatever they want. The recent updates to the approximation editor in mental ray are a good example of this attitude, the Zbrush community had to figure out how to deal with the changes to the approximation editor, Autodesk did not exactly rush to our aid.

OK, enough of the jibber jabber -

I recommend that you download and watch Scott Spencer’s videos on Gnomonology they walk you through every aspect of working with displacement maps and normal maps. It will work eventually, but you have to understand the technology and you have to practice (just like the guitar - hell, you even have to practice guitar hero, and that’s not even real guitar!). it will be frustrating at first but you’ll get it and then you’ll be able to do it without even thinking. Also, you may have to adjust your expectations for the final result. The ZBush camera works very differently than the Maya camera, lights work differently, and materials are a whole other issue. Plus ZBrush brushes do not always translate perfectly to displacement maps. Displacement maps are a gray scale texture that push the geometry up or down depending on the value, they do not always translate pinch and inflate brushes the way you might expect which means you have to know how to work this detail properly into the model. OK, sorry that was more jibber jabber.

Good luck, I hope this help, not trying to lecture you or anything. I’ve spent many hours screaming at my renders as well so I know just where you are coming from!

MD3 code for Maya is DE-LBEK-EAEAEA-R32 this will flip the texture for you.

#8

robotball, I love you. Now, on a serious note…

I realize that simplifying thing s for one audience is not the easiest of things. I have not been as pleased with a product (the way I have been with ZBrush) in years. How about… just as an idea… providing a one-click-solution for the leading 3d applications.

Zbrush has enabled me to do what would have otherwise taken me months to do in less detail (none-the-less) in Maya, before.

I dream to be able to take one of my models and simply transfer it to Maya, then Motion Builder, ready for animating, in less than a day.

You see, the truth is, that for the first time in my life, I am able to create and sculpt a character, in no time at all, with all the personality and emotion I wish to see in it’s features… One little step further, and I will be free to do so. One little step.

Help me help you. Let me know what it will take.

#9

By the way, this is me working on a concept piece for the Two Towers in 2000, for WETA. I am no novice :wink: I just want to surpass all obstacles, help me.

GOLLUM4.jpg

Attachments

GOLLUM.jpg

#10

Wow , so great:+1: , man , like your work:D

#11

the key dude is to know what should be displacements and what should be bump maps, i have always thought the second most important aspect of zbrush for me has always been the bump viewer, people are going poly crazy lately with billion sof polys,which is silly unless its just for fun…

my rule of thumb…is if it doesnt break the silhouette there is absolutely no reason to displace it as geometry. it should be a bump map. and zbrushes ability to see them while you sculpt makes it seamless.

  1. render times will be out the roof to tesselate in MR
  2. it will never look as good in mental ray PERIOD
  3. using bump maps not only makes this all better but once you understand the balance between the 2 u actually cheat the displacement by giving the illusion of sharpness by using bump map in strategic places of the sculpt.
  4. turning color map into a bump map is a NO-NO, bump maps need to be treated as part of the sculpt

anyways hope this helps, nice sculpts btw

#12

There’s a type of displacement map that displaces in all the axes (vector displacement map I guess, although it might be called with some other funky name).
This is not supported by zbrush, but I really hope it will soon, as it will solve your problems (and ours).

I’m really hoping the vector displacement becomes a standard soon,
when it comes to skinning and animation, its always nice to have a light mesh, but if the mesh is too light the displacement will never generate the same quality hi-res mesh you see in zbrush.

As far as I know, and this is gonna sound too obvious, you will get better results when you use as basemesh (the one you use in maya with disp mapping) that is the highest possible resolution.
Unfortunately if your basemesh is too simple, you will ask too much from the displacement and get rough results.

I often model clean simple subd models, take them in zbrush to add detail and create displacement, and then I find myself having to use the 2nd subdivision level of zbrush as basemesh in maya.
This used to frustrate me massively as all the time spent in making a simple yet good subd model (that would have been perfect for skinning), was wasted and I ended up with a basemesh 4 times heavier that expected, to skin and rig.

A nice retopolisation job could help too, so you could re-build the basemesh and add detail where is needed.
There’s a neat sofware in beta at the moment, called TopGun, I like it more than the zbush solution when it comes to retopolization.
Next time I make a model I will definitelly make the basemesh quickly and retopolize it when the hi-res sculp is done.
Initially re-topo sounded like a a waste of time to me but Im now convinced it saves loads of time.

Normal mapping can help too. Instead of relying on the true geometry, the normal map can sometimes give you better result for fine details, and it will speed up the renders.

#13

normal maps fall apart much faster then bump maps…
since bump maps arent really used for fine details, where normal maps give illusuion of much more primary and secondary forms that very quickly fall apart, and they always look crunched…

bump map is king

#14

Do you guys recommend using a program like Crazy Bump?

#15

No worries, you’re work is excellent. I wish I had time to help you out myself but I’m a bit buried in work. Like I said, the Gnomonolgy videos by Scott Spencer will give you the best, step by step instruction as fast as possible. It does seem like most of your skin detail would be served best by a bump map.

Of course once you get all the displacement maps working then you’ll want to use subsurface scattering for the skin…even more fun!

If you check out the old man I posted earlier today you’ll see my combination of bump +displacement+misss_fast skin in Maya/mental ray. Lighting is just a simple area light and some directionals, nothing fancy there.

#16

if its rushed and dirty sure… if not…i manually paint my bump
crazybump is not accurate

#17

Thanks Eflufu…
europeo, Sorry to be cutting in on your thread. Your models/sculpts are great! I really appreciate the level of detail you administered on the snakes, skin, etc. As far as the Maps, I signed up for Paul Fedors, Photoreal Textures class over at CGSociety.com. http://workshops.cgsociety.org
I’m hoping this will end all of my Zbrush to Maya issues.

Best of luck

#18

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I just keep hoping there will be a slightly faster workflow developed in the future.