sorry if this is a dumb question, but what exactly is poseable symmetry? is it similar to tangent symmetry in mudbox? how does it work?
thanks much in advance!
aha! found the button on the transform drop-down menu! the control/hover explanation says it all. great feature. thanks, pixologic.
I’m discovering that poseable symmetry doesn’t appear to be terribly reliable (ie. I’m getting responses like “7.51142% symmetry found. Symmetry map was not stored.”) with some of my previously created/posed models.
I’m wondering if there is a “trick” to getting the most out of this feature.
I don’t know of any tricks but the mesh must have some balance so that symmetry can be assessed. In other words, if you stick a shoulder pad on one shoulder only then pose, the symmetry won’t work.
Obviously some wiki documentation is to be written on this which will give a clearer indication of the issues involved.
Hmmm…
The main model I was using to test is a version of my dragon (see my work in progress thread if you want reference) which I mistakenly posed before adding scales.
So I wanted to see if poseable symmetry would allow me to make symmetrical changes, even though the model is posed… the short answer is no. Which is fine, as it’s something I never expected to be able to do…
But it does make me wonder about the potential limitation of poseable symmetry. I suspect moving forward on a model from scratch will allow for better options and results.
I’m about to load up a posed mesh (that I would normally pre-sculpt in mudbox, since the tangent symmetry there works perfectly), so I’ll post back here with my results. I did a quick test on an older mesh and it seemed to work correctly… my only gripe was that if I subdivided the mesh I had to reinitialize posable symmetry again. That and the fact that ZBrush seems to choke on anything higher than a million polys or so (when mudbox’s tangent symmetry works fine with minimal lag on up to 4 million or so). Either way, it’d be great if I could keep my workflow in one tool so I’m gonna give it a go here in a bit.
I’m using it on a 3.5 mil mesh right now, and it’s working fine for me. The initial map takes a few seconds to setup, but after that it’s all nice and fast…
I had posed my character in XSI, and it would be nice to add symmetrical features, but the poseable symmetry hadn’t worked to me at all. Is there any prime requirement I had to do?
when you use posable symmetry on an already posed character its not possible to use smart resym on “this” axis/tangent so you still get deformed figures/objects.
modelling on a posable symmetry object does only make sense if its “perfect” mirrored but which already posed object is perfect without “smart resym”?
so how did you get it to work?
Jester, your mesh must be topologicaly symmetrical across the axis. If there is an edge loop on the right, it must also be on the left.
Ryan
Is there some magic way to make it work? Even with symmetrical meshes, it seems to sometimes not be able to determine the mesh is symmetric, and doesn’t work.
Hello. If you are having trouble getting it to work it would be best to talk about a specific circumstance. Pictures also help.
Ryan
Well, there are other threads out there showing that posable symmetry doesn’t work on ‘simple’ figures, let alone more complicated ones:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=49518&highlight=poseable+symmetry
Still no firm answers. Why are the 2 zsphere skins considered different?
Hmm, seems quads that SPAN the symmetry line break the calculations entirely, even when the figure is perfectly symmetrical. I don’t think smart resym has a problem with this case.
Yeah, I’d love to get it to work, but I’m having similar problems. My mesh was perfectly symmetrical (at least according to smart resym) As far as smart resym was concerned, a symmetry map had been stored. I then attempted posable sym and got something like "%.0001… symmetry points found. Symmetry map not stored.
I’d love to know if there is something I’m missing.
I’m getting pretty good results on all the models I have tested so far.
I don’t know if it’s a factor but as a habit I always model with all quads. Zspheres also create all quads as far as I know and my Zsphere models ( including ones that have had various Smart Resym applied ) also seem to work pretty well. I have no models with tris. None of these models have UVs laid out yet.
Are you guys making all quads ?
Hello to all ZBrusher,
I’ve a problem with POSEABLE SYMMETRY: I have build a model in 3D Studio Max with a perfect symmetry (modeled one side, after I use Symmetry modifier). If I export that as QUAD mesh in .obj, the poseable tools, in ZBrush, don’t work.
BUT if I export the model as TRIANGLES mesh, same .obj format, all works perfectly. Now I’m testing ather file format and setup, but I think that isa a BUG. ZBrush was born for the quad meshes…
I’ve tested the ZBrush’s primitives too (transformed ad polymesh, abviously): and the rusult is the same. DON’T WORK. We need only triangles? Orrible…
I hope that the development team can fix this bug :rolleyes: .
Best,
Mattia
That’s interesting Mattia. I’m using xsi and so far had no problems with poseable symmetry on quad meshes imported from xsi 6. Just for the sake of experimentation I followed your description, imported a quad mesh from max 9 into zbrush, posed it and used poseable symmetry without any problems.
i tried to test it with the polysphere, the polycube and other 100% symmetrical meshes, all i get is : 0% symmetry found, whereas smart resym reports 100%…
anyone got an idea whats wrong?
That’s a strange thing, Intervain.
How can be possible? Obviously the problem is my… I try with ZBrush 3.1 and 3D Studio Max 2009. Maybe an Max exporting bug? I don’t know 
.
I will try with Xsi 6 and maya 2008.
EDIT 14 jun 2008: I don’t know why, but maybe in the my first test with reposeable symmetry I’ve done a mistake: I’ve tried an other test and ALL WORK FINE. I’ve exported a quad mesh with 3D Studio Max 2008 and ZBrush can read the poseable symmetry. Sorry for my mistake.
Thanks for rply and best regards, Mattia