ZBrushCentral

Problem with UV Mapping and Exporting Multiple Subtools as OBJs

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

If someone can help me with this problem, I will happily send you a case of your favorite beer.

I sculpted a bust which has 6 subtools. I used color-fill for all of them. I poly-painted all of them. I used layers to paint the main body of the head, and then baked them to that subtool. I started out by sculpting from just a plain sphere, using dynamesh, but as the sculpt got more complex, I stopped using dynamesh, and have since turned it off. I want to take this final sculpt and place it in Blender, preserving the subtools and the polypainted surfaces, that I may work on it further, using objects with light emissions, etc. so that I can create a nice render.

I’m not sure where to go from here. I tried using the GoB ZBrush-to-Blender unofficial Plugin, but the latest 2.72 version does not work. Exporting the subtools as obj files, while making UV maps (diffuse/bump/displacement/etc) of the the surface textures, seemed to be the answer. However, when I attempt to use UV Master, after a few moments, ZBrush crashes…every time. I tried using Decimation Master before using UV Master, and it removed the polypaint (but If I do this, UV Master can indeed unwrap it). But wanting to keep the polypaint, I changed the Decimation Master preference to ‘use and keep polypaint’. And in doing this, Decimation Master keeps the polypaint, but UV Master crashes again. I tried using ZRemesher, and all I got in return was a low-poly-looking mesh set with the red wax material.

The largest subtool which makes up the majority of the head/neck, is 1 million polys. It has 2 subdivision levels (There may have been more and in my extensive trouble-shooting and experimenting, I may have hit Delete Lower). Is this the problem by chance? If so, can it be fixed?

I know there is some information I am not understanding properly and/or have overlooked. I’ve searched countless forums/posts, online manuals and help guides, watched more tutorials than any person ever should admit, and am still at a dead-end. I’ve been at this standstill for 3 days and I’m frustrated as all hell, but in my experience with ZBrush, getting frustrated usually means that I’m in the process of learning something important that will inevitably save me time in the future. I fear that this sculpt is forever stuck in ZBrush due to my own present inability to fully understand the software I’m using. If anyone can help me remedy this situation, or let me know the err of my ways, or direct me to the solution of this problem, I will absolutely buy you that beer.

Thanks,

Joe

#2

You’re missing a big part of Zbrush…projections.

Take your mesh and duplicated it.
Zremesh that object to a much smaller face count. A single head I would start at around 25k.
Now add 1 subD level to that new mesh and use project all (hide all the other meshes but the new and old heads) to grab all the information of the previous highpoly head.
Add another subD level, and repeat.
Do this until you have all the detail captured and moved to the new mesh.

Now use UV master on your new lower poly mesh (work on a copy…or unwrap before you start adding subDs)

Now you can generate all of your maps.
Tada.

Hope this helps.

#3

thank you so much for your help. i followed your steps and it’s working. i think i’m finally on the right track. thanks again :slight_smile:

#4

another thing you can try when UV Master crashes is to “check mesh integrity” and then “fix mesh” in the geometry palette.
if points are being shared UV Master gets upset.

#5

thank you for the heads-up, zeddie. beta_channel’s explanation of what to do happened to be the solution to my particular problem. since then, i’ve been able to use uv master properly and without incident. if uv master decides to crash again, i will definitely heed your advice. thanks again for your help!