This might not be a ZBrush specific question, but I know that a lot of you guys go through this process for every character you do. So I’m finished with my model (modeled in Maya), and I want to figure out how to approach the next steps.
Here’s the order I have in my head:
- Model (done)
- UVs (done)
- Sculpting details and exporting displacement/normal/bump maps
- Painting skin textures
- Lighting, shading and rendering
Here are my questions:
- My model is modeled in Maya, and I will render this with the “Smooth Mesh Preview” - or clicking 3 on my keyboard if you will. As the Smooth Mesh Preview will smooth the UVs, I’m wondering what I should do to my mesh before exporting it to ZBrush. I’m guessing I have to apply a mesh-smooth to it before exporting it, so that the stuff I do in ZBrush will match what I have in Maya. Is that correct?
- The model is good as it is, but I would like to add some skin details such as skin pores and wrinkles. Do I really need displacement/normal maps for these, or can I just export these maps as bump maps?
- I haven’t worked much with ZBrush, but if I need to create normal maps/displacement maps, I know that you can get some issues in the seams. Is there any ways to prevent this, or do you always have to go in and manually paint/fix the seams?
- When it comes to painting the skin, I think this tutorial is really nice. However, he use bump/displacement/normal maps as a base for his textures. As I think I’m just gonna paint some skin details as bump maps, I’m guessing exporting a displacement map will just give me a blank texture? If that’s the case, how would you approach this?
Also, if anyone have any tips or know of any good tutorials for this process I’d greatly appreciate it.