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Tutorial:ZBrush displacement maps in 3dsmax, metal ray

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#41

Ok. Here’s the short tutorial I promised. Now that the 3Ds Max Pipeline is out I’m not sure anybody will care about this, but I started it so might as well finish it.

Here is a Quick Code for the MD2 plugin (Multi-Displacement 2 script): DE-JBGK-EAAAAA-D32 I used a map size of 2048px with DpSubPix set to two and brought the MapSizeAdjust to zero, the rest I left as is. Here is a screen shot of the settings for MD2. [![tutorial00.jpg|1026x508](upload://awCMpsJRTwqAa4l2AIUFm1YLITu.jpeg)]![displacementMap02.jpg|640x480](upload://5UwJ9xZsNlPeELsfsiGO9L4gsP7.jpeg)

Because we used a 32-bit map, no Blur or Blur Offset technique is needed (which means NO loss of detail) in the Material settings and no “stepping” will occur. This mesh had an approximate total of 1.6 million quads in ZBrush, 96 quads in Max, took 40 seconds to render on a Dual Core AMD64 4800+ Athlon, and about 2 1/2 minutes to create the displacement map with the MD2 script.

Thanks to CvH and the Pixologic Team for making this all possible ;) Have fun !

Attachments

tutorial01.jpg

tutorial05.jpg

tutorial03.jpg

tutorial02.jpg

#42

Thanks VERY MUCH for sharing this information!! I’ve got the day off today so I’ll be throwing myself into this!

I’ve never heard of OpenEXR file format before, and had to Google it. Of course there’s a web-site dedicated to it! - http://www.openexr.com. There’s some good info here!

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here using the OpenEXR file format! Well done!

Upham :slight_smile:

#43

Thank you Upham, for the compliment and the link!

I actually haven’t done any research at all, but was simply fooling around with formats and settings, OpenEXR being the first one I tried within Photoshop. 32-bit files aren’t well supported across the board, but figured there had to be a way.

Will definitely go study up on this great format, thanks :slight_smile:

#44

heya smokebox46and2!

just wanted to stop by to thank you for your helpful work and willingness to
share it! Much appreciated here. :wink:

rookie-z

#45

rookie-z, my pleasure! Haven’t shared any of my art with this community (because I have’t done anything I’m proud of…lol) so figured i should contribute somehow. Hopefully there will be more to share in time.

Have a great day :slight_smile:

#46

smokebox46and2,

Thanks it seems that sharing knowledge pays off.

#47

Sure thing :wink:

#48

smokebox46and2 and CvH thank you guys so much…Finaly some precise tips about rendering displacement maps…i’m forever gratefull

#49

Well, now that the Max Pipeline is out I don’t feel that I’ve made any real contribution, because the Pipeline does the job just as well and ommits the steps involving Photoshop. I was mistaken that Max can’t open 32-bit .tif files (it just can’t if they’re greyscale). Yet, it is easier using multiple maps when not using the Mental Ray Connection…

Hope not all was wasted in effort

Regards

#50

I can’t get max to open 32bit rgb tifs, and I don’t have cs2, so I can’t save them as 32bit exr files either, how can I get max to open these files, I just get an I/O error.

#51

What version of Max are you using? I don’t have any trouble using them in max 8…

Are you using the settings in the Max Pipeline Guide?

#52

I am using max 8 sp2, and I used the settings in the guide. I have gotten some to load sometimes, but most of the time they don’t. They are 4096, maybe thats too big for max? would anything else cause this?

#53

That sounds possible. You may be running out of RAM or something when you try to load a map that large at that bit depth. I haven’t had this problem. I’ve only used 2048 maps so far. I’ll try a 4096 later and see if I get the same error.
How much RAM do you have?

#54

I have 2 gigs, I have been rendering a displacement on a 4 million poly model, it takes about a half hour to finish, maybe its too much. I will try a 2048 and see if that works.

#55

Wait! Do you mean you have a four million poly mesh in Max, or your displacement map was created in ZBrush from a four million poly mesh?!?

I hope you don’t have that large of a mesh in Max…

#56

:smiley: haha, I don’t think its possible to get that big of a file into max on this machine. I meant the ZBrush mesh is 4 mil. 2048 is working, but I have really obvious seams at that size, so I don’t know what to do. In fact I get seams at any size in a few areas, no matter what I do.

#57

seamexample.jpg

Here is my model rendered with a 4096 map that wouldn’t open in max. So I opened it in Photoshop CS and resaved it. Max then read it as a 48bit rgb tif. as you can see there are slight seams visible.

#58

Okay…lol. Glad you cleared that up!

I don’t think your seams have anything to do with your map size in this case.

48-bit?? I don’t think there is such a thing yet, and if there is, even Photoshop doesn’t handle 48-bit channels.

I’ve posted info on getting rid of seams in this thread:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=265686#post265686

Basically, the idea is that you have to use the displacement maps on the version of the model you created them from. I.E. If you created them from the altered geometry from ZBrushing then export that low-res version out to Max. If you created them from a saved Morph Target, then just apply them to your original model in Max…

Another really good, detailed tutorial by somebody else can also be found here (although, it uses Modo and not Max, but the same principles apply):

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=200732

Pay special attention to the parts of the tutorial which talk about “buffer zones”.

Good luck…

#59

Yay! I’m a Senior Citizen now. 104 posts!

#60

Moss, those seem to be odd places to have seams. Is there a reason you don’t want to use a continuous UV set on the turtle shell?