ZBrushCentral

welding head to body

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I’m doing a model totally in Zbrush and have the following problem – perhaps some experienced person here could suggest how best to do this:

I have a mesh of a figure which is posed assymetrically, made from zspheres. So, going to sculpt the head on the figure, i realize i REALLY need the symmetry option, which won’t work of course because the head is tilted to one side.

So, I make a new head with zspheres, and begin to sculpt it. But I realize that at some point i will need to weld the head to the body. If i take it outside zbrush (to lightwave) to do this, i will need to do it while the sculpting is still really low-res, or it will be a royal pain to move and weld all those points, and the system will slow to a crawl. But if i do take it out to weld it at a low res point, i will lose my symmetry (head being at an angle), and my further sculpting efforts will be much more difficult.

SO, is there a way to weld the head to the body in Zbrush?
If both the head and body are welded at a low subd level, then there will be far fewer points to weld, and it will be easy, and then if the higher subd levels are preserved, I’ll still have all the sculpting work done with symmetry available.

Any suggestions?

thanks,
NJ

#2

I aslo would like to know how to merge head with body.

#3

I’m not that experienced, but have you considered finishing both parts, weld the low res versions in external app and use normal maps created from hig res parts?
Just a thought… :wink:

#4

I’m afraid I have had this problem many times in the past but you cannot cap holes or weld points in ZB, there’s no way around it…
Your only solution isto weld in some other program…
Have you thought of sculpting your model and then posing it (tilting the head or whatever after).

Hope it helps!:wink:

#5

If you’re doing it for illustration purposes, then you don’t really need to weld them, just position them with markers. If you want to wind up with a model you can use outsize Zbrush, then you’ll have to combine them somehow. Within ZBrush, you can also a mesh into a zsphere model, which will replace the selected zsphere with the mesh. Or, you could use markers to make a multi-marker tool and combine your meshes that way, it will create a composite mesh (might not be quite right and need tweaking afterward, but it’s a possible way to do it). It all kinda depends on what your plans for the finished model are.

#6

If you still want to weld the model properly, but do it at a low subd level while maintain your high ones, all you gotta do is thus:

Export displacement map for each part
Weld the low poly model in external program
Load said model into ZB
Subdivide a few times
Hide one part of the model
Import the displacement map for that model into your alpha palette
Tool>Masking>Alp
Tool>Displacement, check mode, turn intensity to about .33, then click apply dispmap.
Now unhide all, then hide the displaced mesh, and repeat the displacement process for the other body part

If all goes well you should have your displaced mesh in its true form! If not, you need a higher subdivision level, or a different level of intensity.

#7

Here’s hoping Zbrush 2.5 will support Tangent Space symmetrical sculpting (Assymetrical mesh, symmetrical painting ) like mudbox. :slight_smile:

#8

Nii, I’ve tried that process but keep getting weird displacement errors on the mesh. I’ve followed the steps but keep getting errors. I’m tring to combine wings on to my model. Any ideas.

#9

The displacement errors should only be occurring on your seams right? That’s inevitable. Just sculpt that bit manually again from scratch. They are just a tiny portion of your whole model after all =)

#10

I get this when I apply the displacement to the original part, not at the seams.

Errors.jpg

But if I export the base and displacement map and reimport it into ZBrush, it works. But once I weld points in Lightwave, I get that. If I just import it into Lightwave and export it again, not making any changes, its fine.

#11

That’s kinda weird. Are you exporting the displacement map in 32 bit using the displacement exporter plugin? The default one isn’t very good I hear. Either that or Lightwave is messing up your UVs after welding, which shouldn’t be the case, especially if you use the same displacement map that you exported…

#12

I’m not using Disp Exporter. I’ll have to give that a try.

#13

Ok now i too plan to weld a head to my model.
But the problem is that the head is completely done, including displacment map. so if i export the model in maya and weld it to the body and then take it back!! will it work???

#14

There’s only one way to find out =)

#15

I saw a thread not too long ago where somebody modeled a head and then created a zsphere setup for the body and attached the head to it by applying ‘Insert Local Mesh’ to a zsphere placed above the shoulders

I dont know how much that helps, but it seemed relevant… I thought it was a pretty damn cool trick

#16

I just realised that to fix the problem posted above was to apply the tools->texture->fix seams option. A little late for that though.

#17

:smiley: email me at; [email protected] and i well sende you a video about how te do it

#18

does look like that original displacement map was with seams switched off. as for the asimetrical modelling (sorry for my spelling) use the Smart Resymmetry

#19

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=47410