ZBrushCentral

ZBrush WorkFlow For 3D Printing Output ???

I am trying to understand/research/develope a workflow for outputting digital figures to a physical model using a 3D printing service but have some questions.

Here is what I think I understand so far.

  1. Create a low to medium res figure in a rest ( da vinci like pose) in Maya ,XSI , or Silo.

  2. Create arig in maya to later pose the figure.

  3. Import model into ZBrush to add high quality detail, then create a normal and displacement map.

  4. Import the model and displacement map back into Maya and use the rig to pose the figure.

Here is were my questions begin because a this point the normal process would be to use the displacement map during the rendering stage to output an animation or still because a program like Maya could never handle the million of polys ZBrush creates interactively. But I need to get the High Res info stored in the displacment map back onto the low/medium posed figures geometry in order to send it to a 3D printing device. ( I don’t think a displacement map can be used??) So I guess the three. major questions I have at this point is.

  1. Can a diplacement map be converted back into geometry?

  2. Can a 3D printer accept the millions of polygons ZBrush produces?

  3. After the low/medium res model with the displacement map is posed can it be sent back to ZBrush and converted back into geometry and then saved out to a file formate for a 3D Printer.

Look forward to any advise or knowledge Thnkyou

  1. Yes. There are instructions on this forum for how to do so, or in the final part of the Telephone/Displacement Mapping tutorial (both in the Practical Guide and in the ZScript Help system built into ZBrush).

  2. Check with your printer to find out what their size limitations are, if any.

  3. Yes. See #1.