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[Answered] Work Flow Help and Suggestions.

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi All,

I need some help on a model i have inherited. Originally it was modelled to only show one half, now they need the other half and its a seemless character.

So i have a Zbrush model of the front half with all its sculpted detail and I did the texture for the front half as well so i need to save as much work as i can.

I have modelled the back end but now need to attach it in Zbrush to the front half somehow so i can Carry on the sculpt and the reunwrap it to get the Displacement maps out of it again.

Its the back of of a animal so like i said it needs to really been seemless. Im working in Max and Zbrush 4.5. So any help on this is much appreciated.

#2

Save a copy of the project first. With both listed as subtools try merge down or merge visible. The top tool will need to be selected unless I’m mistaken.

#3

Will this weld up the Seam?

Im assuming then that it will retain the sculpt detail for the front half and then i can sculpt the back half to match then export that model to unwrap?

Thanks for the answer.

#4

Same level of subdivision recommended for both objects. And there is also a remesh all button which may yield different results.

#5

ok that almost worked. By keeping them both at their highest levels I was able to keep the detail from the front half and add the rear half.

The only problem i have now is that the import procedure opened the gap between the two sections so it did not weld the seam on merging. Should i just move them close so it detects the closest vert?

#6

Update today.

So i got the rear half and merged the two subtools and their highest levels using subtool master. I now have one sub tool both with the detail on the front and the basic rear at the same detail level.

BUT

there is still a gap. So i read that if i exported that, welded it up then imported it over the merged subtool that it would replace the base cage. But thats not working.

#7

http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index.php/Merge_SubTools_and_Weld

#8

That did not work. It just kept miss-aligning the weld. In the end i gave up on that way of doing it. I got the two parts, exported them out to Max. Welded up the join then brought it in as a new sub tool and divided it to the same level as the Front section.

I then projected the detail onto the new mesh. It worked but crashed a few times for maxing out the memory. I eventually got it to work once and kept that. Later i had to add another piece. I did the same method but this time it just would not work. I had to step down a detail level then re-project it. Then a previous version of the high detail level i kept as a morph target i used to add a layer and up res the detail back to level 7.

Out of interest. Does anyone know what is a workable level for re-projection for future reference. My machines could not handle past level 6 and i have a decent machine. I could also not get it to extract any of the model at level 7 either. It seemed to work better when i projected areas and not the whole mesh. But I Could not even cut of the parts to lower the amount of detail being re-projected.

I’m not going to cut the model up into poly-groups to make it more workable.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

#9

An advise of workflow (but it really depends of your model…)

  • Duplicate your two parts/SubTools (or more) as a backup.
  • Lower your subdivision levels of the SubTools you want to merge to have less details, but keeping your overall shape/silhouette and main large details.
  • Merge down these SubTools to create a single mesh. Don’t take care of your textures or UVs.
  • Now, convert your model as a DynaMesh. take care of the resolution to keep all your details needed (like fingers…). Look all around your model to see if it’s fine. Don’t use a too high resolution if you don’t need to.
  • When done, resulpt the areas on the merge area to fix the connection issue which may not fit.
  • Now, do a retopology of this DynaMesh model: manual retopology or with QRemesher. An alternative is to reuse your base mesh of all parts and just reconnect the polygons on the joined area. This part is more up to you and of course, depending of your final goal.
  • When done, add several subdivision levels of smoothing on this model to fit the overall number of polygons you have on your original models.
  • Project on this new mesh the details or the original SubTools you previously backuped. If your RGB and ZAdd mode are enable, it will project both details and painting.

Of course, some steps amy be added, like if your original models have textures and not polypainting, then converting the texture to polypainting, or after having the new base mesh, redoing the UVs, etc…

How that help!