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Can a UV’ed color map be used to sculpt in details?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Normal_Mapping_Question.gif Hello Guys,

I have a question about Normal Mapping. Now this is not the normal Normal mapping question about how to export or render them in another application. What I am wondering is this.

I created a house model in Maya, I generated my UV’s and I created a color map using Photoshop. The question I have, can I somehow use this color map that I generated in Photoshop to generate details on my Zbrush Base mesh. Can a UV’ed color map be used to sculpt in details?

The other question I have, I read a tutorial on CG Textures on how to convert a color map into a normal map using NVIDIA Normal Map Filter for Photoshop. http://www.cgtextures.com/content.php?action=tutorial&name=normalmap

Is this a good way to generate Normal maps from photo textures? I have also looked into CrazyBump. Any suggestions?

Is ther a way that I can take this Normal Map created in photoshop and import it into Zbrush, and project the details from this Normal Map onto a clean base mesh?

I have seen several tutorials on how to project details from one model to another, but I want to transfer details from my Color / Normal Map onto a clean UV’ed modeled and un-detailed. Is this possible?

Thanks in advanced

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#2

After importing the model into ZBrush you would of course need to divide it so that it has enough points to hold the sculpted detail. Apply your texture(s) to the model. You can then use the Tool>Masking menu to mask the model based upon the texture. There are several choices to give you flexibility. From there you can apply a deformation to the whole model (such as Inflate). Or you can selectively sculpt areas of the model through the mask.

Once you have the details you want, go back to level 1 and generate your normal map(s).

#3

Hey Thanks Aurick,

That is defiantly an Idea. But I was more going for the ability to just transfer the color information to my model to create all of my surface details. After doing many more hours of searching I found out that at this point there is no way for ZBrush to re-import a normal map and project those details onto your mesh. Is that Correct? What I did find is that you can use a Displacement map to import details. So, at this point I have tried to convert my Color map into a fake displacement map in Photoshop by de-saturating the image and then adjusting the levels to make sure that I still have fifty percent grey. I know this is not a good way to create a displacement map, but it worked. In Zbrush I then opened my model and divided it as much as possible. I then imported the displacement map into my Alpha palette. Then I used Tools> Displacement, I then turned the mode on and adjusted the intensity. 1.0 just blew away my model. But small amounts worked pretty well. I used something like 0.026 and I was able to get my details onto my mesh. This was a very quick way to get some surface details onto my mesh.

Is this a good way to go about this? Or is there another way?