ZBrushCentral

Correct workflow with 3DS Max

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi all, I’m creating a steampunk looking female project for a short animation and need some advice on the best workflow between Zbrush and 3DS Max which is both efficient and practical.

This is what I’ve done so far;

–Started by creating a base mesh for the model in 3DS MAX

–Exported the OBJ to Zbrush to sculpt and refine the shape of the model

–I then extracted the areas of the mesh which were going to be her clothing without sculpting any details on them, such as the area needed for her boots

–With these subtools extracted I exported each one to 3DS Max to trace over the high poly model and create a low poly model of each piece, while adding extra pieces to the base geometry.

–Now this is where I’m stuck, do I then have to import these back in zbrush, sculpt on them, export back to 3ds and retopologise?

–Or, can I just put together all the pieces in 3DS Max, export the whole character, sculpt the details and create the normal map for that low poly model?

A bit of help would be great, I’ve been following the DT tutorials but I’m a bit lost now lol

Thanks in advance!

#2

well I would say send the model back to zbrush and do all the detail work in highpoly then send the highpoly again then bake your maps. There is no set workflow in industry as I understand, you just try to do as much as you can in the same package if it takes less time in another and you do watever works. Usually I go back forth back and forth with sculpting and low poly creation that is if I am not getting what I want, depends but then I bake all in the end. just remember when comes time to paint textures make sure you have uvs present

#3

Yeah from the tutorials I’ve watched everyone seems to have their own way of doing things, I think I know what to do now though;

-I’ve pieced together all the separate objects as subtools in zbrush
-Next, I’m going to sculpt on all of these to add extra detail
-export to max, work on creating low poly mesh
-create the UVs
-bake the normal and occlusion maps

Hopefully this will work lol, thanks for your help :slight_smile: