ZBrushCentral

displacement or bump map for human skin?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

hi there.

Well i was just wondering which technique is more suitable for make pores, wrinkles and in general human skin of a young person…bump or displacement?

so far i have been tested bump but even if i have my texture res of 4024 by 4024 (and this is just for the face), when i`m in bump material and i add some texture detail with PM later when i pick up the fine litle textures disappears, and just the more big ones remain…

thanks in advance

#2

To get pore-level details across an entire figure is going to require more than one map.

The question you should ask yourself is which parts of the body actually NEED that much detail because they’ll be close enough to the camera for it to show? For most figures, that means just the head and maybe the hands. Those parts of the model should get their own map(s). The rest of the model can then go with a single large map and no fine details.

A common mistake in CG is to detail everything. The pros know to only detail what will be seen and so save themselves a lot of time (and system resources).

#3

thanks Aurick…as i said i have one 4024 x 4024 map just for the head, and im concerned for the size of the texture not because im goin to make a microscopical close up but because i want to break the plastic look of the skin.

but you did not answer my question…displacement or bum map?..or that is just a matter of personal taste? :smiley:

thanks again

#4

Sorry, I misread that it was just for the face. Your texture should easily be large enough to allow bump details. I think the problem is that your texture is not a power of 2 in size. It should be 4096x4096. This will give much better results from Projection Master (and perform better when the map is rendered, too).

Have you read the Precision Texturing: Part 2 tutorial, found in the Tutorials forum?

#5

I have only been using z a week, but i have found another way thats works quite well…for me any way.

I created a brush spline with a very low value and started to play with the noise settings. o get the same effect as you do paint with an alpha but without the mess that happen after projection. it was cleaner and would export the geom with out any mapping hassles.

say ing that , it does have to be at a high level (mesh )
you can use the brush settings to raise and indent a skin fold all at the same time!

so basicly what im saying is, try playing with the spline setting on your brushes.
you will be amazed what they can do …zbrush eh,waited for years for this type of tool!

i can upload some brushes of i know where to put them.

Cheers
Jon

#6

thank you both…yeah, im goin to try several techniques to achieve the result that i want, thats one of the fantastic things of zbrush…you really have plenty of tools to chose from…

cheers