ZBrushCentral

from 3DS Max to ZBrush to Max

Hello everyone.

I love ZBrush but am not too fond of 3D Studio Max and prefer to do all of my modeling in ZBrush. Max is just too left-brained of an interface for me to want to deal with aside from building base meshes for use in ZBrush. ZBrush has a more traditional feel to it. Unfortunately Max is one of those necessary evils that I know only so much of.

I’m working with a model I rigged awhile back.

Thing is I would really like to use this rig for future sculpts as it takes so long to alter envelopes and such.

I want to export the model to ZBrush where I can tweak the model and add detail.

After working with the model in ZBrush I would like to export it back into Max and pose it using the original rig instead of having to rig and skin it again.

Is this possible and if so, I would like to know what the best course to take or if someone would please point me in the right direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance.

i can write you up a brief walk through after the weekend. Maybe someone else will get you the answer you’re looking for first.

Oh wow man that would be so helpful on a community-wide scale too.

Thank you Goast! :smiley:

What you’re asking for can be done, but it won’t give you the result you want…unless I’m not thinking the same thing you are. How much difference in the mesh are you talking about making in Zbrush?

If you’re doing massive changes to the mesh then it isn’t going to want to deform correctly anymore. You can transfer a skin from one mesh to another, but the two meshes must have the exact same point order. XSI has a tool for transfering weights from one mesh to another that is completely different. Maya has a tool for this as well.

I guess I need to know more about what you’re planning to do to write up a new thing for you.

Hey Goast,

Thank you. That’s a good question… the differences would be taking the low poly mesh and subdividing it a few times and just evening things out -not planning on doing more than that. If drastic changes occur just by subdividing, then yeah. I tried skin wrap but it takes a long time… also thought about retopologizing the high-res mesh then applying the skin wrap but i have no idea how to do that… i’m quite helpless ya know :confused:

wha??? there is a morph modifier in 3ds max that you can use to do that. i don’t know what you really want to happen.

please understand that I have an extremely limited understanding of Max, but I’ll check out the morph modifier. Thanks for the heads-up NoobVee :wink: