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Goz zbrush and maya, and generating subdivion levels from normal maps. Help

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Is it possible to goz my mesh out to maya, then edit it and bring it back in after major changes?

like for instance if i cut off a piece of the mesh and make it multiple objects and want to goz it back in is that possible? It gives me naming errors once renamed and it just wont goz back in.

Also is there a way to use a normal map to regenerate subdivision levels in zbrush? That way i could goz my model and maps out, edit them, edit the normal map in photoshop and then bring it all back in and regenerate the subdivision levels without having to worry about if it matches my old model.

This would give me so much more control over the whole process.

Ive been searching all over the internet and have not been able to find any relevant answers.

Help is much appreciated o.o

#2

I’ll let someone more experienced with GoZ and Maya to comment on that particular workflow.

When it comes to the normal map question though, the answer is nope. Normal maps just don’t contain the kind of information that would be needed for such calculations (no depth information, for example). You could try with a displacement map instead, but I’m not really an advocate for editing either by hand.

#3

ok well how about if i just want to cut a piece off of my already detailed model, and do it precisely in maya, how can i bring it back into zbrush when 1 piece is now 2?

#4

This is my workflow.
Go to the lowest level in Zbrush and GoZ your model to Maya.

In Maya do a quick planar map. It does not matter from which axis.
Select the edges that you want to cut along but don’t cut the model.
in the UV texture editor under the polygons menu go to “Cut UV edges.”
Now separate your UV shells as you need the model cut but don’t cut the model.
There is no need to unfold the UVs.

GoZ the model back to Zbrush.
In Zbrush under the Polygroups menu select “Auto Groups With UV”
Check by turning on Polyframes (Shift+F) you should see each group with a different colour.
Go to the Subtool menu and under the “Split” menu select “Groups Split.”
Your model is now cut up and all the subdivision are intact!
Use UV master with polygroups setting to produce UVs for each section.

Hope this helps.