ZBrushCentral

Import a new UV map for a hi-res mesh.

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello folks-

I’ve spent some time sculpting a mesh only to realise that my UV’s need to be reworked. Z Brush’s native AUV/ GUV tiling isn’t an option.

The workaround that has been recommended to me doesn’t seem to be working. In short I have…

i) Reduced my .ztl to it’s lowest Subdiv level.
ii) Exported this mesh as an .obj.
iii) Imported this mesh into my 3d app of choice (tested both Maya & Blender) to create my UVs.
iv) Loaded my hi-res .ztl onto the ZBrush canvas, readying it in edit mode within z-brush at SubDiv level 1.
iv) Imported my ‘low-res mesh +UVs’ back into Z-Brush and ‘into’ the active .ztl by pressing Import.

The attached image shows the error that is occuring once I apply subdivision to my new mesh. Everything seems fine at SDiv 1, but once I try to jog back up to higher levels of SDiv, everything seems to go rotten. UVs are in place, which is groovy, but I can’t access the work that I put into sculpting the mesh prior to the export.

I’m 99% certain that my mesh hasn’t been rescaled during the import/ export process, and I’ve experimented with polygroups… just in case :confused: .

I’m wondering if anyone has a work-around to this problem, or might recognise something that I’m doing wrong… when you need to go outside ZBrush for UV mapping, adn you don’t want to lose any hi-res work that you might have done in Z-Brush, what do you do?

Thanks for any help
DM

Attachments

ZBrush_Prob_DM.jpg

#2

Hmm… seems this one has been solved.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=47336

#3

Hmm… maybe not so much solved as alive and kicking and the bane of Z-Brush users everywhere. :frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

#4

I used to suffer from this constantly and it’s all down to point order. ZBrush will not tolerate any changes to point order, other apps are much more forgiving.

The solution, if you want to use UVs created in another app is-

Finish your modelling then do your UV mapping. From this point you cannot make even the smallest change to your mesh. If you decide you need an extra edge loop somewhere, need to change the edge flow or even need to subdivide the mesh you will have to scrap the UVs (delete the map entirely for safety) and redo them from scratch. Stick to those rules and ZBrush will behave itself.

#5

Yes… seem to have wasted a day trying to work out my own magical fix. Thanks Baz- I’ll start again with rock-solid UVs in place- albeit a little annoyed at the wasted time.

#6

Glad to help! Hopefully future versions of ZBrush will be less fussy about this!