importing base mesh maya

[jungledubber]

importing base mesh maya So I’ve been doing alot of research on this one, but still have not came to a clear solution to if the problem with importing you base mesh back into zbrush is bug or just something I’m completely missing a step to. I’ve never seemed to have this problem in version 2.

here are the steps,

-build low-res mesh in maya
-export an obj from maya (single mesh) I’ve tried different exporting options here which include groups, point groups, materials, smoothing, normals all on and all off plus various combinations.
-I import into z3 divide and sculpt
-go back to level one and export obj
-import into maya do uv’s, export another obj making sure not to make any model chenges
-back in zbrush at level 1 subdivision I import the new obj that has uv’s
-this is where things get screwy
-depending on the import options for flipy flipx or flipz zbrush either crashes or the model does come in but if you go up any subdivision levels the model explodes meaning somewhere along the lines the point order changed I guess, except if I have all the flips,y and z off and import it does import but it’s upside down.
-I try and generate a displacement map from this upside down mesh and it tells me it’s going to take hours, so i cancel
-I reimport the obj again, but now into the upside model, this time it works.
-This seems like a hell of a way to generate a displacement map though

Any suggestions? I fell like it has to due with the importing and exporting either in maye or zbrush.

Is anyone successfully importing obj’s from maya after changing uv’s, to zbrush on level one subdivision and generating displacement maps.

thanks and sorry if this seems repetitive, but I just don’t understand whats going wrong.

[eblondin]

This works fine for me. Nothing appears to really have changed since version 2.

Here are my zbrush3 and maya import and export settings.

These work for me, for max and maya as long as your up axis is y.

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[jungledubber]

whoa, I don’t know what i was doing but this seems to work fine with these settings. Thanks a bunch!!!

[eblondin]

Actually upon further examination of how the default up axis is set up in zbrush on other models I have found that the following settings are actually the correct ones that you should use for both max and maya.

I always thought it was odd that every time I used a zbrush3 default model and then used one of my own that mine would appear flipped upside down, well it was because of my old import export settings. Now all of my models appear right side up. Attached are a few more images that show what I was doing wrong and how my model appears now that I changed my import export settings.

Of course the one drawback to this is that if you already have models that you have imported incorrectly you will have to re export them to fix their orientation.

Here is the work flow for fixing a models orientation that is screwed up. 

1. Set up your new import export settings to be correct. flip y and z on import and export. Save this configuration. 
2. Open the incorrectly oriented .ztl. (You can tell if the model is oriented incorrectly by looking at it in the tool window, if it is upside down or facing the wrong direction even though on your canvas it looks correct, then you know its orientation is jacked.)
3. Go to the lowest sub d level of that .ztl and export it as an .obj with the correct export settings listed above.
4. Open that .obj in max or maya and fix it's orientation to be correct. Facing the front camera ect. 
5. Export that .obj out of max or maya.
6. Back in zbrush, with your original incorrectly oriented .ztl at it's lowest sub d level.  Import the newly fixed oriented model that you exported from max or maya. 
7. Your model should now flip to the correct orientation and you can verify that by looking at it in the tool window, the model should now be facing you and be right side up. All of your sub division work will also still be intact.

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