Problem Baking Displacement Map coming from Quixel

[tunalan]

Hi,

So without getting into too much detail, I am having difficulty applying this Displacement map that I got from MegaScans in ZBrush.

I bring in my mesh into ZBrush, add subd. apply the DISP map on, the preview looks great and exactly what I expect the final detail to be looking like. However, once I hit Apply DispMap, the mesh completely inflates, similar to what happens when you have wrong DISP values. My question is, why am I displaying the correct result but when it comes to baking it, I get something completely different? It feels promising that I am previewing the correct result but not sure what I need to adjust before baking to get what I see. Attached is reference images.

Some additional information:
I am fairly certain the DISP map coming from Quixel is in the wrong color space to begin with because the baked result I get in ZBrush is very similar to what happens when I try to render it. Unfortunately I haven’t found a a non-dodgy way to convert this map, and even then it doesn’t look right, which is why I was trying this ZBrush approach to see if I can bake a new one out with the correct values.

Let me know if you have additional information,
Cheers!!

[Spyndel]

@tunalan

I bring in my mesh into ZBrush, add subd. apply the DISP map on, the preview looks great and exactly what I expect the final detail to be looking like. However, once I hit Apply DispMap, the mesh completely inflates, similar to what happens when you have wrong DISP values.

Hello @tunalan

By default, when you activate a displacement map in the Displacement Map menu, it is only previewed with a simple procedural bump effect, not any actual change in the geometry. This means that no matter how far you turn up the intensity, the silhouette will not change. In other words, you are not previewing what will actually happen to the geometry when you apply the displacement to the mesh–at which point the mesh points will be displaced based on your map, your intensity setting, and the midpoint value.

To get a more accurate (but not 100% accurate) idea of what your settings and map are going to do when you apply it, you need to enable the Mode button. Now the actual silhouette will inflate and displace with your settings.

Ultimately, there is no 100% accurate preview. The preview is a procedural effect that can be rendered in Zbrush without actually changing the geometry. Applying the map to the mesh actually changes the underlying geometry, and the results may differ slightly, even with Mode enabled.

[tunalan]

Thank you for the explanation! It makes sense. I guess until I get the values on the displacement map to be correct, it’s not going to give me the result I expect. It did look promising for a second though.

[zber2]

Hi @tunalan

If you are still having trouble with this, you might be able to glean some useful information from Accurate Displacement Workflow. Workflow for ZBrush is at the bottom of that page.