ZBrushCentral

questions about workflow, from 3d to 2.5d, and back to 3d again

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi. I’m following this tutorial loosely | http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?74301-Re-Angel | and I’ve got some questions regarding the workflow when incorporating the 2.5d canvas.
I see the artist gets most of his geometry in place, then saves out a zbrush project to flatten the image, then adds lots more details like grunge and small logos. My question is, let’s say you do something similar, and you’d like the detail you’ve added while the object is flattened in 2.5d mode to get projected back onto your original 3d model, is there a simple way to achieve this? I’m trying to wrap my head around how best to create some gorgeous, 100%-zbrush-rendered illustrations, while allowing for maximum flexibility if I want to pull my 3d object into another app for animating, or if I simply decide halfway through that I’d like to rotate my object slightly, or replace a chunk of armor or something.

I hope this all makes sense. Thanks for any insight!

sub-question: When rendering passes with different materials, is it common to save these as layers? or simply change the material and save out a render pass and change the material again?

#2

Saving out a .zpr doesn’t flatten your canvas, it’s a project file which has all your items in it. Investigate layers(in main menus at top), investigate subtools, with layers you can delete or rearrange them. Using texture to 3d usually results in a very heavy model. Play with it, experiment and enjoy.

#3

Thanks for your reply! I admit I hadn’t messed around much with layers yet, and I’ve learned a bunch after experimenting with things this weekend…I do have another question though.

let’s say I want to make a scene like a large room, or a landscape, or a hallway…Should I still use the 2.5 Canvas in layers for these scenes, noting the fact that there’s not much z-space difference between a figure in the foreground, and one in the far background? or should I just collect all my scene assets in 1 tool within separate subtools and use the timeline to remember my camera position? I’m just curious how others have done it so far, because it seems like a simple idea, with a not-so-simple workflow in ZBrush

thanks again!

#4

My question is, let’s say you do something similar, and you’d like the detail you’ve added while the object is flattened in 2.5d mode to get projected back onto your original 3d model, is there a simple way to achieve this?

This is what projection master does.

#5

Good observation…I knew that, but hadn’t thought of it in context with the tutorial I was following :slight_smile: thanks for connecting those parts of my brain