Is this displacement seams information applicable for Maya 2009?
Also, the OBJ import options - File Type Specific Options in Maya are no-longer an option in 2009. Does anyone know if Maya still reorders the vertex IDs on the model keeping you from taking it back into Zbrush changes (as demonstrated by Scott Spencer)?
Thanks for the very helpful information.
To my knowledge Maya2009 doesn’t not reorder verities unless you have create multi objects pressed Checked
Hey guys
Im a games design student and my latest project requires me to make a highly detailed model.Iv made the base mesh in maya, sculpted in zbrush and am now trying to generate and apply a displacement map, but im getting really odd results. I have the zbrush character creation book (By Scott Spencer) so im following that as closely as possible. Iv gone over the entire process countless times and its the same thing over and over. i just cant understand whats going wrong…
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, im supposed to hand this in within the next few weeks.
Thanks for adding this info Scott! 
Woah Snakes23… Implosion. Thats an odd result. Is your disp. map generated using the right settings and applied correctly in Maya? UV’s laid out correctly?
I fixed it…
Uvs were set up correctly, no overlaps. I think it was something to do with how zbrush flips maps vertically, i had mixed the setting for both preferences and flip in the displacement exporter.
Even when id sorted that there were problems, one of the legs imploded - but turning filtering off sorted that out.
hey , i realy hate this problem , iam moving up to maya 2009 ,
do you still need the
"addAttr -ln “miExportCCMesh” -at bool mentalraySubdivApprox1 script
or have they fixed it in maya 2009?
this issue is allmost making me to swap over to XSI ,
allways have issues with rendering disp in maya , and the script work’s , but for some reason not every time and theres allways a problem when there is many disp’s in the scene ,
you would think with so many people using this pipeline for maya they would get ontop of it ,
hopefully it is fixed in 2009 so i can stop throwing my mouse across the room…
Same here (except spitting to LCD instead of throwing mouse… eww! :lol:)
I didn’t have 2009 yet so didn’t checked. Also I’ll not upgrade if they didn’t fixed that! 
Nop, they didint fixed it. I hate autodesk, didnt they hear that if it isnt broken dont try to fix it? 
Im having a very bad time trying to use zbrush displacement in maya 2009, not even the Scott script solves the problem completely.
2009 was the first one that I was able to render a successful disp. map in. The effects are really not that noticable though in my opinion if your are using a 32 bit map. Unless you crank up the settings beyond the usual 2.2 / -1.1 setting, then the details dont displace well. It really just has an effect similar to hitting 3 on the keyboard and smoothing the model.
Your might be better off exporting & render a medium level mesh if you arent animating it & use a normal map.
I agree through, dont fix what isnt broken.
Thats exactly what happen to me, all minor details like muscles looks great, but all the major details like skin texture, hair texture, little bumping here and there dont look good on Maya. No matter what metod or script I use, no matter if I use 32 or 16 bits maps, everything looks like smoothed out. As you say it just looks like when you hit 3 for smoothed version.
Grrr damn Autodesk, as far as I remember everything works great on Maya 8.5, now I cant workflow with Maya and Z brush. :mad:
Just want to say thanks. I just did my first Mental Ray render in 2008 and I must say those seams were REALLY lame. Thanks Guys.
Hi,
I’m also trying to use displacements map into maya 2009.
and I have lots of troubles too.
I read all posts and watch videos tutorials about multi displacement 3
but things are not going very well.
Here is my problem !!
I have a base character head model into maya 2009 with good uvs, freeze transformation,…
I exported it in zbrush and do first a morph target and start to sculpt my geomertry.
At the end of sculpting, I am at level 7 of subdivision.
it’s where problem start…
I cameback to level one and switch to my morph target and export the disp map (4k) exactly the same way I saw in Scoot Spencer gnomon
tutorials.
and (of course) when I tried it in maya the displacement didn’t really work
I directly use the script to try to fix the problem but nothing change.
for the second try I didn’t use the morph target and assign the displacement,
it didn’t work neither but the result was a bit better and cleaner.
another try was to export the mesh at level two (obj) in zbrush (level 1 deleted) to see if a higher resolution can do something
I first try on the morph target and the result was better but still with some weird parts.
so I try at level two without the morph target and the result was almost there, my mesh had just a little inflate on it.
what I do to try to fix it was to delete the morph target export the mesh at lower level of subdivision as obj and re-import
it as a new morph target.
and it worked perfectly into maya. the render between high res and low res mesh with displace looks 95% the same. whouhououuu !!
but now I’m blocked because I loose my initial base mesh with the morph target.
and the caracheter head is already rigged with blendshape and everything.
I have two solution for the moment:
maya and vertex ids change.
I hope someone have an idea for me. Displacements start to driving me nuts.
Thx
Robb, what happenes when the mesh “dosent work” or when you get “weird parts?” Do you get a render that looks fragmented, or bloated maybe?
Post some images of the problem you are having. Seeing it can help determine the issue.
S
Hi Scott,
Here is some pics of the model.
the first one is the high res mesh rendered in mentalRay (render correctly)
http://www.digitaledge.be/tmp/forum/headHigh.jpg
the second is the displaced mesh without the use of morph target (render correctly)
http://www.digitaledge.be/tmp/forum/headDipslace.jpg
the third one is the displaced mesh with the morph target (render with artifacts)
http://www.digitaledge.be/tmp/forum/headDispMorprhTarget.jpg
as you can see on the third image there is a strange bump next to the nose and a thin line under the lips.
On this model there is a little update. I use the projectAll tool on another model to be able to use it in maya with my base mesh and it works
but I still have problems with the morph target.
thx for your Help
you should be able to re-construct your base lvl subdiv in zb…most of the time.
If all your blend shapes and ztl where created from the same original mesh then vertex ids will remain consistent at different levels of subdivision (in maya nad zbrush)…you could subdivide your blend shapes in maya…although obviously this could result in too high a poly count, however a way around that is to create the blendshape (node) then delete all the shape meshes.
Something I’ve heard is to check SUV on your ztl BEFORE you start sub dividing your mesh, something to do with the border of the maps zbrush generates, apparently SUV will improve if not solve the issue of seams (among other methods).
hope this helps
thx for your reply
I actually use the project all to rebuild my mesh and now it works fine
I can use the mesh in maya with the blendshape
my last problem is the morph target
when I export my displacement map with the morph target switch
I always have some atrifacts in maya
but if I export directly without switching the morph target it works without any problems.
Im having a few problems rendering a bump map with a displacement map. It looks like the bump is being rendered under the displacement map.
dont tell me, you’re using maya either 2009 or 2010 and thats a mental ray approx node? am I right? Of course I am! 
In maya 2008 2009 2010, mental ray uses a new method for approximating the surface (called ccmesh) when using those nodes. and they have termination issues. your bump is terminated at that point.
I’m hoping your using maya haha,
put this in the mel:
addAttr -ln “miExportCCMesh” -at bool mentalraySubdivApprox1;
Try it again in the problems persist try using maya smooth mesh preview which can be read by mentalray
Hi FramedWorld
Haha yes it is Maya 2008. I will give that mel script a try cheers mate.
