ZBrushCentral

sculpting hires without changing lowres

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi,

i have a bit of a problem. I would like to change the mesh in one of the highest subdivision but i don´t want to change the first subdivision. The reason for that, the base mesh is already rigged. I can´t change it anymore. So i thought i can do the rest with vector displacement. But if i change the highest subdiv, it also changes the lowres.

My second idea was to create a morphtarget for the lowest subdiv and after sculpting in the hires mesh i can switch back to the base subdiv level and switch the morphtarget. Now i have my original base mesh but it also changes my hires mesh.

Is there a solution for this kind of problem?

Thank you in advance

#2

Rigged how and where? http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/3d-modeling/posing-your-model/rigging/

#3

its already rigged in maya… i have no clue about rigging, but my workmate told me its quite an effort to bring an updated mesh in his rig again.

#4

i do believe you can change the highest and then re-import the lowest.

when you import an obj, the geo of the object that is on the canvass is replaced by the geo of the imported obj.

so you can change the higher, then switch to the lower and import an obj of the lower you want.

back up your files before you do anything.

#5

ZBrush will always change your base mesh when sculpting the high res mesh but the solution is simple. You can either store a morph target to keep a copy of your original base mesh or re-import it before generating the displacement maps. The important thing to remember is to generate the maps immediately after switching the morph target or re-importing the mesh - before moving back to the higher level.

So your options are:

Method (A)

  1. Import a base mesh and immediately store a morph target. This stores a copy of the original mesh.
  2. Subdivide and sculpt.
  3. When you’re ready to generate displacement/normal maps, go to the lowest subdivision level and switch the morph target.
  4. Generate displacement/normal maps.
  5. Switch the morph target again before moving to higher level (for example to generate a texture map from polypaint).

Method (B)

  1. Import a base mesh.
  2. Subdivide and sculpt.
  3. When you’re ready to generate displacement/normal maps, go to the lowest subdivision level and store a morph target. This stores a copy of the modified base mesh.
  4. Import the original base mesh.
  5. Generate displacement/normal maps.
  6. Switch the morph target before moving to higher level (for example to generate a texture map from polypaint).

HTH,

#6

Hi marcus,

thank you very much. I just tried Method A and it works fine for me.
I think my main mistake was to switch to the highest subdiv before i exported the displacement map. Everything is fine now and i love zbrush and you guys even more for that. :slight_smile:

Thank YOu

#7

That’s great, thanks for letting us know. :slight_smile:

#8

Hi Marcus,

Wanted to say … Thanks so much for your info on this post. I am new to figuring out how to generate Displacement maps myself, and I’ve been trying to solve this issue for 5 days. Couldn’t find the answer anywhere. I thought I was doing what you outlined in your steps, but I realized (after following your steps STEP-BY-STEP) that my issue was between step 3 and 4 … I was switching to the Morph Target, then (instead of generating the Displacement map right away after switching the Morph Target) I was switching to the highest SubDiv to see how it looked before switching back to the lowest SubDiv to generate the Displacement Map.

I thought/assumed/expected that once the Morph Target is switched, it automatically has whatever effect it’s going to have at all levels (i.e., changing the lower subDiv model changes the higher SubDiv level, and vice versa). It seems like switching the Morph Target doesn’t affect the highest SubDiv UNTIL one switches to the highest SubDiv.

So if I DON’T switch to the highest subdiv level after I switch the Morph Target, but instead generate a Displacement map as the immediate step after switching a Morph Target, then the Displacement map is generated as expected. Mine was showing up with all kinds of artifacts before this, and I couldn’t figure out what was going … as soon as I did this: clean as expected!

I’m writing this kind of detailed explanation in case it helps someone else reading the thread who has a similar problem, and in case they think they’re following the same steps (like I was), to highlight his nuance. I’ve been searching for 5 days and, even though I’ve seen numerous other posts by other beginners with similar problems, this is the first post I came across that laid out these steps and helped me figure out where ZBrush was acting differently from what I thought/expected.

Thanks Much!

#9

sprqst,
You’re welcome. I’m glad you got it sorted out.

Cheers,