Smartest subdiv workflow exporting to Max

[system]

I am pretty new to ZBrush, just finished my first “sharp” project. I have a question regarding the export to 3DS Max.

All tutorials etc suggest that you go down to the lowest level when exporting the obj. Then export displacement map from the lowest level as well. Once in Max everybody suggests subdividing the mesh before applying the disp map.

Isn´t there a risk you end up with something that is not exact as it was in ZBrush with such a workflow. If you do a 2 level subdivision in Max after importing the obj, woulnd´t it be better to export from level 2 i ZBrush and then skip the subdivision step in Max?

[goast666]

you don’t actually apply a smoothing or subD to the object in max, you’re simply tesselating the object. which can be handled by the render engine…mental ray or the like.

The extra divisions are just so the displacement has more geometry to push around when creating the actual displacement at rendertime.

The reason you don’t export out the 2nd subD level is because your displacements are generated for the lowest, and because there is less system overhead on your videocard to display 16x less tris on screen when working.

hope that helps.