ZBrushCentral

URGENT help needed! (zbrush to maya model exploding)

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Didn’t expect my zbrushcentral after following it for more than a year already, always found it inspirational and a daily thing in my life.
i won’t be whining here so let me get straight to the point.
it is about the pipeline from zbrush to maya. i followed scott spencer zbrush to maya guideline but somehow it didn’t work for me, had that typical, expected exploded mesh problem. u can call me noob or loser but i DESPERATELY NEED A SOLUTION in less than 24 hour cuz if not, i MIGHT NOT BE ABLE 2 GRADUATE AS THIS IS A LAST TRUMP CARD FOR MY PORTFOLIO. (i had to use a dial up modem to connect here, so that shows how URGENT it is).

Here goes:
-i created a base mesh using zsphere
-took it back to maya and modified it
-laid out the UVs (in the 1 to 0 axis) using the pelting tool
-took the new mesh back to zbrush
-started sub-dividing n sculpting (apparently i forgot 2 store morgh target)
-when im done, i went to sub div 1 and exported the mesh as OBJ back to maya.
-rendered a 4096x4096 tif displacement map using Multi-Displacement Exporter 2 and everything scott said
-convert it to .map using command line
-went back 2 maya and set up the displacement nodes.
-remembered to set the alpha gain to 2.2 and alpha offset to -1.1
-created approximation editor with all the settings scotts said too
-turned off feature displacement
-tried rendering but it gave me that exploded and spike mesh that i think everyone had seen before

i was pretty i followed almost everything scott spencer said (except for the morgh target, but he said it doesn’t matter). i set up the scene a LOT of times in maya already but it doesn’t seem to worked everytime. PLEASE, PLEASE, anyone who has any idea what problem is it, PLEASE help me, I ALMOST BROKE DOWN N CRY WHEN IT DOESN’T WORK. Help me over this so that i can post my first ever work here for all you porfessionals to critque (i promise it will be decent enough).

if nothing else worked i will be desperate enough to export my half-million model from zbrush into maya as OBJ and render it. (actually, i tried, and it was pretty fast, 3.20 minute for a 640x480 production quality occlusion, but of course i lost some details).

#2

If your mesh explodes when changing subdivision levels after you have imported a version of the model back into level 1, the reason is ALWAYS that a setting in Maya (or whatever other app is being used) has caused the point order to change. This could have happened while importing the model into Maya, exporting from it, or while doing whatever it was that you were doing in Maya.

A good example with Maya is that if you have Create Multiple Objects set to True, then Maya will rearrange the point order while importing the model. Make sure that’s False instead.

#3

thnks aurick, but i don’t think thats the case i am very very sure i set create multiple object to false in maya. thats why i m very troubled and confused as to what is really the problem.

#4

That was ONE possibility. Something is changing your point order. If it’s not that, then it’s something else.

#5

U mean the vertex order? but it shouldn’t be a problem since i exported a obj out of zbrush itself… :confused:

#6

Here are some pics… pls take a look, hope it helps…:cry: Tauren_DispTest.jpg

Attachments

Tauren_ST1_Front copy.jpg

Tauren_ST1_Back copy.jpg

#7

I did mean vertex order. When you took the model into Maya to remap it, if the vertex order was changed in any way then you’ll have problems back in ZBrush. This is because the points at level 1 no longer correspond with the proper points at higher levels. The model then explodes if you go up levels again, and a displacement map created for it will likely have similar problems.

#8

But it shouldn’t be a problem if the model is exported out of zbrush as lvl 1 obj rite? anywae, how can i check and solve that problem? Sorry for asking such a simple question…

#9

Thanks Aurick I was having the same issue. Turning off Create Multiple Objects fixed my exploding mesh issues :smiley:

My steps were to

  1. Export sub 1 mesh. I turned on UV’s,( guvtiles) and checked GRP to on and MRG to off
  2. Import mesh into maya. Using import options I changed the file type to OBJ turned Create Multiple Objects to false
  3. Create UV’s. Made sure I didn’t have overlaying UV’s
  4. import to maya. I stored a morph just in case things went wrong
  5. Change Sub level to highest… and boom! … well no boom actually.
    Something in my pipe fixed my exploding mesh issue. It was most likely turning Create Multiple Objects to false

-Toasty