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Which model do I use to apply displ map to in outside app?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi all,

Can someone please enlighten me on this.

I import a base mesh into Zbrush for sculpting and creating a displacement map. I then export the displ map and the model from ZB (at subd 1) as usual.

Do I apply the displacement map to the original base mesh, or do I apply the displacement map to the exported subd 1 model from ZB for rendering in my outside app? What are the advantages/disadvantages (or differences) between these two.

I suspect that this might be a silly question and the answer is probably the latter, but it has been bugging me for a while :confused:

Thanx in advance.

Yvan.

#2

It depends on what you are doing. If it doesn’t matter if the mesh you render from in your outside app changes then use the ZBrush level 1 mesh. Some workflows depend on the original mesh remaining the same (for example for game characters where other people are working on animating the low res mesh), in which case you would need to make sure the displacement map is generated correctly. To do this you would:

  1. Go to level 1 of your mesh in ZBrush.
  2. Store a Morph Target.
  3. Import your original base mesh.
  4. Generate the displacement map.
  5. Switch to the Morph Target.
  6. Switch to higher levels if you wish to do more work.

When you subdivide and sculpt a mesh the base mesh always changes slightly. Re-importing the original mesh at level 1 ensures that the displacement map is accurate.

#3

Thanks for the quick reply Marcus.

Will have to digest this first and see what works best. I’m glad it was not a silly question after all;). As you say it depends…