Hello,
Does anyone know if there is any workaround for projecting normal maps using two different meshes (low/High) like ZMapper did ? I mean the new normal map is good but not so good if we deal with straight lines and structures ,because this kind of structures deform in the normal map on the low poly mesh(the straight line is no more straight but deformed / Generally the lowest subdivision’s volume do not fits anymore the highest subdivision’s form in a close way ). All this normal map deformation happens off course because i need to readjust the low poly on top of the high poly and reproject the normal map in a more effective manner witch only in a 3d package like maya or xsi is possible.Also the retopologysation is out of question, just because in my pipeline it takes too long and need reuv’s.
So, because of lacking of Projected Normal Map method in Zbrush ( maybe there is a way , please let me know if you see it) now i have to export both low/high in a different 3d package(as much as the target program supports , and generally is about 2 millions poly/4 mil tri on a Quad core, Win 64, 4 G ram) .Once arrived in Maya ,for example, i try to rearrange the low geometry’s vertices on top of the high one as close as possible, and then project the Nmap.
So , if anyone knows a way of doing this in Zbrush, for example how to project the normal map from a subtool to another subtool , would be great.
Thank you !
Hi! Normally I try not to comment on things I dont have first hand experience with, and I have not yet put 3.5 through its paces in this area. But since no one else has chimed in here, I believe the new workflow involves making use of the "Project All " function in the subtool palette, to project the detail onto the new mesh, and then generate the normal map from that. It’s the same projection process as Zmapper, only made manifest, and this way any problems in the projection are more readily apparent.
If I’m mistaken, hopefully someone will correct me here.
I understand what your suggestion is ,but here are couple of problems too…anyway i see you do not figure out what I meant with this Normal map projection issue.
The main problem in projecting geometry and not normal map is that the low poly capture the High poly’s form in it and your “topologisation” is distorted , this way you need to use Morph target or to reimport the old original low subdivision again( and i am not sure if this way it works…i have to test it).What exactly i would like to do in Zbrush is to arrange the “cage” geometry (low poly) as good as i can on top of the Highest subdivision ,and then just project the normal map on it.
But imagine you have 10 subtools each with 2.5 millions polygons, and you want to reproject pure geometry on top of another 10 subtools just to get the right Nmap on the right topologisation…this means you have to make a lot of workaround for not to overload the scene with something like 40 millions polygons.
But with just projecting you need no longer extra millions of polygons or to operate separately just with the tool you are projecting ,one at a time.
Hope i am clear enough …if not , i will probably post some example images.
Thank you anyway for your interest in helping me .