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Zbrush can export them all together via GoZ only if the model have 1 Uv's , unfortunately Genesis have overlapped UV's that need to be extracted one by one , Zbrush have only 1 texture map channel... 1 for color 1 for displacement and 1 for Normal maps so it will not export more than 1 at a time , I hope they change it in new Zbrush 5 version but that is just a wish ..
You can still export the Morph back to DS without switching to lover resolution as Zbrush will do that automatic
make only sure that all polygroups are visible before hitting the GoZ export button
when I created Atlas maps for genesis for one of my customers , I extracted the displacement map and then hit the button and everything was sent to DS for testing ..however I always export my morphs manually and import them manually via Morph loader pro as sometimes DS can crash using GoZ and you will lose your hours of work .. even if it does not accept the new morph via GoZ you can still import it manually via Morph Loader , so for serious work I would not use GoZ for more than testing purpose and save always my copy of morphs manually , you can even edit them later before the final work is done .
very often I use GoZ to refit my clothing and replace the mesh or the Uv's after the clothing are rigged already , very handy
you can replace the mesh as long it have the same poly count , it is handy if you need to change the main mesh shape where morph is not an option , after that you need to save the figure other way you will lose the new geometry you just replaced ( don't use the function on genesis )
Hey Cath.
You mentioned sending color and displacement maps via GoZ ..... can you explain or point me to a tutorial for that?
Gracias hon! XO
Would this just be taking the figure, making a mid gray (128,128,128) flat color on them, painting whiter if you wanted to raise the area, painting darker if meant to push in the area, and them reimporting the texture for use as a displacement map
*OR*
is there away to actually use the sculpting tools and then make that into a displacement map?
I would LOVE it if it were the latter but that's cool.
Zbrush can export all sculpted detail as a displacement map if you choose to do so:) And it exports it at neutral Grey, with white details for protruding, and black for details below the neutral level. Basically in Daz you chose your model and UV set you wish it to be based on, export as obj. Import that obj into Zbrush, sub-D to your liking, autogroup via UV, sculpt, then set to base Sub-D level, click on displacement and export. Be careful, to avoid overlaps, only have the areas visible that match the groups on the UV. EG if the torso only covers a particular area, only that area must be visible in Zbrush before exporting the displacement map so it matches the torso map on the figure.
Right, but... is there a tutorial about how to do this for Genesis? Is there a good walk-thru somewhere?
This is the basic principal for any figure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2pAKTDEDxI
Thanks, Zev! :)
Cool, NP :-)
Zev?
When you export to ZBrush, can you use the GoZ option or is there an issue with that?
Dunno to be honest. It's just the way I have always done it I guess:) I only GoZ when making morphs, for material editing I save a Zbrush project so I can return to it. If GoZ works for you then cool:)
I'll try it out. When you say Autogroup by UV, Do you mean the Autogroups by Uv option in the Polygroup menu, right?
Is it important to do that before sculpting or does that matter? I mean can you sculpt after sub-dividing THEN do that step?
Yes that is the option, doesn't really matter when you do it. But I do before I sub-D because once you sub-D and then sculpt, it can take a while to split into the uv groups. There is no rules really, just preference.
Hi Rich,
when you extract your color or displacement in Zbrush they will be send automatic to DS with the mesh
but that is not practical unless you want to test the results only , since it would be not possible to recover the maps in DS as they are placed in temporary folder and are not jpg ..
so not big improvement in the workflow other than testing the final result or saving the displacement values ( what for me are important that why I do it ) but the maps need to be exported anyway from Zbrush the way we do it
xoxo
Hey Cath.
You mentioned sending color and displacement maps via GoZ ..... can you explain or point me to a tutorial for that?
Gracias hon! XO
All displacement maps and Normals are real 3D maps , not painted in Photoshop or in Zbrush
Zbrush can generate maps that will copy the details of the high resolution sculpture so you can use it later on the low resolution mesh and still have the same effect like on 5 million poly sculpture and the best of it is that they will be seamless and working also in other programs
you can get really great effects for figures or clothing
I have here a tutorial I made for some challenge for creating clothing and folding in Zbrush
on top of that using extracted displacement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8WRhLC46b8&list=UUY7ywI1xsB5ekLPViocLdnQ&feature=share&index=2
Sculpting and painting in Zbrush are not connected to UV's , you can do that on a mesh that don't have UV's at all
but before extracting maps you will have to create the UV's anyway , that why I prefer to do that before I sculpt or do anything else just in case something got wrong and I need to rework everything , plus it is not suggested to create UV's or polygroups when the model is on a high resolution level as it use a lot of memory to do that and we all know that Zbrush memory is limited since it is 32bits program ...
also most of the time I use the morph target option so if I don't like the final job I just erase the morph and start over again
I am starting new project today , so I will make short video of the basic and preparation so you can see the steps and how to prepare your mesh for work in Zbrush so it is more clear .
Thanks, Mec4D! You are awesome! :)
Ah, OK, thanks for the info hon! XO
Mec4D and Zev0...
What are three top three things you feel are important when using DAZ and Zbrush?
What three "neat little tricks" did you discover in your experineces with DAZ and ZBrush?
To anyone out there who has there own experience using both DAZ and ZBrush, please feel free to share! I would love to learn more.
I work only in Zbrush , making my clothing, sculptures and characters
there are no special tricks , you just need to find your own workflow
Zbrush allow you to do anything you like but everything need practice .
Start from the basic and learn slowly , watching a lot of tutorials and other subjects will not help much
I call it artificial intelligence where you know everything about the topic but can't do much with it
that why giving yourself a goal or challenge and learn how to do it will works .
choice one subject and research and learn about it as much as you need to finish your goal and move to next topic .
I still learn new stuff each time I am working on different project , it is never ending story
I wish I have this tools the way they are today 15 years ago including experiences and knowledge
I used to purchase a lot of programs but come to conclusion that the programs will not make the magic for me until I master them for my need , that why I have my 3 favorite programs that I work in on daily basic what is Zbrush, Photoshop and Deep Paint that is all I need to create my stuff
I have a lot of ideas and my own interesting workflows
but I prefer to show the progress than talking about especially if a lot of people that are interested are still in the beginning process of using Zbrush for creations in DS or any other programs
I did not forgot about the videos as I am in process to finish the first part and will upload asap
so everyone can check out
I can give a one important tip, be passionate about a program you try to discover and create something with
without a passion you will get bored to soon and drop it
challenge yourself as much as you can , Zbrush is a puzzle and things don't work the way you may expecting that why for me it is number 1 program that I am very much passionate about for over a decade and never got bored with ;)
Fantastic advice Cath.
I do have a question for you as I've not gotten anything of value for my needs from ZCentral.
How does one make a perfect cascading spiral? You know, as used for building a hair prop.
You can use the Spiral3D or the Helix3D and adjust the Initialize settings to get the look of the perfect spiral
do not convert them to polymesh before, just load the spiral into the scene and then use the Initialise settings that are on the bottom right for the desire density and look ...
you can also extract one side of the spiral from the Helix3D so it will be more usable for the hair prop the Helix3D can be also used with the initialize settings
If I was doing the hair I would use Helix3D , then create from that the insert brush to skip the process
bellow quick spiral done using Helix3D and the Initialized settings that give you a lot of option even the polygons count and face sides to reduce the poly
I heard it was possible to make fiber hair in Zbrush and import it. What are the pros and cons of that and have you ever tried it. (As I recall, Joe Quick, I think, had done it for his Golden Age set as a freebie)
Thanks so much Cath. I'll give that a try tomorrow.
@ Robert.... In my short time working with it.... just feels like it needs some better brushes and perhaps some more tweaking of the Fibermesh creation too. I found it to be very clumsy and unintuitive. I think LAMH is MUCH easier to use and you can also export that as an OBJ. Perhaps in ZBrush 5 we might be fortunate to have some improvements done to the Fibermesh tools.
I have made fibremesh sets. Was actually my very first product called ManFuzz lol.
Mec4D has a beard and body hair set available here at Daz which was also created using fibremesh.
The pros of fibremesh is that you can easily create good looking hair if you know how to utilize the features and optimize it. Takes a bit of practice.
The cons, lots of people create "over dense" sets which contain high amounts of polygons which could have been reduced. Hi polycount fibremesh sets can really choke your rig. As to tricks with Zbrush and Daz, there aren't any really, its all about your workflow, and that is something you have to develop to suit you.
Any insights or words of wisdom you two could share besides establishing workflow?
What, there is no magic "make art" button I have been missing? *chuckle*
As you may see I created the Unshaven set for Genesis for DAZ using fibers from Zbrush
it was the biggest fiber project ever .. but working
I also use it very often in my products like my Santa's and others
there was a long over 100 pages thread in the old forum I made about fiber hair with sample and stuff
sorry have lost the link to it ..
Actually there is only one way to use the fiber hair in DS but I am not ready for share my workflow yet
however the structure is actually the same as exporting OBJ from DS hair plugins
unfortunately there is no magic buttons that will do any final work for you .. however Zbrush is full of magic buttons that speed the work in process ,.. still you need to be creative and do that yourself
Not that I don't want to tell you .. it is just much easy to understand when you see it since Zbrush is far from old style modeling and telling you what to do will not really that helpful at all unless you know the all functionality of the buttons ;)
The wisdoms of Zbrush are mostly the workflows by the individuals , still everyone do it different way so there is no standards
plus the softwares update so often it is hard to catch up , half year old videos are already outdated the same for Zbrush and DS
maybe it is time to create a nice place where we put all info regarding DS and GoZ and Zbrush for everyone since ZCentral do not focus on DS-Z workflows at all
But for the beginners I would suggest to learn the basic info and the functionality of the button from Zbrush manual that explain it so well
Zbrush is great for what we actually do here , but a beginner need a little bit of a welcome guide to start with and the fact that English is not my first language I prefer to show my workflows in video to make it much easy , and Zbrush is very easy if you know where to start with..
I feel like I am repid myself over and over again :)) that will not get you anywhere so let me show you what I am talking about :) I promise I will do that this evening
I have a morphing workflow down pat, just haven't gotten into the actual modelling and texturing aspect of it yet.
Moving into that in a couple of weeks. If there is anything that you know of that will give me a good head start to modelling clothing and accessories in ZBrush for DAZ or any really good tutorials on basics, please let me know.:)
As for your workflow? I would love to know more about it for either Mec4D, Zev0, or JoeQuick if he happens to be listening. Love you guys work! :)
OK... Got it figured out.
1) Load up a blank scene.
2) Load up a Helix,
3) Scroll down and you will see a hidden menu under Tools made visible called Initialize. You have all the options that Cath mentioned briefly.
4) Investigate, play around until you get it the way you want it.
5) Tools> Polygroups> Groups by Normals
6) Ctrl + Shift to select the outer Normals.
** note: To check to see if the entire outer spiral is there go to Tools> Display Properties and click Double. Should be fine.
7) Tools> Geometry> Modify Topology and click "Delete Hidden" button
8) Save it out as tool and as an OBJ.
9) Load up the scene you want to bring it into
10) Tools> Subtools> Insert and your Helix should be there. Click it and it will insert it in UNDER the layer you have selected on top.
PS. If your used to using your Middle button for scrolling and other operations you can get this script here:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?183019-quot-Middle-Button-quot-Plug-in-for-ZBrush-4R6&p=1070287#post1070287
It works very well. I chose the Blender preset which gives me a zoom ratio of 1 incremental zoom at a time rather than the 3D Max preset which is 3 incremental zooms at a time.
Here is my screen grab of the options once installed: