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Thank you for those new tips. When I finally did get a figure with separated UVs loaded in Mudbox, renaming the textures did work. I think I have a properly saved .mud file now, but I'm still probably going to work with Photoshop.
Now if you have time and would like to make another tutorial that I'm sure many people would find useful, could you explain how you make morphs in Mudbox and export them to Studio? I have been able to do this pretty easily by just creating a morph on a new sculpt layer, exporting as an OBJ, and then loading it in Studio using Morph Loader Pro, but I have not been able to figure out how to do it correctly when you're trying to adjust clothing on a figure (like to fix pokethrough).
- I exported the figure and conformed clothing from Studio as an FBX. Mudbox apparently doesn't understand the conforming part because the clothing loads with its default zero pose.
- I then exported figure and conformed clothing from Studio as an OBJ. That loaded properly, but when a clothing morph was exported as an OBJ and loaded in Studio, it heavily distorted the clothing's pose and made it unusable.
Thank you for your continued help.
Hello Snow Sultan welcome back :-) .. as promised.. i will use this thread to show a full daz-mudbox-photoshop-mudbox-daz workflow.... inlcuding bump, specular... morphs....
Part 2... Preparing in Mudbox
Ok - using our working UV set now in Mudbox we want to add also Bump, and Specular... Our dummy should include all used texture files from the original skin...
As posted above we work with a multi tile UV object... and to tell mudbox which texture goes on which UV tile.. we need just to number our files..
To show about what i am talking about with screenshots - i use the opacity map for the eyelashes....
1. on which tile is the texture... number 8
2. rename the file to texturename_u8_v1.jpg
3. import layer -> Opacity channel
and here we go....
Edit: After saving and reloading, Mudbox creats black textures on every empty UV tile... if you want to see the eylashes mapped you need to overpaint the whole character with white color in the opacity channel - flatten to UV space - white brush and overpaint all tiles...except the eyelashes.
@SnowSultan... if you open a new thread about clothing morphs i am sure other people will answer (and i will chime in when i have time and it is mudbox related)...
added also bump and specular textures... hiding cornea and eyereflection to see the eye textures....
And that's a fully textured gen2 base in mudbox.. the skin looking good.
As a next step i export all paint layers in a temp folder -> and go back to daz and add all the generated textures (with mudbox names) to the right surfaces on a gen2 base fem. I am doing this to be able to see changes on my skin also in daz renders. just doing a quick layer export in mudbox . reload the dummy daz gen2 with the new overwritten textures.. render....
I also leveld up in mudbox and extracted all displacment map - without doing any changes other then subdiv 1 level...... as expected the maps are messy and include big errors... having this first maps with all the errors i can later use them to clean up the maps in photoshop very fast ( subtract difference)!!!. .....
I was following along fairly well until it came time to add the bump and specular maps...they loaded and applied properly after a ton of texture renaming, and things were looking OK...now this is how my .mud file loads...only the specular and bump is showing, even though all layers are visible and nothing is soloed?
Thank you again for continuing with the tutorials. I still look forward to seeing the rest of them, but it's pretty clear that 3D painting programs and I do not get along. I'll wait until you start talking about morphing to give it another serious try.
for my exampe i added not a ton of textures...
after the diffuse skin is there, i added:
Opacity = eyelashes
Bump = Head, Limps, Torso, Innermouth
Specular = Head, Limps, Torso
Those 8 Maps are needed for a Iray skin
For 3Delight shaders SS and TL are optional because they are best painted in 2d.. (which is also easy to do in mudbox or any other 2d image editor( photoshop, gimp)).
If there are problems to understand which map goes where: It is also possible to add each map to a own unique layer....and later move to the right channel (diffuse, bump, specular or whatever)...and when everything is right - just merge the layers.
Edit: Check once your opacity channel view UV i just noted a problem similar to yours... after save and reloading Mudbox created black textures on every empty UV tile... if you want to see the eylashes mapped you need to overpaint the whole character with white color in the opacity channel (use a new layer) - flatten to UV space - white brush and overpaint all tiles...except the eyelashes.
ok NEXT... i also save our daz zero pose in mudbox.. just in case i work on morphs and change the pose using the skeleton.. i want make sure to bring her always back to pose zero!
If you ever wondered yourself how to create expression morphs - > the skeleton lets you open her mouth, move her tongue and so on.... see screenshot 2.. done in 10 seconds then i would finetune with modelling tools. ..
Screenshot 3 test render in daz - morph
OUR DUMMY MUDBOX GEN2 FEM is now ready and prepared for all possible future work - save......
Part 3
Working in Mudbox
I wont come up with a large modelling/painting tutorial in this thread but i will posting some notes and screenshoots whenever i think it is a overlooked technic ...
1. You can load every zBrush brush in Mudbox too.... just google and you can find tons of stamps for free....
2. It is very easy to create your own complex details as a stamp and reuse them on your final models....
Here a quick tutorial how to do this:
Model on a plane your high res details (screenshoot one)
When your done add another plane as a second object (screenshoot 2)
extract a vector displacment map using the 100% difference to the base mesh plane (second object plane) (screenshoot 3)
import the vector map as a stamp and use it with 100% strenght on any model to get a 1:1 copy. (screenshoot 4 & 5)
i added her cornets on level 5.. which means the whole model has allready more then 20 Mio polygons.. most systems start to lag here....
the solution is simple... hide all uv shells whch we dont need using our UV map -> select/move tools -> uv shells -- Display -> hide all unselected with 2 - 5 mio polygons it is possible to work smooth even on midrange PC's with mudbox.
Stepping down to level zero, we see that the horns also changed our base model a little bit.. (screenshoot one)...fine.. level 0 will be our morph in daz - that's why i check it often while modeling... (export testing in daz)...
I am one of those which prefers to develop textures and skins, while modeling... no other solutions which i know let's you do this so easy! -> starting to work on her skin and textures allready now...
See screenshoot 2.... reshaped the head a little bit, started with skin modelling and painting... this goes now hand in hand, (sculpting and painting).. till i am finish and happy with my devil
Thank you for the new tutorials. I'm comfortable painting in 3D using Photoshop now, but you can't sculpt with it and that's what I'm looking into Mudbox for. ;)
Hi SnowSultan, hope you had a great weekend :-).... i dont give up so fast to convince you to use Mudbox for painting too :-)...
Did you check your Opacity Channel - the screenshoot you posted looks as everything is there. You cant just see it because Mudbox added black texture tiles as you reloaded your file and so everything except the eyelashes and some skin reflection from the render are dark. Just turn off your Opacity channel to figure out if that was your problem... i had the same in my case... i edited above the Opacity Eyelash advise.
Haha, thanks for not giving up on me, but I actually have some good reasons to use Photoshop for painting in 3D that Mudbox isn't able to provide.
* I can set up almost identical lighting in Photoshop to what I use in DAZ Studio, including the same HDRI and light intensities. This might be possible in Mudbox too, but I've also created an action to prepare the lighting, a background, and import the 3D object without any additional work.
* Photoshop saves all the maps within the PSD, and while this makes for large files, it prevents any broken links, eliminates renaming problems, and allows easy and editing changing of maps at any time.
* I can use the exact same color correction settings and Curves on my textures that I use on my finished renders, which allows me to make tetxures that require less postwork.
Now I'm certainly open to learning more about sculpting in Mudbox, seeing how it's $10 a month and Zbrush is $800. ;) It seems easy enough to get an OBJ out of Mudbox and loaded as a morph in Studio, but I don't quite understand how to get displacement detail or morphs that affect conforming clothing yet.
Hope you had a good weekend too! Take care!
i have nothing against photoshop. i use it myself -> but you cant paint on high res details (displacment) there...
All the advantages you have in photoshop are not lost when you paint first high res topology (sculpting AND painting) in mudbox and then do the final colorcorection and curves in photoshop
Yes - mudbox is great for scultping for the price.... i use Zbrush only for special functions - such as dynamesh or fibermesh.
---- Weekend :-)... so i have the time to continue working on my Gen2 character example...
I reshaped the body and head to a complete unique model... added missing details, navel, nipples and so on.... she is now more slim, more androgyn, little bit boney -> because i cant show what i am doing on a dressed character i hope it is ok to upload screenshoot 1 .... working now mostly level 3 (about 1.3 polygons..... but still go back often to level 1 (orginal daz resolution)...because this will be my final character morph in daz.... all other added details go ether on the bump map, or displacement.
Displacement:
I use here Veins as example: i just paint them in a blueish color on a unique diffuse layer, then sculpt the same lines on a level 3 layer... screenshoot 2
then i blend paint and sculpt layer (veins) together with orginal skin and mesh.... to my liking.... see screenshoot 3.
My final goal is a hybrid character (demon/human)... so i work actually on 2 skins.... i will use this weekend to improve the human part of my model...
thanks for the continued tutorial ++
Welcome back @DigiDotz
...
Bump:
In screenshoot 1 i show the original DAZ bump map.... while her face (Bree5) is very nice.. other body parts are more or less just copies from her diffuse skin and looking weird (seems - meshresolution)..... this is cleary to see using the old bump maps with 100% strength...... so it will take me some hours.... to add microdetails, veins, larger skinpores, wrinkles and so on....
Screenshoot 2 working on veins - adding larger pores.... (level 4 veins and 5 pores)....... to add smaller pores level 6 or higher is needed.... more to this later.
I take care to have details which will go on the displacment map (veins) and those for the bumpmap (pores) also on different sculpt layers....seperation is needed to bake the different maps later!
Microdetails...
Sculpting:
I do it very raw.... on layers with 100% strength... actually creating a old-aged skin... see screenshot 1
then just dial back the details.... screenshot 2.... (younger skin)...
Bumpchannel: i add (paint) a noise which simulates the smaller pores and skin pattern.....
Diffuse: Painting small blood vessel (screenshot 3)
Blended together: Screenshot 4
Character Variations and Morphs
Layers work like morphs in DAZ...
It is easy to create different base shapes and morphs while developing a model...
In my case i added (sculpted) a aged, more corpulent body shape, seperated the heads.... young, aged, demon....
aged shape -> screenshot 1
young shape -> screenshot 2
a blend -> screenshot 3
While working on a skin i can now always check, how the texture looks also stretched on a corpulent figure. Also i can generate different models with shape and skin variations very fast..! Let's say i want a alien nation population.... or my plan is to develop different models for the DAZ store.... having good different base shapes in mudbox plus separated detail layers (heads, nose, chest and so on) in the same Mudbox project file - is the key for FAST model development!
Screenshoot 4 -> a older elf/demon using the human skin texture i am working on...
Screenshot 5 -> checking microdetails on older shape.... i just blended in the details with more strength ...
This easy workflow is why i am a Mudbox fan - > Zbrush would have crashed x times allready doing the same what i show here.. since i opened this thread.. i had not one crash and everything runs fast with minimum 15 or more FPS on a simple midrange labtop with 8GB ram.
great tips, I'm redoing some characters in mudbox very soon so your mudbox info will speed things up a bit
@DigiDotz .. your welcome... i did not have much free time over the last 2 weeks.... but i will continue with this example thread - next i need to model a creature shape and skin .... then i will post tips for displacment maps ... transfering details between models in one project file... import additional morphs and poses from DAZ.. and so on.
hello Andygrimm. i folow your steps several times, and i got the same problem like snowsultam , only the limbs textures come to mudbox, and i want know
how to make the paint work in mudbox be a valid texture for a genesis 2 character. and a tutorial how to do the same for genesis 1 bases. ( i am using mudbox 2015 , maybe this are the problem? ) i am want be a content creator using my mudbox skills , i see lots of tutorials to develop content for genesis with zbrush , not for mudbox, if you are a lover of the mudbox make a video tutorial for our mudbox comunity :) will be a great help . i just dont see any step by step tutorial on the net , just this post. and when i folow it , pooff , dont works. help us . help the ppl want develop for genesis 1 and 2 using mudbox :) when u have time of course :)
Cheers .
Hello-
.. well you are not the only one asking me for files or to continue with my Mudbox-Tutorial
...
... i overlooked ONE "problem" which i later corrected . Here is the Edit: Check once your opacity channel view UV i just noted a problem similar to yours... after save and reloading - Mudbox created black textures on every empty UV tile... if you want to see the eylashes mapped you need to overpaint the whole character with WHITE color in the opacity channel (use a new layer) - flatten to UV space - white brush and overpaint all tiles...except the eyelashes.
1. I delayed this thread because i wanted first to master IrayUbershader for skins and other things in DAZ3d (rigging and so on) as good as possible before i invest a lot of my time in modelling and painting a complete character for Daz... i am soon ready to continue here...(need also to find more freetime)... As said somewhere earlier.. i am a DAZ newbie too (or was one 5 months ago ) and i do this export/import cycle mainly to learn and master the DAZ part
2. Importing to Mudbox.. i documented everything as good as possible and it works 100% as you can see in my screenshoots
If this is your problem - well then it is solved... all other steps do work perfectly with every multi-tile UV character Gen1 and/or 2....
If you struggle somewhere else.. post a screenshoot with some notes what you trying to do....and i will try to help.
3. videos... well.. if i have the time to make a complete Gen1 - 3 Mudbox workflow with Video (takes a LOT of time and efforts) - well i would maybe try to sell it, if DAZ is interessted.. Because.. you are right... Mudbox is not really documented here in the forum but a " secret "weapon of many professional 3d modellers/painters and affordable for all of us.
4. Always understand - working with multi-tile UV's and a Object using very different mesh density (DAZ characters) is ALWAYS difficult - i would say in EVERY 3d paint/sculpt solution you will face not expected function behavior.. or problems which you must solve by hand and time intensiv (such as the documented DAZ-Mudbox export/import here). -> a clean displacment map is then the next beast to solve ( i will show what is possible and what not in Mudbox when i am up to date with my DAZ knowledge)
thx for fast reply .Andy. - can i call you Andy ? :). i will posts the screen shots with me doing your tuto, later , now i am busy with a work. :/
but for now i can say to you. i have the same problem as snow sultam the unique texture come to mudbox is the lower limbs texture , and dont come with black textures and dont come with opacity layer . just one difuse layer. :( maybe we are doing something wrong in daz side. i will post my screenshots doing your tuto ok. one more time thx for fast reply
My name IS Andy.. it's my real surname - i am fine with that
Important is that your UV's are sorted and grouped correct (or the way how you want them) .. everthing else you can import manually (which you must do for bump and other channels anyway) ... just name the texturefiles correct .. and reimport the UVs. If you still cant figure out how it works (read my posting about UV-tiles and numbers on page 1...
(
If you'r still struggling... post a screenshot from Mudbox showing your UV view for diffuse and for opacity.
I attempted this workflow some time ago and got very frustrated and gave up. In trying again, I seem to be stuck at step 1 again, i.e. grouping the different surfaces into a new group. I'm not seeing an increase in the 'count' of the new surface I'm greating while I assign differences surfaces to the new group. I'm not sure if I'm missing a step or whether there is something not working with this process in Daz 4.8 on a Mac. The provided example screenshot is on a PC.
What I'm aiming to do is generate only as many groups as there are texture maps plus those separately that don't use a texture map.
Hopefully someone can provide some input.
Hi @rksrks100
yes - ,my examples are made on Win8....and i used DAZ 4.8 too. (right now the Beta 4.9.0.44)
Because your problems are in DAZ on a MAC.. well.. i dont have a idea if there is a difference in the software or not - i dont think so...
Maybe post a screenshot where you can show me the difference to mine on the geometry editor ?
I find it easier to add the polys to an existing group. Here are the steps I use (using the "face group" as an example):
Thank you both for the very quick response- really appreciate it after spending several hours frustrated. It is now working. The detailed step by step instructions really helped. I'm finally past the starting block !!! No doubt more headwinds ahead....
Thanks again
Raj
Glad you got it going. I should have given credit to Andy, though. I had struggled with the UV thing quite a bit before reading this thread. However, once it's all configured and you do a working export once, you won't have to do it again, and painting directly on the mesh in Mudbox is very easy. My only complaint is I don't care for the clone brush in Mudbox.