Greeble Pack for Zbrush 4R7

[gmp1993]

When using DynaMesh Mask outside your mesh and it should reproject your topology, if your model is masked do it twice, once to clear mask a second to retopolgize.

When you create the greeble ztls, do you use PS layers?

No, just used Zmodeler and turned them into NanoMeshes

Do you ever use AO or specular maps?

No I dont use the AO, except for the Combined Texture Render. Lot of People including Michalis uses AO for their Texture. With the way the Greeble 1024*1024 Project File is set up you get the light coming from almost in front of the Greeble Plus the AO and the Multi Shaded Panels, I feel you get a Better Texture plus the Depth Pass to Displace it.

I know the normal map is colored, but anything can be converted to grayscale
and used as displacement, right?

True as long as you remember that everything towards the white will push out and everything below the mid gray to Black will push in when your doing displacements. For Example you want to use a Photo of someones face for displacement, typically it will displace funky due to the light source being off angle. What you want to do then is take a shot of the face straight on with the light source right in front of their face and no other light but the one in front of their face, typically a flash, so you end up getting the white on the tip of there nose and the light falling off towards the edge of their face, that would make a better displacement, still wouldnt be perfect.

[gmp1993]

Quick Tutorial on getting rid of the Asymmetrical Look in your Displacements and getting a Symmetrical Look to your Symmetrical Models.

[megacal]

Thanks for the new tutorial! Just got home and will go through it asap.

More great models...Gog & Magog?

re: problem with Dynamesh....

.when I try to retopo with ctrl (mask), it just masks instead of
smoothing & getting rid of the stretch marks (?).

Maybe Dynamesh can't cope with really stretched polys?

[gmp1993]

.when I try to retopo with ctrl (mask), it just masks instead of
smoothing & getting rid of the stretch marks (?).

When your masking, are you masking any of the model. Dynamesh wont retopo untill the mask is cleared and you mask away from your mesh, dont mask any part of the mesh just empty canvas. If your unsure if its doing anything turn poly fill on and youll be able to see if it retopos. Dynamesh doesnt do a smoothing action unless you have polish on in the Dynamesh Pallet, also if you stretch it way out it'll retopo but not smooth too well so you may have to manually smooth it.

[megacal]

When your masking, are you masking any of the model.

No.

Dynamesh doesnt do a smoothing action unless you have polish on in the Dynamesh Pallet, also if you stretch it way out it'll retopo but not smooth too well so you may have to manually smooth it.

re: polish.....even when I turn it on, still no retopo.....not even a little (?)

I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.....practice, practice, practice.

Did you try paleo3d's method for displacements without a displacement map? I'll try it both ways
using the same map to see the difference.

[gmp1993]

Did you try paleo3d's method for displacements without a displacement map? I'll try it both ways
using the same map to see the difference.

I have, but prefer Michalis method of Exporting and Re Importing the Model, seems to be Quicker and Easier. Also your getting a True Displacement with Michalis method, geometry being pushed in and out at the same time.

[megacal]

Just went through your last tutorial on symetrical tiling/displacements........WOW!
That's so cool!

Thanks!

[gmp1993]

megacal

Just went through your last tutorial on symetrical tiling/displacements........WOW!
That's so cool!

Thanks!

Your Welcome.

[michalis]

Cool posts !
"Symmetrize + weld" worked because symmetry was On when Zremesh (retopology) took place.
If not, triangles may occur near the symmetry line-area. A mess.

What really happens under this workaround: Mirror and weld creates two sets of UV islands, overlapping each other on a map.

[Morbius]

Hi, Glenn!

First, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with those tutorials, and sharing your greeble packs! Much appreciated!

I'm still pretty much ZBrush-stupid and just learning my way around, so please forgive the stupid questions, but I'm wondering 'what if'…...

Let's say you just want to apply greebles to one poly group on a model? And let's say you have a spacecraft with a lot of fancy panel loops, and you just want to apply greebles to one particular set - or even various sets of loops, but not all? Could that be done without distorting the geo of the surrounding model?

I should be experimenting with these things myself, but don't yet possess sufficient knowledge. Just wondering for future reference.

Thanks!

[michalis]

@Morbius
Why not splitting the mesh in multiple sudtools?
This is how to do it in zbrush.
Another alternative somehow. You can split in polygroups and ask for individual UV mapping. It works (surprise).
Anyway, it can be done using external UV editors. The basic idea is to place your selected areas/faces) where you like them (on a displ map) and the rest scaled as 1x1 pixel on a gray - neutral area of this map.
Consider it as a different way of modeling.
Some examples, impossible using zbrush only.
Second image, only the displ map created in zbrush, the rest externally.

[gmp1993]

Thanks Michalis for all your Info. Morbius I have another solution for you, so you can stay in Zbrush. It uses Morph Targets, Mask, and Polygroups. Watch the Video Below to see how to go about it. Hope it Helps.

[Morbius]

Brilliant, Glenn!

Wow, I didn't expect a video tutorial. Thank you SO much!

Morph targets would never have occurred to me, and even if it had, I probably would never have figured out the 'how'. I had thought about just simply isolating the inset area polygroup I wanted to apply displacement to, but didn't know how that would afffect the surrounding geo.

I model in Modo, but I'm leaning more and more towards ZBrush with the introduction of all the new modeling tools. Great stuff. Modo also has very nice UV mapping, so I can always fall back on that if needs be - but I really prefer to stay in one package as much as possible. However, I'll be rendering stills and animating in Modo, so that should be fun as well.

Working on a half-fast spaceship, and have inset channels running down the length of the body and around the engine areas. I was thinking it would be nice to greeble the heck out of the inset areas with pipes and tubes and junk, and since it will be medium and long shots anyway, I didn't see the sense in physically modeling all the pipes, etc. - which I would if closeups were needed.

Great thread here, and jam-packed with excellent information! In fact, I'm going to go back through it all over again.

Thank you very, very much! I'll make sure to post the ship so you can see what I'm doing, but I'm sure you get my drift.


Chuck

[Morbius]

@Michalis

Thank you very much for the information! Every little bit helps!

I will try out all you've suggested! There are always so many ways to accomplish the same thing, and sometimes happy accidents lead to new ways of doing things!

Many thanks!

[gmp1993]

Morbius Brilliant, Glenn!

Wow, I didn't expect a video tutorial. Thank you SO much!

Your Welcome! I dont know about you but I learn better by seeing the process in action then just reading how to do it, also thought someone else could Benefit from this Technique so I did a Video. Cant wait to see the finished ship