ZBrushCentral

Multi Map Exporter - Information, Installation and FAQ

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Note: all plugins are now included with the ZBrush 4R7 installer. If you did not install a plugin then run the installer again.

For the latest information see the online docs here : http://docs.pixologic.com/user-guide/zbrush-plugins/

Multi Map Exporter is designed to automate map creation and export for your model. Settings can be saved and reloaded so that you can quickly set up the plugin and then leave it to export the maps, freeing you to spend more time creating your art.


:large_orange_diamond: This plugin is available with ZBrush 4R6.


:large_orange_diamond: Installation

The plugin is automatically installed with the standard installation of ZBrush.


:large_orange_diamond: Frequently Ask Questions

Q: I don’t see Multi Map Exporter in the ZPlugin palette.
A: If you did a custom install of ZBrush then run the installer again and make sure you install the Multi Map Exporter plugin.

© 2010 Pixologic, Inc. All rights reserved, Pixologic and the Pixologic logo, ZBrush, and the ZBrush logo are registered trademarks of Pixologic. Various patents pending. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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ZBrush’s newest plugin!

You guys just saved me SO MUCH TIME!!! If you were a woman, i’d marry you… THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Awesome stuff

Thank you very much! :slight_smile:

I would really like to download the zbrush plugins, but like a lot of people, I get this error “This server can only be accessed by the proper referring server.”.

I´m using the latest version of firefox and also tried other browsers and I´m not using any download managers.

I know this is a known issue and there must be a way to solve this problem.
But until then, can anyone host the plugins somewhere, so that all the people who aren´t able to download these plugins, get the chance to use them?! :cry:

Do you have any internet security running that could interfere with the download? A user has reported that briefly turning off McAfee security solved the issue.

I´ve already tried to turn off every program, that could block the site, but I´m still not able to download via Firefox, Opera or Internet Explorer.

But there are some good news. I´ve installed the Safari browser for windows and now the downloads work!
I don´t know what the reason is, though. At least I can enjoy all the latest plugins now :slight_smile:

has anyone been using a Mac to generate Normal Maps in ZBrush 4? to my understanding there were issues with generating Normal Maps & Displacement Maps on a Mac in previous versions. has this been resolved in ZBrush 4?

.
mudbox the names are like :u_1 v_-1 … ccan we export like this from multimap exporter !

so it’s easy to determine which textures belong to which tiles
but in this case, its 1-2-3-4-5-6
but how do i know which one is 1, which one is 2

I have a couple of questions regarding this script…

Is it possible to have ZBrush export the separate textures for models that have multiple uv texplates/maps?!?

When I tried it for the 1st few times, the process seemed to take longer each time… 1st it was 4 minutes. Then 8 minutes, then 30 minutes. Admittedly for the 3rd I increased the texture size, but it was still the same model. Even further, for the 2nd trial I didn’t export the ambiance and cavity maps… Anyone else getting this?

And lastly, for my model it exported 3 instances of the same texture/displacement/normal/ambient and cavity. The original, an original_1 and an original_1 copy… I couldn’t find a setting that caused this, so what did I miss?!?

All in all, this feature is great, it was a real pita having to go back, reload the model, to get the textures, displacement and normal maps.

Grugi,
I’m glad you got it sorted.

mulligan,
I’m not aware of any issues with generating normal maps from ZBrush 4 MacOSX.

armstrongnt,
This is something that I am looking into adding in an update.

MatCreator,

If your model has separate UV tiles then MME will export a separate map for each. In other words, if part of a subtool is in U 0-1, and part in U 1-2 then you will get two maps.

The plugin will take longer if it is the background (in other words if the ZBrush window does not have focus). This is a limitation with plugins that I hope will be addressed as soon as possible. Larger texture sizes will of course take longer.

If you click Export Options>File names you’ll get a dialog which includes an ‘overwrite existing files’ option. This is off by default so duplicate files have ‘copy’ added.

I think I asked the question wrong, let me explain…

I have a model that has overlapping uv templates. For my purposes, I can separate the uv templates, and paint on sections individually and then apply those textures over only the selected material groups for the model. I do this to give areas more surface area to paint on, so that the models painting isn’t squeezed into one large texture.

What I want the MME to do is extract the various textures from the designated material groups. What it is doing is “layering” all of the texture/displacement/normal mapping, so that all material groups are on only 1 texture, no good… Is it possible to have it extract the textures according to the material groups themselves?

Also, with regards to the multiple copies being created, it should be known that it does this if there are no files to overwrite in the 1st place, it will generate the multiple copies even to a blank folder where no previous copies exist =/

Ok, I just went back to make sure… I’ve tried all options that seemed “viable” on my end, and no matter what, it produces 3 exact copies of the texture and displacement. Same size, same quality. The “same”…

I Just don’t know why it’s doing that =/

And I do appreciate the help.

MatCreator,

I would need to test the model to see what is causing these issues. Is there any chance you could send it to me? A low res version would be OK.

For some reason, when i use the prescribed method of having some UV islands in 0-1 space and the second set of UV islands in 1-2 space whenever i bake the maps out it creates one map and just squashes all my uv’s into the 0-1 space. I have done AutoGroups with UV to make sure but nothing changes. This leads me to another question:

Is there a way to display the texture on the model that has uv islands in multiple quadrants? I’d like to paint seams but at this point in time, it appears to only be loading 0-1 space in the texture palette.

*Update-
Actually, by hiding off the uv islands/polygroups from quadrant 1 Im able to see the texture properly. This allows me to fix the seams for parts of the mesh that are part of that quadrant. The issue that arises from this methodology is when you have seams along the edges of the UV that meet up from each of the respective quadrants. Buddy of mine suggested just baking everything to polypaint at that time and then suckle it back off once i get those seams fixed. Im hoping that works but that is pretty workaround’ish.

I’m thinking most folks would agree just being able to see your texture laid out on your model in its entirety regardless of whether there are multiple uv quadrants being utilized or not would be best. Being forced into going through polypaint is an extraneous step yes?

I had an issue with MME where the Cavity map and normal map didnt match up. The normal map was the issue, something to do with the morph target option. The only way to solve it was by switching to my morph target manually and creating the normal map in the Tool menu, clone NM, flip V, export. It took me an age to figure out what was happening.

Hi I was wondering if it possible to use this tool with tile-able textures created in ZBrush. I want generate maps from the canvas not from the Polymesh 3d’s. If not with this plug-in, is there a way to generate ambocc from the canvas?

thanks!

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Me again…

I REALLY need this to work, in the middle of a project and am looking to save an extreme amount of time now, and going forward for future projects.

For all sakes and purposes, I have a model that is already mapped. The mapping is ok, but the uv’s rest on 20 separate texture templates (or material maps, don’t know the correct wording). Instead of having to create a texture, a displacement, and a normal for each texture template by hiding the various parts/polygroups, I’m hoping ZBrush and the MME can export all 20 texture templates in one fell swoop.

I use the import feature to turn each material group into a polygroup, and this seems to work for me while painting/sculpting. Each polygroup, is actually a separate texture template that I need to export a color, normal and displacement map from. For this particular project, my model has 20 =/

I see in previous posts that it is possible to separate the maps, but how this is done in ZBrush I just don’t know. What feature can I use to do this separating for me in ZBrush?

Please forgive me, but I have no other way to reference or give an example of what I mean to do… In 3D Coat, we can simply use the “Texture Baking Tool”, this feature exports all the color, displacement, normal and specular maps for the model and all of its material zones, and this is what I am looking to do w/ ZBrush… I want each polygroup to have its own color/displacement/normal map generated w/ the MME…

Thanks for any help or advice in advance.

MatCreator,

You will have to use the Tool>SubTool>Groups Split button to split your model into separate subtools based on the polygroups. Then you can use MME to export maps for all the subtools (groups). Obviously, back up your original model first.

HTH,