Zbrush to udk?

[FlyingSheep]

Hello people,

First I want to say that my english is very bad so hope that u will understand me :)
I'm quite new to udk andI want to know how many polygons can have a mesh cause I use zbrush and 3ds. And i want to know if I can use Zbrush to make organic mesh or they're will be too many polygons.

Hope that u have understand what I mean

[taz1004]

Typical Zbrush mesh will definitely be too heavy. Use normal map.

[Blades]

Are you creating the mesh in Zbrush from the beginning? Or are you using 3d Studio Max to make the base mesh and then import it into Zbrush?

If you want a lot of detail, etc. I would use Zbrush to make a normal map, which you could then put on a lower polygon mesh.

If you don't I would just watch your polygon count. Depending on what you are doing, 10,000 + is probably too much for anything other than environment stuff.

For instance, the rock meshes have about 400 - 1000 polygons each. You can usually go a little higher than that with important stuff, like characters. One of my characters is about 3k polygons; I added a normal map to do the detailed stuff. It looks good and works.

It really just takes practice and time.

But you could use Zbrush to make a mesh using Zspheres.

Either way you want to keep the polygon count as low as you can.

[FlyingSheep]

I know that polygon count grow very fast in zbrush. Ok so I cant use zbrush to make charac to udk cause if u want to have great detail u usually have 2 million of polygons. I think that bitmap is the best solution :)

And yes I create mesh form the begining in zbrush using zsphere

[Blades]

In that case, I would use Zbrush to sculpt a high definition mesh and only use it to make a normal map. And use the normal map on a lower polygon model. I actually make a base mesh in 3d Studio Max (Low poly) and then take that into Zbrush to make the high poly mesh, which I use just to make a normal map.

How many polygons are in your first subdivision level?

[FlyingSheep]

I think that bitmap is the best solution :)


Normal maps... little mistake :D

[mslaf]

Normal maps... little mistake

Well, displacements aren't supported prior to DX11;)

Game engines rely on low-res mesh version + normal map that contains the details, so how did you provide a low-res mesh for zbrush? Was it created in max with subd support or by zpheres?

[TheOneandOnly]

I recently acquired a copy of ZBrush (I think I'm going to be living on boiled rice for the next couple of weeks...) but I'm not exactly sure of the process for creating a normal map. I've made my low-poly mesh and unwrapped it, then made a detailed high-poly version in ZBrush using the original as a base, but I'm not sure where to go from there.

[ThePriest909]

well, a good solution would be to use something like X-normal and get the difference of those two models in a normal map. It's not the only way to go but in my opinion you get the best resaults you could possibly get that way.

[mslaf]

Use the zmapper.

[billysson]

Zmapper isn't in the newest version. Go to the lowest subdivision of your mesh, then in tools open the Normal tab. Click make normal map.

[shellc0de]

How low poly is low poly anymore? fallout 3 new vegas slows down even my computer when I see a crowd of people....lol

[Ghiest]

How low poly is low poly anymore? fallout 3 new vegas slows down even my computer when I see a crowd of people....lol

That's because there is a problem with it, get the driver dll fix and it's smooth as butter.

[Tom Havlik]

You can use that PolyCruncher or whatever it is to reduce high poly models into simpler shapes (while still retaining its integrity.)

Usually zbrush is used almost exclusively for the normal map. If you plan on doing the majority of work in there, you need some serious mesh optimization. That is well established, though.

[Aappleyard]

What I do I create a base mesh in 3Dsmax or Even Zbrush. I create all the detail blahh blaah.

Then I use UV Mapper to get the UVs.(Free Plugin)

I then Use Multi Map Exporter. (Free Plugin)

Multi Map Exporter lets me save out the mesh with its UVS and choose the lowest Geometry lvl which is the base mesh that you import into Zbrush.

Then you can export the Normal map using a selected geometry level and export the texture map if you make one.


Then i export that all and re import that into 3DS Max where I export it back out as an ASE file and make sure I have the UV coordinates checked and them import it all in UDK and make the material with the Texture and Normal map and link it all toegether and hey presto! xD

[Mordt]

ZBrush has a fantastic plugin called Decimation Master which does an amazing job at polygon reduction before sending back to max for tweaking. I personally model entirely in zbrush for normals and decimate the model, export to max, then tweak the polycount further in max.

Its an amazing plugin that does an amazing job and saves an absolute ton of time in max. I used to create low poly versions in max and import into zbrush to beef it up for normals but much prefer starting in zbrush now.

Personal preference. Everyone works differently.

[Chicken_Pot_Pie]

Mordt beat me to it.

Decimation Master
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=71265

http://www.pixologic.com/zbrush/features/decimation/