question Explode Export method in zbrush? is there one?

Eleszar1

hello is there an  Explode method in zbrush?  to export your model when it has multiple objects ? because each time i want to export something i must move each object seperatly so i dont get these distortions with xnormals

kanga

I dont think you can. The explode button is a temporary thing in zbrush as far as I know. The advantage of exporting your hipoly from zbrush is that xnormal sees it for baking without the mesh having to be open. Exploding a decimated mesh in your retopo app works really well for one time bakes but it means having to use the decimated exploded mesh to bake, which means a lower res reference mesh to bake. The workaround I found was exporting a couple of mesh groups out of zbrush with subtools that dont intersect, then export the decimated groups to max for retopo lowpoly cage construction and then pointing xnormal to each hipoly zbrush group and the corresponding lowpoly mesh (complete with projection cage exported using the xnormal export module). Even for a complex model I can get away with as little as two groups at the worst three. Exploding the mesh works really well but if you are producing diffuse, normal, spec and occlusion maps (using a PBR app like quixel means a vertex color per element map as well) the method means doubling or tripling your work and you have to be well organized to keep track of everything. If you could export an exploded mesh from Z it would make life easier but I am not sure reassembly would be that simple.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with a better method as that would interest me very much.

Cheerio

Eleszar1

kanga said:

 If you could export an exploded mesh from Z it would make life easier but I am not sure reassembly would be that simple.

about resseblying your low poly back what i do is, before i explode my low poly and High poly manualy, i duplicate the low poly, so now we have 2 low polys with same Uvs, i hide for now the second duplicated low, then i explode the first low poly manualy using masks, then i explode the high poly too, i export both of the exploded objects for baking, once i bake them,  then i export the second low poly wich is not  exploded,and i load the maps on the second without being in need to reassembly the first low poly

kanga

Eleszar1 said:

kanga said:

 If you could export an exploded mesh from Z it would make life easier but I am not sure reassembly would be that simple.

about resseblying your low poly back what i do is, before i explode my low poly and High poly manualy, i duplicate the low poly, so now we have 2 low polys with same Uvs, i hide for now the second duplicated low, then i explode the first low poly manualy using masks, then i explode the high poly too, i export both of the exploded objects for baking, once i bake them,  then i export the second low poly wich is not  exploded,and i load the maps on the second without being in need to reassembly the first low poly

Thanks Eleszar1 ! That is a way to do it. I like that one.
Cheerio

PyrZern

How do you match up the exploded highres and exploded lowpoly so you can bake em ??

Eleszar1

PyrZern said:

How do you match up the exploded highres and exploded lowpoly so you can bake em ??

  i move them slowly and make sure they fit each other it takes some min but always works

PyrZern

So, say, my Subtools are....

(all lined up correctly)
Mesh A HighRes
Mesh A LowPoly
Mesh B HighRes
Mesh B Lowpoly
Mesh C HighRes
Mesh C LowPoly

Then Transpose, and mask off Bs and Cs while I move As. Then do the same when I move Bs and Cs ?

That could work.

Eleszar1

PyrZern said:

So, say, my Subtools are....

(all lined up correctly)
Mesh A HighRes
Mesh A LowPoly
Mesh B HighRes
Mesh B Lowpoly
Mesh C HighRes
Mesh C LowPoly

Then Transpose, and mask off Bs and Cs while I move As. Then do the same when I move Bs and Cs ?

That could work.

excacly thats how i do it, u dont need transpose plugin btw just move tool and mask the rest

lorenzo_di_pietro

Guys, I'm not an expert in ZBrush animation, but have you ever tried to animate the "explode" timeline track for this kind of things? If you activate that track under "movie" > "timeline tracks", you can record a couple of keyframes for the "xpose" command ("transform" palette).

So, for example: at frame 0 you have "xpose" = 0 (assembled mesh); at frame 25 you have "xpose" = 20 (exploded mesh). In order to set specific values for "xpose", by the way, use the slider that is located near the "xpose" button.

PyrZern

Will that work ? I've never played around with timeline yet...

Eleszar1

lorenzo_di_pietro said:

Guys, I'm not an expert in ZBrush animation, but have you ever tried to animate the "explode" timeline track for this kind of things? If you activate that track under "movie" > "timeline tracks", you can record a couple of keyframes for the "xpose" command ("transform" palette).

So, for example: at frame 0 you have "xpose" = 0 (assembled mesh); at frame 25 you have "xpose" = 20 (exploded mesh). In order to set specific values for "xpose", by the way, use the slider that is located near the "xpose" button.

i tried this before but i coulndt get it working with that technique maybe i did something wrong

lorenzo_di_pietro

Don't know, maybe it's a weak solution afterall...

However, if it helps I found this older thread:

http://polycount.com/discussion/106029/zbrush-xpose

They don't use the timeline at all, simply explode the mesh with Xpose, then merge visible, then export.

battlecow

Just bake them individually and reassemble the maps with a script in photoshop (funky bunny's script will do the grunt work for you in a matter of seconds and create a wonderfull psd with all the different map types and layer masks).
It might be less time consuming in the end and you'll have better control over your bakes
My 2 cents.