ZBrush Tri Part insert mesh welding disaster

AtticusMars

So I've created a tripart insert mesh to be used with curve mode in zbrush, and for the life of me I cannot get it to weld properly.



Really hoping someone can help me understand what is going wrong here

AtticusMars

Updating with more info:

This mesh was made in Blender using symmetry modifier for the left/right side, since the end pieces was simply rotated. I thought this might be the problem so I applied rotation/scale/location (Blender's equivalent of reset x-form) before exporting, didn't make a difference. I also tried mirroring the other endcap with symmetry instead of rotating, didn't help.

I've tried checking to make sure there were no duplicate vertices, degenerates, etc. I can't find anything wrong with the mesh in Blender. I've included the OBJ I'm trying to use for anyone who may be willing to take some time to look at it.

OBJ: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27624662/2016-01-01-00_-_TriCurveMeshTest.obj

Although the OBJ is split up into 3 sections I have also tried welding them together with no success.

I can't find any documentation on this. ZBrush's documentation only states that for weld to work you need the same number of vertices at the boundary: Which I have. The only mention of this I can find on the ZBrush forum is one guy in the tripart repository stating that they "had trouble figuring out how to get things to weld properly" but they never posted a solution...

So far the best success I have had is to remodel the entire mesh from scratch.

How the mesh is modeled seems to be important, because I get differnt results based on whether or not I create the center piece by extruding one of the end caps, or by duplicating a section of the end cap and adjusting it. Unfortunately I cannot figure out how or why this matters, or how to get a clean result.

I'm basically just modeling here with my fingers crossed and hoping for the best...

VertexPainter

Maybe use without weld just increase curve resolution, then after creation weld points in geometry subpalette.

CharacterCarl

I've had similar issues with InsertMesh brushes. The reason behind it was the resolution being too low. Try adding some loops to your mesh, in the vertical for example, before turning it into an IMM brush and let me know if that helps.

AtticusMars

DerRazputin said:

I've had similar issues with InsertMesh brushes. The reason behind it was the resolution being too low. Try adding some loops to your mesh, in the vertical for example, before turning it into an IMM brush and let me know if that helps.

Thank you man, I don't really understand why this worked, but it did.

@VERTEXPAINTER This also worked and is a great workaround for meshes I don't want to make dense. Thank you.

Greatly appreciate the help, this was becoming very frustrating.

Thousand

DerRazputin said:

I've had similar issues with InsertMesh brushes. The reason behind it was the resolution being too low. 

thanks! worked for me

Kapoff

I know I'm digging up an old corpse of a thread here, but since  the issue might still be relevant  in modern times:

The mesh not welding might apparently be linked to your geo being single sided (basically a plane object deformed) so if like me you just ran into the issue, just  add some thickness to the damn thing since apparently zbrush ain't capable of welding stuff on the fly when it's not water tight.

Bonus video illustrating the thing by a very helpful Joseph Drust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQMNvWEX3Q  


PS: if you really must  have your  single sided polys,  you could  group the faces that you want on one UV tile (as in UDIM) and the  additional geometry on another tile.
 And then when inserting your tripart curve, make sure you have UVs on the base mesh you are using your brush on. 
 Then it's simply a  of Tool > Polygroups > UV Group.
I'll create one polygroup per UDIM. And you'll be able to delete the now useless geo in a couple of clicks.

 The only downside is that you'll probably need to take your mesh outside zbrush to shift the  UVs onto a second UDIM.

But hey, at least you can use textures on it!