Max Reimport to zbrush 3

oXYnary

I did do a little research on this. Having no luck reimporting a obj file exported from zbrush, into max, and then back at the lowest sub d.

Read about Guruwave obj export/import, but the model still wont import. Morphix only seems to apply for two models in a scene already, so that wont work.

Is there something Im missing about the export from zbrush 3? I saw some old threads elsewhere about zbrush 2 export settings, but zbrush 3 does not have exactly the same options.

This is Max 9 and Zbrush 3.1

MoP

What is the problem exactly? You don't really specify...

Is it actually importing at all?
Does it import but screw up your vertex order (faces flying off everywhere when you subdivide)?

I've found that with Max you have to be reaaaalllllly careful about the import/export settings you use, and what you do with the mesh inside Max if you want to keep your vertex order intact. I think converting to EPoly as soon as you import it helps. I can't remember if I usually get better results with the default exporter or Guruware's one.

One of the nice things about Maya is that it seems to be a lot more consistent at preserving vertex order when importing/exporting OBJ files for use with ZBrush.

Whenever I hit this issue with Max (and it seems to be fairly arbitrary as to when problems will occur), just try various different export settings with both the regular Max exporter and the Guruware one. Usually some combination of settings is good, but if you've done anything with the geometry of your mesh (like deleted/rebuilt any faces) then you're probably out of luck without some sort of vert-order-matching script.

oXYnary

You know, it gives the message that the vertice count or other doesn't match when I try to import it over the lowest sub-d level, and so wont allow it to be imported. I mean i can import it as a new tool just fine.

The mesh was originally made in max, worked on and sub-d in zbrush. I just need to take it back to max at the lowest level as working with planar surfaces is much easier in max. I have tried numerous setting with Maxs obj import/export and Guruwave without any luck.

I know there is that $300+ inbetween program converter. Any freebie items I could look up as a inbetween? Or is one of you out there has that inbetween program (again don't know the name). Could I send you the file (if I am allowed, I should be since its just a sub-object in the game. Will check with boss).

oXYnary

Damn. I was thinking if all else fails, I could take a displacement map of the highest sub-d level of the current tool and apply it at a higher sub-d level on the new tool if it wont allow me to reimport the old. Then apply that displacement tool to the sub-d at the same level (I think thats possible in Zbrush from what I remember).

Of course that would have all fringed on having texture coordinates in the first place from max.

MoP

You should not need any middleware. Check the "points" count in ZBrush, that should be the vertex count you expect.

If you use the Guruware importer, make sure any options for "optimise vertices" are OFF. Then when you import, check if the model has the same number of verts as ZBrush says.

Then without doing ANYTHING to the model, re-export it. Again if you're using Guruware exporter, turn OFF any "optimise" checkboxes. It should give you a "results" window when the export is complete - see how many verts it said were present on export. This should still be the same number as Max shows in the viewport statistics. If it's not, try re-exporting with different settings.

Then once all the numbers match, try re-importing it to ZBrush (again this is without any changes to the mesh). It should work.

Now as long as you've remembered/saved those settings for import and export, you should be able to pull verts around in Max.

Remember that you cannot change any geometry other than changing the position of existing vertices.

FAT_CAP

I have had files which I couldn't reimport back into ZBRUSH no matter what (this was back in ZBRUSH 2 days) and always found the problem to be wonky geometry in the ZBRUSH base mesh. Extra verts down the middle seam of my mesh from a symmetry modifier that I didn't catch and get rid of to duplicate faces etc so this might be worth checking aswell if the above fails.

Also a great feature of ZBRUSH 3 and an absolute life saver in these situations is the PROJECTALL button in the subtools pallette. If you import your new level 0 mesh you can reproject all of your high level detail back onto this mesh and keep working on the new object.

MoP

While Project All can be a lifesaver, I also wouldn't rely on it as anything other than a last-ditch attempt, since a lot of the time it can "miss" detail or incorrectly project it, especially on areas which overlap or pass close to each other (armpits, mouths, ears etc).

JohnnyRaptor

if your mesh wont import because mismatch in vertex count, try importing in to zb using the import tab at the bottom of the tool menue, and turn on weld, this will import your mesh, collapse any difference in vertexes, and keep the subd levels and layers.

when exporting a mesh out from zbrush, it splits the faces in the UV, and when importing it back in to zb again after working on it in max, i found that this could cause the model to explode when i try to go up the subd levels. So try to weld the uv faces before exporting from max if you experience this.

oXYnary

Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried and tired. I could get the vertex count to match on export by having vertex optimization on, but could never get the polycount to match it was always slightly over if I counted triangles in it (assume zbrush counts the tris as polyies. Yes, the original mesh had a few triangles, so maybe that screwed it all up. Its not a big deal mesh, so really wasn't worried about having it perfect since its static.

I will attempt the Project all. If I loose a little detail, I can live with that.

oXYnary

Well.. I have spent a day on this.. literally. Importing and exporting.

Guruwave? ADDS triangles when the poly is not quad shaped (but still 4 vertex). So when exporting, using the default one in Max 9 has provided me with better results. I still had/am starting over. But now I have a clue. Very frustrating this isn't a more transparent process.

MoP

Maya actually makes this very easy, since it's only got 5 different options for import/export of OBJ, so it's very hard to get a "bad" combination of options.
Going from Max <-> ZBrush has always been a bit of a hit and miss operation for me, while Maya <-> ZBrush has been perfect every time.

Neox

hm never had ANY problems when ex-importing from max9 (2009 is another story, still use 9 for that, the gw ex-im,porter just destroys the vertexordner no matter what i set up) just make sure it's an editpoly before you reexport, then it'll work nice, with edit mesh it sometimes destroys the order, don't know why can't reproduce it

JohnnyRaptor

i usually work with max8 and no problems what so ever, but gave max2008 a try durring the weekend and nothing but exploding meshes when back in zb3

MoP

Wonder if they did that deliberately to make people more likely to use Mudbox?