Issues with Zbrush re-topology

moondog760

I'm taking my first go at using Z-brush for re-topology tonight and am having some issues. Whenever I export the re-toplogized mesh and open it up in 3ds max, the faces are all screwed up. There are overlapping faces, revervesed faces, it's really ugly. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong. Any ideas?

NordicNinja

It'll help to post a screenshot or two so we can get an idea for whats going on.

It's not uncommon for faces to get flipped, especially when working with flat or odd shapes. The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head would be making sure your properly building off of your existing faces and not starting to draw new geometry over the top of your existing polys.

almighty_gir

personally i stopped using zbrushes retopo tools a while back in favour of using 3dsmax's (now built in, but used to be a plugin) retopo tools. they're very good =]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZvhZ1OwuFk"]Retopology workflow inside 3ds max using the Graphite Modeling Tools (Polyboost) - YouTube[/ame]

skip to 1:00 as before that is mostly material setups.

moondog760

Yes NordicNinja, that is exactly the problem I was having. Faces were being build on top of the already existing geometry. But I don't know why. I always held down SHIFT to select a vertice and draw polygons from there, but for some reason it kept making overlapping faces in certain areas. Here are some pics:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/zbrush1.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/573/zbrush2.jpg/
As you can see there are overlapping faces that criss-cross over the symmetry line, Very frustrating! Maybe if I just stopped using Symmetry it wouldn't happen? I can always apply symmetry modifier later in 3dsmax.

I tried using Topogun as well, but for some reason I was unable to import my high-Poly model without it crashing. It was only about 1 million polys. But now that I think about it, that may be because i was using the 32 bit version, when I should have been using the 64 bit version.

I tried using 3D-coat as well, but it has some pretty ungainly retopo tools, IMO. So I eventually just ended up using 3ds max poly draw tools to retopo my mesh, and it worked. So all in all, it wasn't a completely failed experience. I leaned some stuff and managed to salvage my work. 3ds max saves the day once again!

NordicNinja

Did you make sure to select the correct vert before drawing new topology? I know I always had trouble because I'd forget to unselect by double clicking on the canvas and then re clicking on the vert I wanted to build from. ZBrush is a bit strange because it always keeps the last vert of your geometry selected, so its easy to forget to deselect it before moving on to a new area. My best guess would be that something like that is why you got duplicated geometry. Thank God for Topogun eh? I love ZBrush to death but the retopo tools have always been a bit strange.

I've actually had trouble with the latest beta of Topogun crashing upon import as well. I was always able to fix it by importing the .OBJ into Max and then just re-exporting it. :thumbup: Not sure whats up but at least its easy to bypass.

cryrid

You also have to make sure, when you're adding verts to existing edges, that the edge is highlighted when you have the cursor over it (it can sometimes be a tad delayed and hard to see IMO). Otherwise, even if you think you're on the edge, there's a chances are you're just a little bit off; the new vert wont be connected to that edge and it's going end up to trolling you by creating overlaps and other oddities. When problems occur, alt+click the problem verts to delete them, then try redrawing it.

As a result I find it easier to retopo strip by strip so I can lay down the number of verts I'll need instead of trying to cut into an edge.

KWAN

I recommend using TopoGun for retopology.

poopipe

I like wrapit more than anything else I've used, zb4 is a lot better than previous versions but its still a massive pita