Getting diffuse to correspond with normal map

woody · Oct 2016

Hi!

I'm new to Zbrush and just wondered what the workflow was for creating the colour/diffuse map. if you have a surface made up of allot of materials which you have sculpted into the normal map, how do you easily mask this out to create a diffuse texture which corresponds to the normal map detail.

Is it just a case of painting it in by hand while using the AO as a guide? I feel like this is ok for simple models but if you have something like a terrain its impossible to know where the detail is. Maybe substance painter makes this easier?

Any workflow pointers would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks.

gnoop · Oct 2016

Zbrush is a pain in the a... for making textures. Nobody use materials there except on a square plane where you can displace your displacment texture and make a few material tricks.

If you prefer to scultp/polypaint with materials you can use Polygroups >>> From polypaint . It's actually not only polypaint but material sensitive too, so allows you to separate materials if you kill actual polypaint by white color fill . Works up to 5mil poly, then Zbrush hangs.

jfitch · Oct 2016

Yeah zbrush probably isn't the best for material definition as you're not going to be able to get an accurate read unless you export your diffuse to your final renderer. Are you making textures for a game model or just texturing a high poly sculpt? Substance painter is pretty boss by the way.

woody · Nov 2016

Sorry for the late reply to this and thanks for the comments.

My main issue isn't with the painting tools in Zbrush is more with working with that detail after the fact...I am trying to bring sculpts into my work flow and I can go mad adding crazy detail into a mesh but those details may be a different colour to the rest. I just want to know what the proper workflow is for creating a diffuse after you have a really detailed model.

Bad example but say i sculpt this fungi, it has a few hundred spots that in my current understanding, I would have to sit there brushing in each spots colour in substance painter or photoshop.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/u1/0dog9a6jpwf0.jpg

Im not being lazy I just feel like I could be missing something...This is a relatively simple reference, but say you have an object which has a lot more detail which you want to isolate in the colour map.

Thanks.

musashidan · Nov 2016

For your fungus example above I would create the spots using nanomesh, assign a polygroup and use the polygroups to polypaint feature which enables you to then bake a matID mask(based on different vertex colours) which you can then use in S Painter to easily mask out different materials. You can also retain polygroups if you intend to Dynamesh.

There are many ways to mask in S Painter:by UV shells/polygons/mesh elements/matID and even a quick mask feature. A little asset planning is all that is required up front.

Getting diffuse to correspond with normal map

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