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Maya to Zbrush - Topology?

polycounter lvl 4
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Haftoof polycounter lvl 4
so I built out this object in maya... Pretty simple object, few things wrong with the topology... was wondering what's the best way to get it into zbrush.

Here's the picture:
405d3231510ca8e5c7dc143bd31aa664.png

Few things about the topology, right now the "spike and Gem" sections aren't connected to the other parts. I'm wondering if zbrush can combine all the objects together so I can put detailing onto the surface. My other concern is that the topology didn't seem very apt at taking the subdivisions needed to achieve the detail I wanted when I simply imported it into zbrush.

Is there a way to retopologize this piece to meet the requirements to work with it in zbrush? Also I've noticed while subdividing in zbrush I get a question about preference:mem and further subdividing... Any thoughts on that would be helpful.

Any thoughts on how to improve this or what I need to do in maya to prep this piece to move into zbrush would be helpful.

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  • [Deleted User]
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    [Deleted User] insane polycounter
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  • Haftoof
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    Haftoof polycounter lvl 4
    Wow! Thanks a bunch teriyaki, I'll have to try this when I get home.

    I'll give the creases a try, and yeah I might still do some variation in zbrush on the edges but since this is based off mineral bismuth that works perfect. Gonna have to do some reading on dynamesh it seems.
  • Haftoof
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    Haftoof polycounter lvl 4
    So I wanted to try both methods to better understand. I think my main issue with the smooth mesh version is that in general the long sections of the mesh don't give a very uniform topology once smoothed. Dynamesh on the otherhand gives me the topology but I get this weirdness... Any thoughts?

    I'm kind of new to dynamesh so not sure why its taking smooth surfaces and mucking them up.

    Edit: so I think its because my model itself has no volume, it's just a shell. What would be the suggested way to resolve this? Could I close it off in maya then re-import it or go at it with backface masking and add some volume with a brush then dynamesh it to get the poly detail I want in a clean topology?
    5ad2c3a3e3b49a0aa6e100714faeea26.png
  • jfitch
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    jfitch polycounter lvl 5
    It looks like your model has back faces so that really shouldn't be a problem...that error does usually occur if the model is too thin but I don't think thats the case here...

    Try downloading dynamesh master and see if any of those tools can help you out.

    *Edit* I also wonder what you plan is for this object--if you're just sculpting in some surface noise and scratches, it might be better to just do that in the texture! Might save you a lot of time. Substance Designer has some great tools for that.
  • Haftoof
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    Haftoof polycounter lvl 4
    Actually that was something I was gonna explore, I was reading about the back-face and right now it's not properly filled in. Gonna take the time to break up the pieces, line them up and fill in the back of the pieces.

    Basically it's layer thin right now straight out of maya with no back.

    While that may be true, I'm planning to work with zbrush both to smooth some stuff out, really dig into this and do surface noise, cracking, and break up the form a little bit with some of the brushes. Basically this is supposed to be a weapon made of stone and I want it to look like its hit a few things and shattered the stone a little bit.

    I'll see if fixing the lack of a back-face resolves the issue first off.

    The design is based off the element bismuth.
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