#ZBRUSH 4 IMPORT DISPLACEMENT MAP HOW TO#
#ZBRUSH 4 IMPORT DISPLACEMENT MAP SOFTWARE#

If you scale your low-res mesh up or down after you've already generated your displacement map, your displacement map will no longer have accurate intensity values relative to the new scale of the basemesh. Since the pixel values of a floating-point displacement map correspond directly to scene units, your object's scale becomes an important factor for guaranteeing accurate displacement amounts. Always double check to make sure the low res mesh you generated your displacement map from is the same as the mesh you're applying your displacement map to.ДЇloating-Point Displacement Maps Are Scale Dependent

So the low res mesh you imported into your sculpting program may no longer be exactly the same as the low res mesh you're using to generate your displacement map. Remember that while sculpting at higher subdivision levels, the positions of lower subdivision vertices are often also being affected. Also, ZBrush in particular does not like UVs to rest directly on the edges of the UV sheet (as some automatic UV generation methods will do) - so make sure your UVs are always placed slightly within the edges of the UV sheet. There can be no overlapping UVs as it will cause errors in the generated maps.

The bottom plane is at -20.0 units on the up/down axis.Д¬ommon Pitfalls & Avoiding Them UVs Are ImportantДisplacement mapping generally requires a good UV layout of your object.

The middle plane is at 0.0 units on the up/down axis.

The top plane is at 35.0 units on the up/down axis.

3 planes on different locations along the up/down axis, each made of just one polygon, and each with a default planar UV map.

We can illustrate this using a simple test scene: It's a great way to store precise displacement information. And because the displacement map's pixel values are stored in floating-point format, they can contain pixel values far above 1.0, and negative pixel values far below 0.0. And a pixel value of 0.0 doesn't displace your mesh at all. A pixel value of 0.5 displaces your mesh by 0.5 scene units. So a pixel value of 1.0 will displace your mesh by 1.0 scene units. This is because a correctly generated floating-point displacement map works in a very logical way: The displacement map's pixel values correspond directly to your 3D package's scene units. A properly generated floating-point displacement map will make your low res geometry match your high res geometry very accurately - right from the start. This map then gets used by your renderer to replicate the high resolution geometry detail as accurately as possible. If you already know the underlying concepts and just want the technical step-by-step procedures, click here to skip right to it.Дisplacement mapping is a method of taking high resolution geometry information and baking it to an image map that can be applied to low resolution geometry.

#ZBRUSH 4 IMPORT DISPLACEMENT MAP SOFTWARE#

And finally I'll provide the step-by-step procedures to make displacement mapping work accurately in your software of choice.

#ZBRUSH 4 IMPORT DISPLACEMENT MAP HOW TO#

Then we'll cover some of the common pitfalls that artists frequently encounter and how to avoid them. We'll first cover some of the underlying concepts behind how a floating-point displacement map works and how to recognize if you're getting correct results. But with a correct workflow you don't have to fiddle with settings or settle for 'close enough' - it'll just work correctly from the start to match your high resolution geometry as accurately as possible.

You'll sometimes see artists load a displacement map onto their low resolution geometry and play with intensity and depth values until it looks somewhat similar to their high resolution geometry and assume that's it's as close as they can get. There's often a lot of confusion and misinformation surrounding displacement maps and how they're supposed to work. This tutorial attempts to cover and clarify the process of generating and applying accurate displacement maps from either ZBrush or Mudbox, to V-Ray for Maya, V-Ray for 3ds Max, V-Ray for Cinema 4D, or Arnold for Maya (MtoA).

Zbrush 4 import displacement map