Zbrush to Blender ?

Hi there !

I have been using Zbrush recently and I have a couple of questions in regards to Blender. If anyone is an expert I would greatly appreciate some advice !

1 . Normal Maps

If I have done a dynamesh sculpt in Zbrush and want to import it to Blender I assume I will need to retopologise with Zremesher. After doing that will I be able to create a normal map to save my details or will I need to sculpt the details in again ?

  1. Texture

I have sculpted a chimp head and was wondering how someone would go about achieving photorealistic results. Would you paint manually or would you use a chimp face map ?

Again I would really appreciate anyone that will take the time to explain this to me :slight_smile:

1 . Normal Maps

If I have done a dynamesh sculpt in Zbrush and want to import it to Blender I assume I will need to retopologise with Zremesher. After doing that will I be able to create a normal map to save my details or will I need to sculpt the details in again ?
Make a duplicate of the origianl dynamesh subtool to ZRemesh. The you can project the high res dynamesh original subtool onto a subdivided Zremeshed subtool. Then you can bake a normal map from this

  1. Texture

I have sculpted a chimp head and was wondering how someone would go about achieving photorealistic results. Would you paint manually or would you use a chimp face map ?
You could use both. You can texture paint in blender or use Lightbox in ZBrush to use images to paint your polypaint. You can then export the polypaint as a texture

[QUOTE=Richard Marklew;2902163]Make a duplicate of the origianl dynamesh subtool to ZRemesh. The you can project the high res dynamesh original subtool onto a subdivided Zremeshed subtool. Then you can bake a normal map from this

Cool ! Do you know how I can project the high res mesh subtool onto the zremesh subtool ? I mean is there a button or technique to doing so ?

Cool ! Do you know how I can project the high res mesh subtool onto the zremesh subtool ? I mean is there a button or technique to doing so ?

Subtool palette, Project / Project All
http://docs.pixologic.com/reference-guide/tool/polymesh/subtool/


See examples https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zbrush+project+all

Thank you Richard ! This has been a tremendous help :slight_smile: Final question ! How do I make a normal map ? Can I select this once I have zremeshed an created a UV Map ?

Ensure the tool has UVs, go to the subdivsion you want to export your object then use the Create Normal Map button (Tool palette)


To export clone the map and then in the texture palette you’ll have to flip it vertically before saving if you want to use in blender. In the ZPlugin palette there is the Multi Map exporter which can automate exporting various types of maps at once

Ok cool I have got to the the stage of creating a normal map now how do I save it and export it out of Zbrush ? And how do I flip it vertically ? Thank you again Richard !

Hi I have applied the Normal Map to the low res model in blender but it has come out pixelated. Do you know how this happened and how I can get round it ?


Ensure the “SNormals” (smooth normals) flag is enabled when you create the map.