Any Zbrush3 users for sculpties?

Thanks for all the info!
Took me from no idea how to work with sculpty to making fun little objects in less than a day!

I just wanted to say "thanks Vlad" and your tutorials are great! One thing I could not figure out, though, was how to convert a Zbrush .obj to a Sculptie file that could be uploaded. For some reason I got an error message in Wings3D saying it was the wrong mesh size. Previously to buying Zbrush, I had bought AC3D which I did make a couple of scuplties with, but it's very time consuming and when I saw your tutorial on Zbrush and how you can paint on a texture... I was sold.

Anyway, since I don't have any Windows machines anymore, I'm not able use 2k's converter, but I'd like the Mac users out there to know that you can:
- export your Zbrush file as an .obj file
- import the .obj file into AC3D
- export the file as a Second Life Sculpted Prim

and you will be able to upload this file into Second Life

There are a couple of converters for Zbrush now, one that works from inside the program. Maybe one of them works for mac? I dunno. I just thought I'd throw that in.

Hello all, I'm currently using the latest zBrush (Mac) version, to attempt to make anthro heads to use on an Anthro Avatar. I'm so confused at how to start or if I'm even doing it right that I thought it best to post here to get some help and clarification.

Ok, so I'm very very new to zBrush and while it's still a bit difficult for me to grasp the program (even after some of the new video tutorials), it's still fun to play around in. What I'm curious to know how to do, is create sculptures (like anthropomorphic : heads, arms, hands, and ears) to bring into SecondLife. I know there are tools and add-ons that have been posted here that make bringing created objects into SecondLife easier, but it's like a foreign language to me. I also don't think I'm ready to import anything from zBrush into SecondLife just yet (still learning how to sculpt), but I am curious to know what the limitations of items sculptured in zBrush are; when moving them over to SecondLife.

For an example of what I mean; I'm currently trying to create an anthro head. I'm currently starting with a lion (no mane). I've created a: Sphere3D and have begun sculpting in features like eye sockets, a nose and the jaw (the mouth is difficult to figure out). I have not sub-divided anything (cmd+d or is it ctrl+d, I forget right now), to make the surface have more polygons because I don't know if that will mess up the head later on when I try to import it into SecondLife.

What I've done so far:

1) Created a Sphere3D > Edit > Make PolyMesh3D.
2) Started blocking in features like the nose, eye-sockets and mouth.
3) Started smoothing out features (holding shift while sculpting) so the sculpt doesn't look so 'blocky' and harsh.
4) Got confused and have decided to post here.

// I have to break everything down barney-style or else I get confused on what's going on. I also figure it'd be better for everyone to know what I've done in case asked what the process I've undertaken so far has been.

Ok so you can see I have no idea if cmd+d (which adds more polygons to the mesh), is advisable, I know it will make the sculpture smoother now; or even allowed (since I'll be importing the head sculpt into SL later on). I really just need some help and guidance on what exactly I'm supposed to do here and was hoping someone could point me to a tutorial that tells me (exactly) what I need to take into account for importing a sculpted object into SL; as well as tell me how to go about the whole process.

Does anyone have any ideas or knowledge of where I can find this information? There has to be a tutorial somewhere. I've looked but I must be getting lost or missing the information somewhere.

Welcome to the weird and wild world of Zbrushing It's not at all like any other 3D program, save possibly Mudbox. But it's a really amazing toolset, capable of fantastic organic modeling and texturing. If your goal is to make avatar sculpts, you've come to the right place.

A year or so ago, I wrote a tutorial that describes the basic Zbrush workflow, oriented towards SL sculpts:
http://labicyclette.blogspot.com/2008/07/making-skull-in-zbrush.html

And here's one on texturing:
http://labicyclette.blogspot.com/2008/07/making-skull-in-zbrush-texturing.html

Mind you, run, don't walk towards Vlad Bjornson's excellent series that starts here:
http://www.shiny-life.com/2008/02/12/video-creating-sculpted-prims-with-zbrush-3/



Now for the bad news-- these tutorials were written back in the olden days of 3.1 I'm not sure that Sculpty Maker works for 3.5 (in fact, I've had trouble with it). And I haven't a clue about whether it works with Mac. But the principles will remain the same-- start with an 8x9 sphere and divide twice (always, always start at low resolution and progress upwards). If you divide more than that or less than that, the Ztool will not export successfully to SL.

Thank you so much for your response and links Virginia Tombola!

I'm going to spend some time to try and find a picture of a fox or lion to work with (not sure if I'll find a front -&- side view that are exactly the same though, we'll see). I am confused on a few points though ...

in your tutorial you mention:

"Now, go to the geometry subpalette and click divide one last time. You are now at the number of vertices you need for object import into Second Life. In the upper right, next to “draw size” you will see that it says “Total Points 1056”. If you are ever in doubt as to whether you are at the right number of vertices for exporting the object file, take a look up there and adjust your division level accordingly."

Am I supposed to take the 1056 points as law, when making sure the final object is able to be used for Second Life? I'm sure it is but I just want to make sure that's what's being said here.

Also, adjusting the division level starts at 8x9 (in your tutorial) but the law is that 32x33 is the final division level accepted by SL, correct? So if I were to make a skull or face with a 8x9 division level and keep it that way, would it still be allowed into SL? The reverse of that question would be; If I go over 32x33 somehow, I would just divide the sculpted object to get back down to 32x33, making sure I don't exceed 1056 points; correct?

--

I've only just finished reading your tutorial and have yet to check out the Shiny Life link you posted and my question may be answered there, but in case it isn't I was hoping you would be able to tell me.

PS - A Massive thank you for pointing me in the right direction! I can't tell you how confused I am/was about making something in zBrush for the specific purpose of using it in SL. I'd also like to thank you for being very clear in your tutorial, explaining why things are done the way they are. I also like that you tell us to start small and work big. It's a difficult task to do when you first open up zBrush and see how carried away you can get without really knowing what your doing. It's also nice to have everything explained "barney-style" for me. So many people out there put out tutorials without explaining everything in depth (it's like they expect people to already know how to do certain things or give you only part of the information, but no reason as to why that information is important) for the new user, that it just gets frustrating and daunting.

PSS - I'm not too worried about this "Sculpty Maker" just yet. I know there are people out there that probably have a work around for that issue by now. Also, since I'm not ready to export anything just yet; I'm confident that by following your tutorial(s) I will be able to make whatever I want in zBrush first, then export it for SL, depending on what the newest program for the updated zBrush Mac version is.

Again, I can't thank you enough!

For spheres, yes. There is a slight difference depending on the ultimate stitching type-- on Vlad's blog, he has a good tutorial about using non-spherical primitives to start.



Well, don't waste time sculpting at higher division levels. You won't be able to import it into SL. The exception being that you might sculpt at hi-res, then bake shading into your texture map to create the illusion of higher detail. If you want to bake shading, Sylvia Trilling wrote a good tutorial here:
http://www.throughlinedesign.com/ZbrushBakeTut/page1.html
But I recommend working on the fundamentals first.

BTW, just spotted your question on my blog about the texture not mapping onto the X Plane. Do you mean it never showed up when you imported the texture and selected it, or do you mean it disappeared when you went col>>txt? If the latter, you needed to up the division level to a few hundred thousand points before clicking col>>txt

For the record, I'm not familar with the Mac version, but if it's pre 3.5, I believe it should have the same buttons as there were in that tutorial.



Aw, glad it was of some help!

Here is a link to the thread where slappy the penguin was made. It may have some useful information in it for you also.

slapt.me Penguin (Open Project/ZBrush Tutorial)

http://slapt.me/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=725

I'm not getting the texture or PSD to show up on the imageplaneX at all. I import the texture and nothing happens. It looks like I'm doing exactly what you say to do on your tutorial but for whatever reason, the import thing doesn't work. I'm not sure why.

Hmmm. Well, again, I don't know the Mac's interface, but make sure the texture is selected in your texture palette on the left side. Click on it, and it will expand and show you all the available textures, then click on the one you want and it will cover your Ztool.

Here's a nice thread on Zbrush texturing on the Pixologic forums that probably explains things better than I do:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=78501

It's also for 3.5, which is the latest version of Zbrush (my tutorial was for 3.1, and revising it is on my to do list)