I've been in conversation via pm with Cajun Beauty and we were discussing creating morphs in ZBrush and I thought it might be useful to have a thread to discuss strategies for doing this.
Here's a quick method that I use for getting the model over to ZBrush...
In DS
1. Load the model into DS.
2. Go to the parameters tab and select Mesh Resolution.
3. Change the sub-division level to zero. Please note: you do not need to change the resolution level just the sub division level.
4. At this point if you wish to do morphs to things like the teeth or tongue now is the time to pose your character so that you can easily access them.
5. Click on the GoZ icon and send the model to ZBrush.
In ZBrush
1. ZBrush will automatically load with the lightbox open. Click on Hide to close it.
2. To get the model to appear in the workspace left click and drag with the mouse. Then click on the edit button and then on the frame icon. This will get your model positioned in the work space.
3. I will often at this point click on Polygroups and click on Autogroups with UV and then click on merge similar groups. If you then click on the Line Fill PolyF icon your polygroups will show. This is useful as you can hold down the ctrl-shift keys and click on a group to make the other groups disappear. If you click on it a second time it will hide that part of the mesh. This is useful sometimes when you don't want your morphs to affect those parts. You can also use this technique to make it easier to mask parts of a model.
4. You can use the move icon to move the model up and down but you can also hold ctrl and click on the right mouse button to move the model closer in or out so you can see things better. You can also use alt and click on right mouse button to move it up and down or side to side.
5. If you click on x this will give symmetry on both sides of the model so that you only have to change one side. This is very useful when doing facial morphs if you want the morph to be symmetrical for example an ear morph.
6. Create the morph
7. Click on the GoZ button in ZBrush and send it back to DS.
In DS
If you haven't added any geometry it should automatically prompt a dialogue box to create a morph.
You can just click ok and it will create the morph and pop it into a zbrush folder and iirc it will call it something like Zbrush morph. However you can also chose a name and where to place it in the parameters tab using this dialogue which is what I tend to do.
If you click on the triangle on the left side of where it says ZBrush Morph you will see more options open up.
If you double click where it says name ZBrush morph(click on the Zbrush morph section) it will allow you to change the name.
If you right click on the Property group it will show you what groups already exist for that model to choose from or take the top option and create your own.
If you posed or morphed the item prior to sending it to ZBrush you need to see Yes for Reverse Deformations. It should do that automatically for you.
Once you have changed any settings click okay.
Then test your morph.
If you want to save your morph you go to File/Save As/Support Asset/Morph Asset.
A new dialogue box will open up and you can find your new morph and select it to save it.
This dialogue also allows you to Name the product and list the vendor name which is a good practice to get into. If you use a product name all morphs for that product will be contained in a folder of that name under Data in the morph files for the original model.
Okay this is just a very quick walk thru and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I'll add more about which brushes are safe to use in ZBrush. Many of them are okay you just need to make sure that the brushes you use don't add any new geometry. I have safely used move, inflate, smooth on a regular basis. You can also use the transpose line safely for moving and scaling.
Here's a quick method that I use for getting the model over to ZBrush...
In DS
1. Load the model into DS.
2. Go to the parameters tab and select Mesh Resolution.
3. Change the sub-division level to zero. Please note: you do not need to change the resolution level just the sub division level.
4. At this point if you wish to do morphs to things like the teeth or tongue now is the time to pose your character so that you can easily access them.
5. Click on the GoZ icon and send the model to ZBrush.
In ZBrush
1. ZBrush will automatically load with the lightbox open. Click on Hide to close it.
2. To get the model to appear in the workspace left click and drag with the mouse. Then click on the edit button and then on the frame icon. This will get your model positioned in the work space.
3. I will often at this point click on Polygroups and click on Autogroups with UV and then click on merge similar groups. If you then click on the Line Fill PolyF icon your polygroups will show. This is useful as you can hold down the ctrl-shift keys and click on a group to make the other groups disappear. If you click on it a second time it will hide that part of the mesh. This is useful sometimes when you don't want your morphs to affect those parts. You can also use this technique to make it easier to mask parts of a model.
4. You can use the move icon to move the model up and down but you can also hold ctrl and click on the right mouse button to move the model closer in or out so you can see things better. You can also use alt and click on right mouse button to move it up and down or side to side.
5. If you click on x this will give symmetry on both sides of the model so that you only have to change one side. This is very useful when doing facial morphs if you want the morph to be symmetrical for example an ear morph.
6. Create the morph
7. Click on the GoZ button in ZBrush and send it back to DS.
In DS
If you haven't added any geometry it should automatically prompt a dialogue box to create a morph.
You can just click ok and it will create the morph and pop it into a zbrush folder and iirc it will call it something like Zbrush morph. However you can also chose a name and where to place it in the parameters tab using this dialogue which is what I tend to do.
If you click on the triangle on the left side of where it says ZBrush Morph you will see more options open up.
If you double click where it says name ZBrush morph(click on the Zbrush morph section) it will allow you to change the name.
If you right click on the Property group it will show you what groups already exist for that model to choose from or take the top option and create your own.
If you posed or morphed the item prior to sending it to ZBrush you need to see Yes for Reverse Deformations. It should do that automatically for you.
Once you have changed any settings click okay.
Then test your morph.
If you want to save your morph you go to File/Save As/Support Asset/Morph Asset.
A new dialogue box will open up and you can find your new morph and select it to save it.
This dialogue also allows you to Name the product and list the vendor name which is a good practice to get into. If you use a product name all morphs for that product will be contained in a folder of that name under Data in the morph files for the original model.
Okay this is just a very quick walk thru and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I'll add more about which brushes are safe to use in ZBrush. Many of them are okay you just need to make sure that the brushes you use don't add any new geometry. I have safely used move, inflate, smooth on a regular basis. You can also use the transpose line safely for moving and scaling.
