3D Asset Workflow: Troubleshooting

⬑ 3D Asset Workflow

◇ Main Steps

• 3D Asset Workflow: Concepting
• 3D Asset Workflow: Sculpting
• 3D Asset Workflow: Retopology
• 3D Asset Workflow: UV Mapping
• 3D Asset Workflow: Baking
• 3D Asset Workflow: Texturing
• 3D Asset Workflow: Asset Assembling
• 3D Asset Workflow: Naming the Asset
• 3D Asset Workflow: LODs
• 3D Asset Workflow: Exporting to Editor
• 3D Asset Workflow: Completed asset checklist

◇ Additional Steps

• 3D Asset Workflow: Alternative Textures
• 3D Asset Workflow: Billboards
• 3D Asset Workflow: Blocksets
• 3D Asset Workflow: Collisions
• 3D Asset Workflow: Sikailu
• 3D Asset Workflow: Sway
• 3D Asset Workflow: Tile Textures and Trimsheets
• 3D Asset Workflow: Tintmask
• 3D Asset Workflow: Vegetation

◇ General Tips and Troubleshooting

• 3D Asset Workflow: General Tips
• 3D Asset Workflow: Troubleshooting

Summary

• Check also: 3D Asset Workflow: General Tips

Sculpting

Exporting highpoly mesh from ZBrush

The model's scale is off when exporting from ZBrush to a different program

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The model's scale is off when exporting from ZBrush to a different program

• This usually occurs when you export a mesh that's made completely in ZBrush, without a base mesh
  • ZBrush uses Mystery Units™ and doesn't recognize the metric system
    • What ZBrush calls "scale" is actually the size of the ZTool's bounding box in Mystery Units™
    • This can make a mess when moving stuff between software with different default units
      • For example:

1. Your mesh is two (2) ZBrush Mystery Units™ tall
2. You import it to Modo, which has millimeters as the default units
3. The FBX importer converts Mystery Units™ to millimeters in a 1:1 ratio
4. Result: Your mesh is now 2mm tall

• To fix this, once you are ready to export, go to Tool -> Export -> Scale
  • If you use millimeters as a default, and want the conversion to be exact, you need to change the scale in ZBrush to be in the thousands - meaning, four (4) digits before the decimal point
    • Usually this means that you need to multiply it by 1000 (move the decimal point three places to the right)
• In general, we use millimeters for everything, but other units should work as well - as long as they are always the same across all applications
  • 1 unit -> scaled to 1000 units = 1000mm = 1m

• If you use a base mesh you made in Modo and imported it to ZBrush, it should work fine
• If you export as .OBJ, it should work fine
• You can bypass this problem and still make your highpoly without a base mesh from start to finish in ZBrush by importing a 2x2x2m cube from Modo to Zbrush, and then appending your sculpts to the cube
  • The cube can be ignored afterwards
    • The function of the cube is to initialize the ZBrush unit space to sync up with Modo
  • After importing the cube, you can check the export scale, which should now show up in the thousands as it should

Lowpoly/UVs/Baking

Checkerboard pattern when baking mirrored objects

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Mirrored UVs in Substance Painter

• When baking mirrored UVs you can run into trouble with UV islands that are on top of each other
• Move the mirrored UVs so that they are not on top of each other
• If you have already textured the model in Painter and swap the model to a new version where the UVs have been updated this might ruin some hand painted areas so be aware of this

Editor

Importing Assets

My model is black/has no textures

• In case your model is black/has no textures, processing the meshmaterial usually fixes this
  • Right-click model/type -> Locate type model resource -> find the corresponding meshmaterial -> right-click -> Process resource
  • If that doesn't help, check that your FBX file doesn't have multiple Texture channels in Modo
• If your asset appears transparent and dark in the Editor, check that your normal maps DON'T have alpha channel in them
  • Also re-assign the textures and materials in Modo, and re-export the FBX
• If the asset has a tintmask, check it's model component settings to make sure it's configured properly