ZBrush Character Creation - Advanced Digital Sculpting 2nd Edition

336 chapter 9 ■ Normal Maps, Displacement Maps, Maya, and Decimation Master

levels (which carry mostly details). This means you can generate a displacement map

from level 3 of a five-level model and use the resulting map as a bump map. Because

the map was generated from a higher subdivision level, it is only calculating the dif-

ference between the highest level and the current level. If that difference is mostly fine

details, a suitable bump map will be created.

Normal Maps We saw what normal maps are and how they func-

tion earlier in this chapter. The options here are identical to those found

under the Tool → Normal Map menu with the exception of the SubDiv

Level slider (Figure 9.74). Again this slider will allow you to create nor-

mal maps that carry just the finer details depending on how high up the

subdivision level chain you generate it.

Textures from Polypaint Polypaint textures can be generated quickly and

easily with these options. You can also generate color textures for UVs out-

side 0 to 1 using this plug-in. This technique is extremely helpful when you

have painted in high definition. There are no menu options for polypaint

textures in the plug-in menu—only the option to generate the color maps.

Figure 9.72 The Multi Map Exporter plug-in interface

Select map types to export

Merge all subtool maps into one

Set resolution

Map options

Flip vertical

Switch to stored Morph Target

before making maps

File Export options

Store a preferences f ile

Set file names

Set border size in pixels

Create map for

each subtool

Begin creating maps

Figure 9.73 The
Displacement
Map options

Figure 9.74 The

Normal Map

menu options