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KoreaZAppLink: Game Texturing Workflow
By Ryan Kingslien in painting, ZAppLink | 8 comments
Click the image to play the movie or click here to download the movie (46 Mb).
ZAppLink
ZAppLink connects ZBrush to Photoshop and enables artists to paint on 2D image using Photoshop’s toolsets then transfer that painting back to your 3D model.
ZAppLink uses ZBrush’s canvas to transfer RGB information as well as shading information to Photoshop. Transfering shading information allow you to paint in Photoshop and see exactly what it will look like back in ZBrush.
You can download ZAppLink here.
Online documentation for ZAppLink can be found here.
Games Texturing Workflow
In a games production pipeline there is often intense pressure on the artist to get a character done as fast as possible. With the complexity of games increasing, an artist’s tools simply can’t get fast enough.
ZAppLink allows the artist to use a 2D workflow with tools they are familiar with while keeping the model 3D and editable. This speeds up their production workflow and allows them to complete more characters faster!
What?! You think they should take a vacation with all that extra time?
In this video tutorial, I show you a texturing workflow for games, as I understand it. Every artist is going to do things differently, use different tools but this video should give you a good idea of one way that you can quickly develop a texture using photographic reference.
The textures in this tutorial come from 3d.sk
Happy ZBrushing!
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orija | Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
yes, so what does the texture itself look like when you are done? did you uv map it in another application first?
Santis | Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
Thanks, great tutorial, just rigth in time
Revanto | Jan 3, 2008 | Reply
Seems like a decent tutorial but, Ryan, why did you pick the red wax texture for your model when Zapplinking? It was difficult to see what you were doing. It would have been better with the basic shader.
Ryan Kingslien | Jan 7, 2008 | Reply
Revanto, I do go into MatCap Skin05 after picking it up from ZAppLink. However, I understand your point.
Orija, at this point I am using PolyPainting. There is no texture map with PolyPainting. You paint directly on the surface of your model and you don’t need uvs.
Ryan
Anon | Jan 19, 2008 | Reply
While I admit ZApplink is a very cool addition to ZBrush, until texture layers are supported this can’t really be used in a production environment. If an art director wants a layer changed, it simply doesn’t make sense to have this as one flat texture to attempt to edit afterwards.
Ryan Kingslien | Jan 19, 2008 | Reply
Anon, I have to respectfully disagree as I know many production artists in film and game studios all over the globe who use it and rely on it for their texturing needs.
Best,
Ryan
Castor | Jan 21, 2008 | Reply
I think Anon is right.
Your technique is really good but its not the best one for games worflow specifically.
UV mapping plays a big part as well as editable layers.When I saw the tutorial link I would expect a quick show of the unwrap, all the steps you did and then a overview of how the map will show on the model and the pros and cons.
Those final tweaks you did would make more sense in Photoshop with the unwrapped texture.
Also there didnt seem to be much control in terms of shadows and specular in the orginal source fotos. Shouldnt the texture work have been done with lighting at 100% (in zbrush) so you could see the texture,how it was affecting the model and the areas that needed tweaking?
Anyway, great blog and great work! Keep it up.
Jaycephus | Apr 16, 2008 | Reply
This initial highres polypaint can be tranferred to the same character that has subsequently (or in parallel) been UV mapped at the lowest subdivision in something like Maya. Once the UV mapping has been brought into the ZTool, a psd can be exported or zapplinked to PS and you can layer to your heart’s content.
http://www.jcappelletti.com/z3tut02/