Ambient Occlusion Masking
From ZBrush Info
A new Masking creation function has been added: Mask Ambient Occlusion, which generates a new Mask, based on an ambient occlusion algorithm. Like all kinds of Masks, it is possible to save this mask as a Texture Map. Ambient Occlusion will use the Main and Secondary colors for the map. Play with these colors to get several different maps.
Three parameters are available to change the result of the Ambient Occlusion masking:
- Occlusion Intensity, this will increase the intensity of the black in your AO map.
- AO Scan Distance, which defines how far apart points can be to affect the masking.
- AO Aperture, which defines the angle at the vertex for the Ambient Occlusion computing. High values generate a sharp Mask while low values generate a soft and diffuse Mask.
This Mask function and its three sliders are located in the Tool >> Masking menu.
Notes:
High values of AO Scan Distance combined with a high resolution 3D model can take a long time to compute.
To increase the Ambient Occlusion masking intensity, increate the Masking Object Dimming slider, located in the Preferences >> Edit menu.
Create and save an Ambient Occlusion Map
- Load a ZTool that you wish to have an Ambient Occlusion on.
- Check if your ZTool has UVs by clicking on Tool >> Texture Map >> New from UV Check button.
- In the Tool >> Masking menu, click on the Mask Ambient Occlusion button.
- If needed, tweak the three Ambient Occlusion sliders to refine the Ambient Occlusion results and then redo the previous step.
- To have a better visual feedback of the Ambient Occlusion Masking, go to the Render palette and switch from Preview render to Flat render, or choose the Flat Color in the Material palette.
- In the Tool >> Texture Map menu, click on New From Masking button to create a new texture from the masking.
A new map is generated and displayed on the current ZTool.
- Clear the Masking by clicking on the Tool >> Masking menu >> Clear button.
- Click on the Tool >> Texture Map >> Clone Texture button to duplicate this image in the Texture palette, which will allow you to export this map.
