Hi there,

When in Zbrush try to use Displacement exporter instead of zmapper.

Also Normal Maps are mostly for Game environments, for best results you should use displacements.

So is you still want to use Zmapper,

Then use the normal map configuration, maya7surfacesampler
Then from the texture channel, create a grey scale.
Export the greyscale version,

Open up PS, and because the grey`s in zbrush are set to 50%
You need to change the value in PS.
And that can be done with the CTRL L function.

here is more info http://206.145.80.237/zbrush/zbcfiles/ZMapper_Doc.zip

Also render with MR, and setup a Approximation node.

Window>Rendering Editor>Mental Ray>Approximation editor

Then create a polygon subdivition.

and apply the settings found here> http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=43264

Hope it helps.

hey - thanks a lot guys - i appreciate your advice. :beer:
i had a look at it, checked the fans which all seemed to be working and gave it a clean. no change - i'm pretty sure the graphics card is fried. to be honest this thing has been a pain ever since i got it and i'm loathed to send it back to the manufacturer for the third time in less than two years. i think rather than get the card replaced i'm going to put the money towards a new machine.

hey aikoworld - thanks for the advice mate. i'll take a look at what you suggested.

Ouch, thats a right pain mate. What card was in it and what was the PC? I remember you having a problem a bit back.. Not a good advert for the comp company.

yeah - i'd stay well clear of sager if i was you.

the card was a quadro fx 1400 and the laptop was a sager np9750 and it was a pain from day one. I called a couple of places today and they said that they couldn't install a video card and it would have to be sent back to the manufacturer. considering i spent $800 on it just over six months ago, i really don't want to reward them again and would rather just put the money towards a new laptop and hopefully some piece of mind. :)

at the moment i'm looking at the compaq 8710w:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en...9-3544136.html

it looks pretty nice and seems to get good reviews. just not sure about vista and maya 7, though i guess i could always install xp if vista is not too hot.

that looks like a nice computer I would do the so called downgrade to xp though. personally I'd say putting xp instead of vista on it is an upgrade, but thats just me.

Looks good man, Have you had a look at Dell, thay do somre really powerfull laptops, touch wood, my dells fine even being luggedx to uni and back every day.

Buy a stationary computer, more bang for the buck ;)

Very true, but having a laptops so so much easier sitting on the couch in front of the TV doing your maya work!

Also if you need to have it in two places carting a desktops a pain!

If you're sitting in a couch in front of the TV when you use Maya you shouldn't be using Maya in the first place... ;p

oh dear - if i couldn't watch tv while using maya i might go crazy! ;)

yeah - i did consider a desktop - but to be honest i have so much time at work where i could be doing maya that it just makes sense to get a laptop.

yeah - i looked at dell and i think the compaq is pretty much the same as the dell m6300 - though i kind of prefer the look of the compaq, plus with dell you need to prove that you are a small business to buy that computer, which means filing with the tax office to get a tax number which is just an unnecessary headache. plus if you buy the compaq before the end of april they will double your memory from 2gb to 4. :)

thanks guys - it's always good to know i can rely on your good advice. :beer:

here's the last shot of the model before my graphics card crashed - luckily i was able to make a back up. :)

Glad you didnt loose your work before it went down.

I got the XPS with the 7900 GTX 512 in, had to do a lot of digging to make sure that maya worked with it!! Not had a problem with it at all in the 18 months Ive had it, been a really great PC (watch it blow up now!)

yeah - i've heard good things about dell - i remember when you got yours - i originally wanted to get a boxx laptop, but heard that they were essentially made by sager. i notice boxx no longer sells laptops and i wonder if it's cos sager went crap.

Yeah, a lot of companys badge up laptops, Boxx, alienware, Rock etc etc quite funny really, like cars.

managed to get a bit done on my missus's computer - just working on his hands.

and here's the character as he is at the moment.

nice work but the fingers seem short compared to the thumb or is it just the perspective?

it may be the perspective, but they do look a little short in the pic. thanks - i'll take a look at them. :)

hey - been a while since i last posted - got my character back into maya and started building a skeleton. still didn't get the normal maps to work so at the moment this is rendered in maya software with a node i downloaded from highend3d.

and here's another shot.

looking good arran :)
whats he going to be getting upto?

Simon

thanks simon - i've got a pretty good idea of how i want him to look - hunched over from the weight of his chains and lots of stuff hanging off of him. i took some photos at the weekend - so i'm just going to work off those.

made a start on texturing - just basic colors so it all looks pretty bad - especially the hands... and his clothes... and the ground... pretty much everything. :)

think i'm going to have to texture the jacket and head in zbrush - i thought they were uv'd but apparently not, so i ended up using the auv mapping.

Looking good, Arran. The hands look a bit too big though, if that's not the intention.

yeah - i think you're right dj - i need to take a look at them.

I think the only prob with this is the hands being a bit out of proportion. The rest is looking great and once you have them sorted it will be perfect.

Keep up the great work Arran.

thanks leon... :beer:

bit more work on textures - still just a color map. and haven't touched the hands yet so they're staying hidden. :)

just bought a xbox so i haven't been doing too much maya the last couple of days... :(

Very cool Arran. what is this from, btw? Looks familiar but I can't place it..

i'm a fan of the random hankey wrapped around his head...

hey thanks Neostrider and ExtrudedDingus :beer:

he's just supposed to be jacob marley from a christmas carol. i'm not sticking completely to the description in the story but it does mention him wearing a bandage on his head - i guess from how he died. :)

I'm pretty sure the bandage around the jaw is placed there after death (before rigor mortis sets in) to keep the jaw from falling open, as the muscles are relaxed. It's not necessarily an indicator of how he died.

Nowadays they just wire the jaw shut. . .

that's interesting - thanks dutch. :)

ah!.. my first displacement map... not sure what i did wrong. :(

Is that was rigor mortis does? :confused:

pro

New Prototype character?

Hehe, looks like your colour gain (or alpha gain, cant remember off the top of my head) is too high .

that guy looks totally awesome now :p

without the disease he actually looks pretty amazing dude kutgw:beer:

p.s. isnt rigormortus when they like twitch and stuff after death?

it's the T-1000!

ha ha - it's a jacob marley terminator!

yeah - i think you're right steve. i had a play with the alpha gain and offset after reading a few tutorials and i think i got it looking a a bit better.

hello - bit of an update on the head. this has a displacement map with color, spec and bump maps.

looks pretty damn good man:beer: