Here is a simple outline of what will be discussed in this tutorial.
Import the character into 3DXchange4.
Choose the body part you wish to export from the Scene Tree.
Click Export Mesh to export the individual OBJ file.
As you can see after I export my character meshes, OBJ, JPG, and MTL files are included as well.
As in the sculpt section, you can find a reference and change the character into a different one. ZBrush allows us to adjust the details of the character so you will be able to focus on the texture of the skin or the cloth you wish to create.
Import the OBJ file into ZBrush.
Subdivide the character mesh to a higher level.
You can easily find a reference on the web and sculpt the character into any forms you like.
Use different sculpting tools to model the character.
Design the character vertex color as needed after you have sculpted the character's mesh.
Import the OBJ file.
Set the subdivision level to 1.
Apply MatCap White Material to the character, this allows us to see the color better.
Go to Texture > Import to import the Texture of the Character.
Under Tools > Polypaint, enable Colorize to activate polypaint function.
Turn off Zadd, because we only want to paint in RGB.
Enable Polypaint From Texture, now the color is applied according to the texture map.
Go to Texture and select Flip V to correct the upside down texture.
Select Polypaint From Texture to adjust for the vertical flip.
Now you can move on to paint the character. As you begin to adjust the finer details of the character, you may want to modify specific parts. You can divide the character up to 5 times or more, depending on the computer system you have.
Adjust the color and the alpha of the character.
Under Texture Maps click New from PolyPaint and Clone the Texture to finish the baking process.
Export the texture map.
Here is final outcome of my Polypaint texture map.
Bake normal map to emphasis the details on the character mesh.
Before proceeding to baking the normal map, please adjust to the lowest subdivision level.
Go to Tool > Normal Map to start the baking process.
Enable Tangent to create Tangent Space Normal Map .
Click "Create Normal Map" button to generate a Normal Map.
After the render, the Normal Map shows right on the left side panel Texture palette.
When you are satisfied with the result of the Normal Map, click Clone NM.
Note: the normal map looks flipped. Don't worry, you can flip it back in 3DXchange.
Export the Normal Map as a BMP image from the Texture Menu.
Adding ambient occlusion allows you to make the black area stand out and further enhance the appearance of the character.
Load a ZTool that you wish to have apply the Ambient Occlusion to.
Enable the New From UV Check button under Texture Map.
In the Masking menu under Tool, click the Mask Ambient Occlusion button.
You may preview the effeteness of the ambient occlusion by switching the Material to MatCap White01.
Adjust the values of the shadow under Render menu in Preview Shadow.
In the Tool > Texture Map click New From Masking to create an AO Map.
Click Clone Texture to duplicate the image in the Texture palette.
Export the AO map as a BMP image file.
Since we have sculpted the upper body we need to export the model as an OBJ file from the Tool panel. Click the Export button to export the reshaped upper body.
Import the character into 3DXchange to check your results.
The following images are the texture maps that we have baked in ZBrush.
Diffuse Map
Normal Map
Ambient Occlusion Map
Import the original G3 Character into 3DXchange.
Highlight the upper body mesh and Replace Mesh of the sculpted upper body.
Click each material channel to import Diffuse Map, Bump Map (Normal Map) and Blend Map (Ambient Occlusion).
Notice after we have applied all the textures in the material channel, all the textures are upside down. To correct this, flip the texture vertically.
You may now see the result of the character in 3DXchange.
