Displacement Map bloats mesh without micro details.

[ethancollins9]

Hello

This is my first time working with Displacement Maps in Maya. The result i keep getting is a bloated mesh with none of the detail present from the Sculpt or Displacement Map will have no effect at all. I am trying to get this micro skin details into Maya. I am using Maya 2019

The displacement Map looks like this, with these export settings from Zbrush, I am using Zbrush 2020Displacement Map usedZbrush Export Settings

When i load in the Map into Maya via the displacment Shader i get this result..BadDisplacement

I tried following the Flipped Normals tutorial on Youtube, but i still get this same result and i am at a loss. I have tried

• Setting the color space to Raw, does nothing
• Tiff exports at 16bit 0.5 mid value 3 DpsubPX
• tried Tiff 32bit exports with a 0.5 mid value and 3 DpsubPX
• tried 32bit EXR exports with a 0 mid value and 3 DPsubPX
• Changing the scalar 0 value to 1 which removes all displacement. 

Thank you for anyone that takes the time to answer this. 

[daunish]

Hey there,

How does your texture network look? On your file node have you checked the box "Alpha Is Luminance" under the Color Balance dropdown?

[ethancollins9]

Yes I have tried that as well, and what it does is sometimes it will deflate the mesh, but it wont have the displacement. It did once but the detail was almost not even noticable

In my shader network i have scalar set to 0 or 0.5 depending on what I exported Zbrush with, and then I have the color space set to raw. Everything is connected correctly. Place 2d node connected to the file node, file node connected to the displacement node, displacement node connected to the shader output. 

[daunish]

By displacement connected to shader output im presuming you mean the ShadingEngine input displacementShader. All sounds good to me so far. Could you upload a screenshot of your shading network?

[ethancollins9]

Yes I can it wont be until later. I will as soon as possible. Thank you for helping me I really appreciate it

[ethancollins9]

Here is an image of the Shader Network. 

[daunish]

So it looks like your hypershade is setup correctly. So im not sure where you are going wrong here. Your Arnold render looks like it's not receiving any displacement data and it just displacing all polys equally.

What i would suggest, try connecting a simple checker pattern or something similar to make sure you can actually get the displacement working, if that works then the fault lies with the way you're pulling in data. You can also try to use the image's red channel and pipe that into displacement, rather than using the alpha.

Honestly im just taking shots in the dark here, the best solve would be to upload your scene and file.

[mspeer]

Hi!

Please upload your scene-file + the displacement texture (as ZIP file).

[ethancollins9]

Sorry for the delayed response. 

This is as far as i have gotten with the Displacement map. The scene and 16bit as well as 32bit Tiff displacements should be attached below. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.  One issue i did find was that because the mesh was scaled up after i exported it from Zbrush the file wasnt being read correctly. So after making the mesh the same size in Zbrush then re-exporting fixed the displacement not showing up. 

[mspeer]

Hi!

No file attached.

If there is just a problem with scale, then you also can scale the displacement effect inside Maya.

[ethancollins9]

here are the scene file and the texture, i just have the Aistandard applied to the head for testing 

[ethancollins9]

I have gotten it to work, but is there a way to increase the intensity of the displacement, when i increase it the mesh starts to bloat a little around the eye area. The areas i circled in red are the areas i would like the displacement to be more intense when up close. I tried adjusting the height to 1.5, but that causes the mesh around the eyes to bloat. 

[mspeer]

Hi!

The files are confusing.

1. There are multiple materials assigned to the head

2. The texture file (name) of the displacement file node (file6) is not available

3. You provided multiple textures that have names that are not associated with your scene

Please provide a ready to use scene, with the correct files and file names.

I checked your 32bit file:

1. Use only RGB images with Maya and not greyscale images.

2. I recommend to use EXR and not TIF for 32-bit images.

3. Your displacement map uses grey for neutral and not black, so you need to offset this in Maya (Alpha -0.5)

[ethancollins9]

Here are correct files

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

Thanks for the new data.

a) Set file6: File Attributes -> Color Space to "Raw" (recommended)

or

b) Set file6: Color Balance -> Alpha Offset to "0.5".

Both options lead to plausible results, but a) is the correct solution here.

[Anonymous]

If you export displacement from Zbrush and set Mid 0.5, In maya CHECK! Alpha is luminance and set Scalar Zero Value is 0.5.