Headshot 3/CC5 Transfer to ZBrush symmetry issues.

Character Creator Plugins
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I’ll try to explain my workflow as much as possible:

I recently purchased the Headshot 3 plugin for CC5 (but this issue has persisted since Version 2/CC4).

I sculpt my character head in ZBrush 2022.0.8, centered, symmetry on. I retopologize to reduce poly count, then perform a smart resym to test if symmetry is maintained. I export the character head as an OBJ.

I import the character head into CC5, frame and center it, setting the view to the orthographic front view. Using Headshot 3, Mesh-to-head, I perform the set up (which leads me to ANOTHER related question about the point-plotting in Headshot 3, more after workflow.) After processing the wrap, I follow the steps to refine the head to closer match the original sculpt I made, using the clone and “project”(?) brushes, occasionally using move if needed. I am doing this with “symmetry” being applied.

After the adjustments are made, I run the “Attach to body” and set up the figure. I zero out the figure (and I have tried WITHOUT zeroing out the figure as well) and transfer with the GoZ-Plus option (no diffuse, no displacement, 2nd Subdiv) set at ZBrush scale (0.01x).

When the model is imported, the body is fine, but the head is slightly off center, making refining and continuing sculpting in ZBrush a hassle. I can share my files if need be, to see if it’s user error, or if there’s an issue with plugin/export or how I’m using it.

Additionally:
This strikes me as especially odd (and MAYBE I just missed it) but when doing the initial set up for Headshot 3, it seems VERY odd to me that there isn’t a symmetry option for plotting the points on the mesh. It would seem to make sense to take the bounds of the mesh shape, divide it in half, and plot the points along a mirror, so the user can maintain symmetry while placing the points for however the engine works under the hood. This seems like it would be ESPECIALLY useful for the center-line of the head mesh. But I’m willing to admit that I may have just overlooked the option if it weren’t there.

Thanks in advance for anyone that is able to help me, and again, if sharing my files would help solve this problem, I’d be happy to send them out.

2

The fact that whenever I import a mesh into HS3 and it doesn’t seem to detect the eye correctly every time and other points are way out of alignment, makes me think it’s a problem with the software. Also, after I’ve aligned the points and generated the head, when attaching it to the body, the eyes are slightly cross eyed or rotated inward and the teeth height is lower than I expect. I’m constantly having to adjust these elements after generating and finetuning the mesh.

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It does seem odd to me, that this is not the first time the issue has been raised, and there are numerous solutions out there that do work well (though none are perfect). How do you solve the problems you encounter? Do you make corrections within CC5, or do you use a different software, like ZBrush/Blender? It’s not that it’s particularly difficult for me to fix the model after the errors, but it DOES require time I could be spending on creating/continuing the project.

I’m interested in hearing what your solutions are, as they may be faster/more accurate than mine.

4

If it’s an issue with the mesh, I try and fix it before importing into CC5 (Blender is my 3D software of choice.) For example, I may delete parts of the mesh that Headshot doesn’t use (teeth, the rest of the body). I try to bring in a low poly head mesh with quads (turning on the wireframe overlay in HS3 helps with control point placement). I save the higher poly mesh for applying the normal texture in the 3rd step of the HS3 process. As far as teeth and eye placement which HS3 seems to stumble over, I do those adjustments in CC5 using the morphs sliders in the Modify tab. I just try and ‘eyeball’ it all to something that looks right.

  • quick question for you Visioneer, how big his your high poly model that you transfer over from ZBrush? Any limitations when bringing it over to CC5?
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Thanks for your response, Leodegrance!

To answer your question, I try to keep my sculpts between 50,000 - 75,000 polys for head sculpts only (after retopo) I avoid adding teeth,eyes, or hair when using headshot. If I’ve sculpted a segmented mesh, I make sure to make the head one polygroup, and delete or hide the eye subtools before export. If the mesh is a continuous, manifold mesh, I reshape the eyes into sockets before export.

One limitation that I’ve run into is transferring with poly groups (I don’t know a workaround other than exporting as a single polygroup) results in a mesh that imports in different “segments”. Because my current computer is a potato, I haven’t toyed around with settings too much, I just try to find a solution that works fastest for me, which in my case, is a single polygroup.

I also have to make sure that I zero out and transforms so the mesh is centered in the world origin.

If you don’t mind, are you using any addons in Blender? If so, would you mind sharing which ones?

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Yes. I’m familiar with the transform and resetting the mesh to world origin. I’ve had issues when not doing this. There’s another forum topic on here all about that.

As far as other addons, I have a bunch of them. Many that I’ve barely touched. Because I use blender for any editing, the addon that connects CC and iClone is a must have. I’ve just trying to get better at baking textures on CC characters and bring them back into CC5. The decal function in CC is okay, but it sometimes distorts images and is difficult to align across seams in the UVs. So, I’ve been trying to use addons like SimpleBake, Sanctus, MatPlus, but I’m not quite expert in them yet.

1 Like
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Do you also use iClone? I’ve considered purchasing it, but since I don’t make games nor 3D films, I’m having a hard time justifying the price.Character Creator is good, because I normally use it to pose my models/sculpts from ZBrush. I refuse to support Maxon, and I refuse to use subscription based software, so Character Creator is a benefit to me. What do you use these softwares for?

8

I got iClone and CC as a package back in 2021 (so versions 7 and 4). It was on sale at the time. I’ve since upgraded when the new versions were out to stay current. There were limited discounts at the time. I haven’t used iClone very much sadly due to time limitations and other projects. Like yourself, I find creating characters in CC5 uses up much of my creative energies. But, I hope to expand into animating these characters in the very near future.

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Good luck! Do you have a gallery online?