Height map baking/exporting

Yeah, havin the same problems here with substance painter and i would love to have a solution for this substantial and essential task.

Cant get normal information into a height map in Substance with baking.

I think it works to create height information in the Height channel with substance materials etc but it does not work to transfer the height data from the normal channel into the height channel.

That would be needed to create a displacement map.

Hiya,

The zBrush map was generated at 16bit. The substance height map was 16bit as well but I tried 32bit for fun with no apparent change in final render. The general workflow I am using or attempting to use is I have my model sculpted in zBrush to somwhere around 15million polys. Low res model used in substance with the high res details baked. Apply texture and micro detail (pores and wrinkles and such) in substance. Export height detail from substance hopefully containing baked detail from high res as well as added detail from substance. Render in Arnold with height as displacement. So first problem of course is that my height map isn't baking like I am expecting in subsance. My backup plan was to import the height bake from zbrush. The second issue I seem to have is that exported height map is not including the baked height information from substance bake or zbrush bake or from the normal map. Plan C is to try to combine both height maps from subsance and zbrush together in arnold with some sort of fancy node wizardy. 

Thanks for the pictures, it has created an interesting talk with the team. The render you got with the height map from Substance 3D Painter should be closer from the one with Zbrush. What was your workflow for exporting the map? Did you export it with 16 bit depth? Do the scale was the same between the two renders?

And don't worry, I don't think you're too old for anything, it is just a different process between software for creating the Height Map. ZBrush knows the relation between the low-poly and the high-poly geometry because it's the same mesh at different subdivision level. So I presume they have a way of encoding the right surface information in the texture.

Substance Painter has less information and uses the differences in elevation between the low-poly and the high-poly, causing this "weird" visual. Also, this is why you need to use the Substance Height map with a unsmooth sub-divided object, or the map won't work as intended.

Hiya,

Thank you for your reply and help on this subject. I guess I'm not fully understanding the application of a height map that looks like this. I can't recall ever seeing one like it. But perhaps I'm getting old and things are done differently now? Ha! Similarly I never remember substance baking height maps that look like this. I tried to open previous versions of subsance to verify but since the migration adobe, I can't long in.  Anyway, I did more tests in attached image. I baked the height in zbrush and I got a result that I expected or what I thought would be "correct". I applied that in substance as the height mesh map and get a result that I expect. I also tried applying each set of height maps as a displacement in Maya rendered in arnold. Substance maps did not yeild results I am looking for and zbrush maps did. Seeing these images, is everything behaving as it should?

Hi @Nick245827678ml2,

Interesting subject.

I know this can be disturbing, but this is how to height map is supposed to work. It is made for sub-divisions and this specific look comes from the fact that it is a baked height (not a height from the normal map). You'll find multiple threads on internet about this subject with other software.

Just try the map in you rendering software and it shouldn't have any issue. Keep me posted.

Best regards,