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Can ZBrush do a inner Offset a complex mesh to produce a "hollow" solid

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Wondering what tools ZBrush might have a way to offset a mesh (as if you had a figure and wanted to make a "water tight hollow solid , with a open bottom. For 3d printing), I have used an offset mesh command in Rhino 3D and unless you are offsetting only a very small distance you get a problem with inner offsets, the mesh will kind of have over laps on itself, because the command is not “intelligent” and cant scale down any geometry to make a smooth off set. It looks lik pannel loops does this sort of thing, but woul it work on a complex form?

Thanks

#2

If I understand you correctly, you may want to investigate the Dynamesh “Shell” option.

#3

Yes thanks, I am considering buying Zbrush and I do need to do interior “shelling” on models for 3D printing.

Great to see The Dynamesh shell feature. As I mentioned I have used a mesh offset feature in Rhino 3D and I am wondering if Dynamesh shell would have the same operation as that or better?

I think the mesh offset command in Rhino does a projection along the normal of each polygon so once their is an acute angled area on the surface, when you offset this to the inside the offset has an overlap and is no good. For relatively smooth surfaces or with a very small distance offset it is usabel.

Anybody who uses Dynamesh shell know if it solves this situation.

Thanks

#4

I’m not familiar with the feature in Rhino, so I can’t compare. It sounds similar to a traditional polygon extrusion feature though. You can do this in Zbrush 4r7 with the ZModeler Qmesh feature. It can extrude polygons inward in a volume giving them a thicknes, but yes, depending on how complex the mesh is you can run into problem areas where the normals extrude in unintended ways. This is best done with lower poly geometry so you can easily manipulate individual polys.

The Dynamesh shell feature does a better job with some complicated shapes, but works best when using medium to medium high resolution polycounts. Generally when working with dynamesh, you aren’t concerned with deliberate topology or individual polygons. It’s more about volumes.

This would give you different approaches to try in different situations, each with different benefits and limitations.