ZBrushCentral

displacement map subpixel accuracy and geometry SubD level

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hello,

I was wondering what the displacement map subpixel accuracy does exactly? Does it subdivide the geometry several times beyond the maximum geometry level that we are working at and then create the smoother version of displacement map that way?

Or does it mean if I’m in level 1 trying to export a displacement of a 8 level subD geometry and I set the subpixel accuracy to 4, it is considering only 4 levels beyond level 1 for calculating the subD?

Thanks,
Sepehr

#2

It adds additional subdivision levels onto the highest level. So if your model has 10 million polygons at the highest level and you used a DPSubPix value of 4 that would bring the calculation to 2,560 million polygons. Way, WAY more than you could ever need or use, to say nothing of ridiculously long calculation time and possibly a crash.

Use DPSubPix to increase the count of the highest level to where it would have about as many polygons as your texture has pixels. For example, if your model has 1 million polygons and you wanted a 2K map you could use a DPSubPix of 1. A DPSubPix of 2 would bring you up to a 4K map. Anything more than that would be a waste. If your model is already at about 12 million polygons there is no reason to use DPSubPix at all.

#3

Thanks.
That was really useful.
Sepehr