How do I get sharp edge masks when selecting by polygroup?

[aachisuto]

I have searched for like an hour now all over the the place and I can’t find the specific answer I’m looking for. I have nice polygroups all organized and want to mask by using them. However, when I select the polygroups to mask by them the edge of the mask always includes just a little (like the 50% gray and 50% effective) of the next polygons into the next polygroup over. I’ve turned blur down to 0 in the masking section and tried a bunch of different stuff but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. If anyone knows how I can keep my masking edges sharp (even when using freehand masking because I’m having trouble figuring that out too) please let me know!

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[Altea]

Perhaps I’m wrong but I think it is simply how Zbrush works. For masking operations that and on/off as deleting polygons, hiding or extruding the gradient will be discarded. For other tasks as moving the selected polygons the gradient shows you the stretch area that the polygons will have.
But there is a sharp masking system in Zbrush, the one provided in Zmodeler with ALT, that only works with Zmodeler and appears as white sharp polys. It is not a substitute of the main masking system but an alternative for rather low medium poly operations inside Zmodeler.

[marcus_civis]

The borders of polygroups will always be masked like that because the points at the edges are shared by polygons in the adjacent polygroups. If a polygon has four points and two of them are completely masked then the polygon is 50% masked - that’s the effect you are seeing.

Masking is simply one aspect of how doing something to the edges of a polygroup will affect the adjacent polygroups. The only way to get sharp masking for a polygroup would be to disconnect it from the surrounding polygroups.

[Altea]

I would say it is simply a way of visualizing it. Max can show the faces as sharp but if we move them we will have the same polygon stretch in the contiguous faces as Zbrush. Simply Max doesn’t indicate what extension has that area as Zbrush does.

I understand why for some operations that are on/off this can be potentially confusing and that is perhaps why Zmodeler selection is provided. The default making system is particularly problematic when dealing with very few polys.

[system]

Hello aachisuto - not quite sure what you are trying to achieve after this but have you tried automasking by polgygroups?

If not you can find this under brush > auto masking > and put “mask by polygroups” to 100.

Hope this helps.

Eric

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[aachisuto]

@kunutson well I was selecting by polygroups (the ctrl+shift click to hide all but that polygroup) then masking by it, unhiding the rest of the polygroups then inversing the selection. I tried the way you suggested but the results are the same except I have to paint the whole mask by hand thanks though

@marcus_civis and @Altea thanks for the info. I understand now that what I’m wanting to do won’t work. I’ll have to just add more polygons.