Looking for help to even out the flat surfaces on this model

[digitalthinker]

This was generated starting with a QCube and then tinkered around with ZModeler until I ended up with something resembling the desired silhouette.

I’d like to flatten out the vertices on the large surfaces, at the front and sides, before refining the silhouette. I’m not sure what terminology to search for in order to get an idea of what sort of technique or tool to look up.

Thanks in advance

[Spyndel]

Hi @digitalthinker ,

This is caused by the 4 points on the polygon not being located on the same plane. There are a number of ways to correct this, but keep in mind adjusting the points on one polygon may also stretch them for adjacent polygons.

This will be easier to correct with minimal topology. If you have a simple polygon with only 4 points, then you can often easily “eyeball” the points into alignment by moving or sliding them into a plane. However if there are additional points in the area you’re trying to flatten, these may introduce a curvature to that surface when subdividing that will need to be accounted for. Try to eliminate extra geometry where possible.

1. One way to correct this is to use the Polygon> Transpose function in Zmodeler. This will auto-mask everything but the target selection, and then you can drag on the Gizmo scale manipulators to flatten the selection along the desired axis. If the Gizmo center is located on the surface of the mesh, the scale function will flatten it to that surface.

This may flatten the polygon but still not create a perfectly rectangular polygon. However if the points are all on the same plane it should be simple to use Point> Slide to slide them into the correct shape.

2. For more complicated selections of multiple polygons or higher resolution selections you can also use the ClipCurve selection brush to flatten the mesh along any angle you choose. Again being able to isolate the target selection with masking will be key here.

3. You can also simply cut or slice through the mesh at a desired angle, remove the mishappen geometry, and then refill the hole with new geometry. The Knife brushes will do this as a part of the same action. The Slice brushes will slice through the mesh and divide it into polygroups, allowing you to hide and delete the unwanted portion, then fill it with Tool> modifiy topology> Close holes.

However Zbrush will for quads and trie by inserting edges. This will happen with either the Knife brushes or “Close Holes”. It may be neccesary to clean up the topoloigy after the opertion. Note that the “Close Holes” feature only draws a surface between the open borders of the mesh in the most direct fashion. It will not necessarily follow the contour of the cut like the Knife brushes will.