ZBrushCentral

(Absolute noob) Running out of polys

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I’m quite new to zbrush and have a basic understanding of its features, but was wondering what i do to add more polys to specific areas.

I know about “dividing” my model and all of that, but sometimes i’ll be working an area like the eye or nose and i’ll have to bump my model up to a million or so polys and even then i still feel i dont have enough poly information in those fine detail areas, and my work will start getting crunchy.

My question is, is there a way to focus in detail for one area like the nose or eyes, ears, etc.?

If it matters, the way i’ve been starting is with basic zsphere generated full body models. Nothing too detailed, just the gumby-esque model. Perhaps because i have an entire figure and im just working on the face is the root of my problems?

Thanks in advance.

#2

actually the root of your problem comes from working with Zspheres.

zSpheres are great for getting the form of the character/creature/whatever you want, but Zbrush is a poly modeler. So when you use Zspheres for the base form, that’s really all you can get out of them (unless you’re using HDgeo, or local subD). You’ll want to retopo your character so you have the form, edge flow and mesh density to support your sculpt.

Local SubD–
You can step down to the lowest subD and mask an area. Then go to tool>geometry>divide (ctrl+D). This will create a new subD level in the areas that aren’t masked. It creates pretty nasty geometry though so I don’t recommend it.

HD geometry–
You can get as much geo out of HD as you would like with little to no slowdown for your system, (1 billion polys is the max I think).
If you don’t know how to use HD geo check out the zclassroom. They have a great tutorial on how to use it.

Hope this helps.

#3

Thanks very much, this does help. It sounds to me like the wise choice is to go with HD geometry. I’ll check out that video and take a stab at it.
Thanks again.