Is there a way to increase the density of polygons in select areas? Alternatively, can I cut out an area, work on it separately after increasing polygon count, then rejoin it? I’m already at the high limit for polygon count for the object as a whole and using brushes in tiny areas produces very blocky results.
it depends , will you stay in zbrush with your model?
you can mask a part of your model and subdivide , it will only subdivide the unmasked part of the model , however it makes horrible topology.
You could also look at Geometry HD in tools. once you activate that , Zbrush can go above the polycount limit by constricting your working area to a radius zbrush is still capable of handling
http://docs.pixologic.com/reference-guide/tool/polymesh/geometry-hd/
But the reason I asked if you stayed in zbrush, is because the detail made in geometry HD doesn’t get exported I believe.
as for cutting and rejoining , to get a smooth connection between 2 seperate meshes , you’d have to dynamesh it and if you’re working on really high poly , dynamesh will just lose most of that detail anyway, so you’ll be better off with the 2 methods above.
But is it possible to show a screenshot of your model , maybe in your case it might be a lot easier to Zremesh it, re-subdivide and re-project the details, but it’s hard to tell without seeing what you’re making.
Or slice some stuff up and make subtools out of it, so you don’t end up with 1 really high poly object.
There’s a lot of possibilities, but a lot depends on what your goal is, so a bit more visual information would help.
Also, don’t forget that Zbrush doesn’t use any smoothing when showing your model. You can turn on smoothing of normals in your render settings though and see if that helps to alleviate the faceting you’re seeing.
Depending on your model you could break it into separate sub-tools.
@ beta_channel “Also, don’t forget that Zbrush doesn’t use any smoothing when showing your model. You can turn on smoothing of normals in your render settings though and see if that helps to alleviate the faceting you’re seeing”
Didn’t understand. Can you explain again as it applies to my post #1?
Do you need to have a single mesh? Subtools will allow you to get denser topology in needed areas without going overboard on parts which don’t need it. Smoothing can be achieved in a couple ways…smooth peaks, smooth valleys, etc.; also starting to smooth with shift and releasing shift(with mouse button still down) will have different effects. Are you working with subdivision levels? Your starting point can make things somewhat easy or more difficult than necessary 
I need to get serious with learning ZBrush or I’ll be forever pestering you folks with basic stuff, I realize that finally.
Just one last question before I “go get serious” with ZClassroom etc. :
Ok, a human figure, and I want ultra detail right down to the minute folds on the back of each and every finger knuckle. Say I need this because it will have to hold up in close-ups.
So, I subdivide the figure a few times to get the amount of polygons (I hope) I need to sculpt the small knuckle areas with Ryan Kittleson’s Crease Brush and Inflate between (with damn tiny draw size brushes). I scale up to make the finger fill the canvas. And, here’s what I mean: Again and again I run into the problem at this point that the density of the polygons is not even close to the density needed to produce a smooth line crease. Simply not enough polygons.
It’s especially true if the polygons in that area have been stretched/enlarged by previous brush action.
Btw, smoothing the blocky area, even at the lowest draw, intensity etc settings just instantaneously obliterates whatever previous sculpting was done.
About the knuckle being made into a separate tool, that doesn’t apply… does it?
Actually, that was more than one question. If it’s too long to explain, maybe someone could point me to the relevant doc(s) and/or ZClassroom subject headings for me to focus on for situations similar to the knuckle thing. It’s a basic one and the thing that has prevented me from ever getting into ZB beyond a certain point.
And, thanks.
Posters and animations with close-ups. ZB to Maya (if I ever get it). The knuckle example is typical.
Close-ups are just that, a close up. Don’t need the whole model visible for that or even in one piece
noise, HD geometry and material maps might be areas to look into.
depends on whether it’s just for rendering or not though.