Edge loops moving when sub dividing

[Dan.Martinez]

I’m currently learning more about creature modeling for Film production. Right now, my workflow is this:

1. Hard surface sketch sculpt
2. Retopo sketch sculpt
3. Send retopo mesh back to ZB for final detailing.

I’m running into an issue when I’m sub dividing the retopo’d mesh in ZB - the edge loops move from their original position causing my mesh to have a softer look and crisp edges loosing their crispness. The edge loops don’t move when I smooth mesh preview inside of Maya.

Am I missing a step or doing something incorrectly? Please advise. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

[Spyndel]

Hello @Dan.Martinez ,

My reply to the post immediately prior to this one may explain what you are experiencing:

Displacement artifacts on some UDIM-tiles

Certainly. When you subdivide a mesh it alters the form slightly at all levels of subdivision. This is a result of the subdivision smoothing process itself, and unavoidable. Therefore if you import a mesh, subdivide it, and generate maps for it, you are no longer generating maps that will match the imported geometry exactly. If you take those maps and apply them to the original imported geometry in an external application, you will likely encounter seam issues because the islands have drifted …

Short of re-importing the base geometry, the “Cage” function in the Geometry palette provides a way to approximate the original form of the mesh.

[Dan.Martinez]

just the answer I needed - thanks!