I am having trouble maintaining creases designated by smoothing groups upon import of a 3DSMax model of an axe. When I subdivide, the sharp edges of the blade become round. I am currently using Zbrush 4R6 which doesn’t seem to have the import with creases option. The site says 4R6 comes with all plugins but there doesn’t seem to be a smoothing group plugin. I am fairly new to ZBrush and not even sure how to apply creasing correctly. When I use the Crease tool it manipulates and inflates the geometry and CreaseAll will not provide the end results I am going for. Please help!!
In 3DSmax fix your edges up by adding another edge loop to sharpen the corners. Experiment with the distance to the edge you want sharpened. Remember to do this on both sides of the edge you want sharpened. There are a few more techniques you can use to sharpen edges like this. But try this method and it will work for you. Also remember Zbrush likes for you to use quads when you are in 3DSmax… AVOID using Triangular faces or 5 vertex faces. You can get away with Tri faces but you can and will run into some issues later on in your workflow… all depending of course what you are trying to do with your model. In my workflow I try to stick with quads in all of my models and this reduces the headaches when subdividing your meshes. When practicing your modeling skills this method of only working in quads will help you become a better modeler.