Really new zbrush user. please help.

[SpencerLavill]

Hi guys,

I have recently just started in zbrush, ive spent the last couple of days learning the layout and have started sculpting my first head. I have run into a problem with the mesh, ill explain the best i can.

I started off shaping the head from a sphere which went fine. Subdivided a couple of times, i then masked off a part to pull down what would be the neck. That went ok. Now the problem is when in sculpting detail on the neck and smooth it out, that works great. But when i bring that detail upto the head. It wont smooth out, gets to a point and wont blend into the model. I have made sure all masks are clear. Do i need to maybe delete something to do with subdivision? Cant figure it out. Thanks.

[DLangley]

Hi Spencer, welcome aboard. Its hard to know exactly how to help without images showing what you are having difficulty with.

Is the smooth actually not working or is the amount of smooth insufficient for your needs?

The smooth brush will have a greater effect on less dense areas of the model. What does your geo look like? i.e. is the neck portion less dense that the rest of the head.

You can drop down a subdivision level or two to allow the smooth brush to work on an overall less dense mesh which will make the smoothing more obvious. Then you can step up the subdivisions to add more detail as needed.

You can also go into Lightbox>Brush>Smooth and load the Smooth Stronger Brush for a stronger effect.

[MentalFrog]

My guess is you’re using the 3d sphere instead of the polysphere.

Turn on your polyframe (wireframe) and check the flow of the lines.

Yours probably looks like this:

It should look like this:

Notice with the first one the lines all converge on the top and bottom. This is bad for sculpting in Zbrush and can cause pinching and smoothing issues. There’s nothing you can do if your lines (topology) flow in a different direction than what your detail and contour should be. You’ll need to use something like dynamesh and/or Zremesher to retopo. Or start over with the proper flow of the polysphere and then project the details over. When starting a new model the proper polysphere is easier to use.