I just upgraded to 4.2 and began reading the R2 What’s New documentation. On page 27, I came across the statement:
The DynaMesh remeshing process can only work on volumes and not on surfaces.
I understand the difference between a volume and a surface (because I’m a really smart guy!) but I thought remeshing was, in essence, a restructuring of surfaces. It seems like there’s a fundamental importance to that statement that I’m missing completely. Can anyone clue me in?
Don’t dwell too much on semantics. From a certain point of view, yes, altering topology is happening on the “surface” , but dyna mesh is chiefly a tool for manipulating volume.
It’s a set of tools for quickly and intuitively establishing form, in low to medium resolution meshes, not worrying about nitty gritty surface detail.
Adding to what Spyndel wrote (thanks:) )…
A surface is the collection of polygons (faces) which may or may not enclose a volume.
The default 3DPlane mesh has surface but no volume, while the default 3DSphere has surface and volume.
In other words… a watertight mesh has surface and volume.
DynaMesh resurfaces the volume enclosed by the surface, if the mesh is not watertight, DynaMesh will ‘find’ a way to get into the volume and scoop it out, leaving you with an empty shell, or a zero thickness surface.
When you re-DynaMesh and get a surface with many holes, it means that your mesh is not watertight. To remedy this, do the followings…
1. Apply undo,
2. Close the mesh holes by using a brush (such as inflate ,smooth, insert mesh) or by pressing the “Close Holes” button.
3. Re-DynaMesh.
Thanks very much for the clarification. I find that I work more effectively when I understand the concept, at least at a general level, although I appreciate Spyndel’s advice about not getting too hung up on details. Again, to both, thanks very much.
DocPit
PS: ZBrush is, itself, a work of art. It’s becoming an incredible piece of software.