Zbrush overlapping mesh problems

SamFisher45

Hey guys,

I have been modelling a scythe for a week now and I am facing a really weird problem. The scythe has a strip of cloth wrapped around the handle that goes in a spiral around the handle. I modeled the cloth out in 3D studio max (yeah its a pain-in-the-butt technique) and applied a shell modifier for thickness. The result is a lot of overlapping areas from the same mesh (parts where a strip of cloth overlaps another). Now, in Zbrush, I want to sculpt torn edges and inconsistencies in the wrapping (like folds in the cloth strip) resulting from long use.

When I try to sculpt a fold in an area where the area overlaps another part of the same mesh, zbrush sculpts on the mesh beneath and there is no way I can sculpt on the top part. Its really frustrating. :poly127:

Please share some tips about how I can get that done.

Thanks

cryrid

Maybe isolate the visibility of a small patch of polygons near the intersection, increase the visibilty size until it covers the full area that is overlapped, and then mask and unhide the rest, or polygroup it and mask that way.

nyx702

Making each turn a polygroup would help like cyrid said. You can do this easily in Max with material IDs as well.

You can turn on BackFace Masking for brushes in Zbrush.
Brush>AutoMasking>BackfaceMask

This would help with sculping on the underside of the cloth.

Valandar

Another option would be "Move Topological", depending on what exactly you're doing...

Fingus

Under Brush>Auto Masking there is a button labled Topological that prevents this sort of issue. Try it out.

SamFisher45

Yeah, Back face masking solved the problem quite well. Thank you guys for the help...

DarkBahamut

I was aware of enabling backfacemask but not the topological option... worked like a charm! Thanks for your insight!

kanga

Also when doing overlapping double sided strips: when in move mode you can hold control and drag a mask that will calculate surface distance. Useful for applying a mask to a top lying area of strip, and then flipping the mask when needed.