"Group" equivalence in Zbrush?

CyberGameArts

Hello everybody,
this might be a very stupid question, but I am looking for a "group" equivalence in Zbrush. Kinda like in Max where you can create groups without losing the modifiers that belong to one of the grouped meshes. The reason why I am asking is because I am currently creating my first "really" detailed character and I am having performance and cleanliness issues.
I already have a crazy amount of subtools(that scroll bar in the subtool panel has gotten tiny :P ) and my PC is starting to lag like crazy, forcing me to put everything on its lowest sub-d level to even be able to move around the document(I know, I really need a new rigg ) Because it's getting so crazy I decided to sculpt certain things outside of the main document in order to have a smooth sculpting experience. However the only way I found myself being able to transfer that tool is by merging everything on its highest sub-d level in order to retain the sculpted detail,to then later transfer it to the main doc, which is sorta counterproductive.
So my question is: is there a way to group certain subtools(such as all the tools that belong to certain bag for example), without losing their sub divisions history, so I could potentially un-group everything at the end and crank up the subd levels for a nice presentation shot. Is there a plugin maybe? or I am just a Zbrush noob, not knowing the hidden secrets of this amazeball software

Anyways, thanks a lot in advance!

passerby

subTools, or polygroups

s6

I find that hiding the sub tools that aren't necessary to what your currently working on works out just fine. I've gotten up to around 35 Mil in a document with around 30 subtools. You may be way beyond that, But I've never seen a performance difference between a 2 mill subtool in an empty doc and a 2 mil subtool in a scene with 20 hidden tools.

cryrid

So my question is: is there a way to group certain subtools(such as all the tools that belong to certain bag for example), without losing their sub divisions history

You might have to add some subdivisions to some of the tools you're merging to make sure they all have the same number of subdivisions (eg: 5). I think history is preserved this way, and if not there is always the reconstruct subdivision button.

CyberGameArts

subTools, or polygroups

subtools

I find that hiding the sub tools that aren't necessary to what your currently working on works out just fine. I've gotten up to around 35 Mil in a document with around 30 subtools. You may be way beyond that, But I've never seen a performance difference between a 2 mill subtool in an empty doc and a 2 mil subtool in a scene with 20 hidden tools.

You are correct! However it can get quiet annoying(or maybe I am just a lazy person haha ). I am at about 70+ subtools at the moment and the most detailed parts are still to come o.O

Thanks

You might have to add some subdivisions to some of the tools you're merging to make sure they all have the same number of subdivisions (eg: 5). I think history is preserved this way, and if not there is always the reconstruct subdivision button.

WOOT! that worked..haha thanks alot. It also retains the polygroups so I can even split it up later awesome