Dynamesh too heavy in lowest value because of larger scene

sushan_duke

Hello there,

I'm quite new to zbrush. I realized that my scene in zbrush (humanoid character) is quite large. This is giving me an issue that whenever I use the dynamesh even at the lowest value the mesh just gets too much heavy. Is there any way to get a lower polycount at dynamesh by maintaining the same scene size?

Thanks!

gvii

Try using Dynamesh Master plugin. It resizes the mesh dynamically to best size before applying dynamesh, and spits back the mesh at the previos size with the dynamesh result aplied. But I think this got fixed in newer versions of zbrush, though I'm not super sure.

cryrid

You can also try to use the Gizmo's "Remesh By Dynamesh" option, which lets you specify a target polycount for the Dynamesh (between 5000-1000000). 

musashidan

The other option(and what I've moved onto since DM master) is Ryan Kittleson's very useful and free Zbrush tools. There is a really nive DM workflow in it.

Just search his name and gumroad

kanga

I think Dynamesh is dependent on size. To get a workable polycount range you just have to bring the model down to a useful size for zBrush. Im not sure how your scene/model is setup in zBrush, but if it is made up of separate subtools, combine them, then go to the deform menu (under tools) and hit unify. That will scale the model to a size that will give you the best range for all zB tools and operations. If needed then use polygroups to split the model back into separate subtools once again. 

If you are worried about the scene scale then that would suggest you started the model off in an app like 3DMax, and then imported?GoZed the mesh to zB. That being the case, expot/GoZ the unified version of your model back to the 3D package, and play with the export settings (at the bottom of the tool menu) until your zB copy is the right size and in the right position in the other application.

pior

Well, there are basically two ways to look at this.

- Either your project is 100% Zbrush, in which case you should embrace the limitation of the program and work directly at the scale it expects. Which is ironic since by definition 3d files do not have an intrinsic scale, but that's the way things are with Zbrush.

- Or, your project is games or films-oriented (or anything else with a practical use outside of raw sculpting really) - in which case you should absolutely *not* bow to the Zbrush quirks, and instead adopt the proper scale that the project itself requires directly in the actual authoring app (Max/Maya/Blender), and make sure that you can properly close the export/import loops in relation to the final outcome of the model (game engine, offline render, 3d printer). In these cases the Zbrush scale should be the absolute least of your worries.

And then for any sculpting that is needed, maybe have an alternate version of the model in the master scene at the scale Zbrush expects, or some clever export settings, or whatever works for you when it comes to re-scaling inside Zbrush using some script or plugin. Basically considering sculpting for what it really is : an extremely minor aspect of the final look. Ideally you should be able to set something up that works for both environments (final export and sculpting) ; but if not possible, the priority should be given to the engine export rather than to the sculpting one. 

This is especially true when working within a team, as assets having been done without care for these things tend to cost dozens man-hours down the line, with models having to be rescaled after the fact or even rebaked/redone. The problem often comes from overly enthusiastic artists without much modding/game engine/real world experience wanting to jump straight to sculpting on day one.

Anyways, good luck.

Alex_J

Messing with scale is zbrush can get really confusing.... I try to keep things simple by adjusting scale of my object by powers of 10 only. So if you need smaller scale in zbrush, simply use transform gizmo and reduce scale by 10. It automatically snaps to tens so that's easy. (zoom camera out far to be able to drag cursor  far enough)

Then when you are going back to your other programs, all you got to do is multiply scale by 10, 100, etc. Save out your new correctly scaled model. Yes, there is all kinds of tools to export with scale baked in, adjust how certain tools work... but the more stuff like that you mess with, the more chances you forget something, make an error... taking a few seconds to manually adjust your scale and always by fixed increments helps me avoid headaches.

musashidan

@alex javor  There is a size slider in the deformation palette that will save all that arseing around, or better yet just set up a solid workflow for scaling discrepancies between programs.

Alex_J

hehe. Well, it sounds like  a lot of arsing around but its like, 2 second thing. For me I like to work in viewport as much as possible, rather than hunting and pecking in menus.

Anyway, what methods are you using to setup for difference between programs? Just like import/export settings? I admit that the only reason I haven't messed with stuff like that is because it takes a little time to figure out, and I already had a simple, easy solution, so why not be lazy if it's working?

Anuxinamoon

You can scale all subtools with the gizmo, just click this button on the end of the gizmo settings.

Make sure all subtools are unmasked.