ZBrush Character Creation - Advanced Digital Sculpting 2nd Edition

■ Importing and Preparing a Mesh for Sculpting 87

2. Mask the area you to which you want to add
   detail. In this case I am masking the face. Invert
   the mask by Ctrl-clicking on the background
   (off the model) or by selecting Tool → Masking
   and clicking the Invert button. When the area
   you want to subdivide is unmasked, step down to
   the lowest subdivision level and press Ctrl+D
   to subdivide.


3. The unmasked area will subdivide. Notice the
   connecting region in the mesh (Figure 3.12). If
   you need more subdivision levels, it is a simple
   process to repeat. By simply Ctrl+Shift-clicking a
   polygrouped area, you can isolate it from the rest
   of the mesh mask again, invert the mask, and fur-
   ther subdivide by pressing Ctrl+D again until the
   area is dense enough for your needs. Figure 3.13
   illustrates the process of local subdivision.
   This area can now handle much higher levels
   of detail than other, less important areas of the char-
   acter. When you locally subdivide the original mesh,
   the transition area and the high-detail area are sepa-
   rately polygrouped to help you work with them.

Mask the area

to subdivide

Ctrl+Shift-click the divided area to isolate it

Invert mask Return to level 1

and subdivide

Locally subdivided

mesh will automatically

polygroup

Figure 3.13 The process to locally subdivide a mesh for greater details concentrated in key areas

See the book's comanion DVD for a selection of tips and tricks by Fabian Loing, where he
discusses the masking technique used in this image. Figure 3.14 is an example of his work.

Importing and Preparing a Mesh for Sculpting

To begin, we’ll import the base geometry into ZBrush as a tool. Previously we were select-
ing ZBrush primitives from the Tool menu. These meshes come preloaded. For the generic
head, we need to import it into the program. Remember a model is an OBJ file, which is just

Figure 3.12 ZBrush will automatically retain a quad lay-

out when locally subdividing. The connecting area in red

represents the transition between areas of higher density

and areas of lower density.