Edge Actions Modify edges on a model using the ZModeler brush. These actions allow for operations such as extruding, bridging, beveling, and aligning edges to refine topology and shape structures efficiently.
Edge Modifiers adjust Edge Actions by fine-tuning their behavior and results. These settings provide enhanced control over edge transformations, enabling precise adjustments, custom interactions, and optimized workflows within the ZModeler brush.
Select an edge to add a curve line between points or remove an existing curve. This action integrates new curves with any existing ones. These curves work with Curve Actions or Curve brushes.
Align polygons between two selected edges into a straight line, rounded corner, and more, as defined in the Sub Mode menu.
View the Edge-Strip option in the Targets section for further instructions.
Control how selected edges adjust to a specified shape or orientation. These settings determine the profile, curvature, and alignment method, allowing precise control over edge placement. Additional options define how alignment interacts with existing edge positions and width consistency.
Define the profile shape of the aligned edges.
Bezier Curve: Creates a smooth curve using Bezier interpolation.
Spline: Generates a smooth, interpolated spline curve.
Circle: Aligns edges into a circular shape.
Arcs: Forms an arched alignment.
Arcs And Line: Combines arcs with straight-line segments.
Round Corners: Produces rounded corner transitions.
Small Round Corners: Creates subtle rounding.
Tight Round Corners: Generates sharp, confined rounding.
Straight Lines: Flattens the selected edges into a straight strip.
Controls the method for applying curvature during alignment.
Interactive: Adjust curvature dynamically using cursor movement.
Custom: Uses a manually specified curvature value.
Calculate alignment based on surface orientation.
To Normal: Aligns edges perpendicular to the surface normal.
To Tangent: Aligns edges along the surface's tangential direction.
Defines how alignment affects existing edge positions.
Overwrite: Replace the existing edge position with the aligned result.
Additive: Adds alignment influence on top of existing positions, creating an offset.
Control the width consistency of the aligned edges.
Variable: Allows varying widths based on alignment.
Constant: Maintains uniform width across aligned edges.
Creates a transition between edges by adding a flat or rounded surface. Use the modifiers to adjust bevel width, shape, and more.
Bevel Modifiers control the beveled transition's width, shape, and smoothness between edges. These settings determine the number of inserted edges, edge spacing, and how sharp or soft the transition appears when using Subdivision or Dynamic Subdivision.
Define the number of edges inserted into the bevel to control edge smoothness with Subdivisions or Dynamic Subdivision preview.
Single: Insert one edge to form the bevel.
Two: Insert two edges for a broader transition.
Four: Insert four edges for a smoother bevel.
Eight: Inserts eight edges for an ultra-smooth transition.
Determine the shape of the bevel transition.
Edge modifiers require two or more edge rows to function.
Linear: Maintains even spacing between bevel edges.
Sharp: Creates a sharper bevel with tighter spacing.
Soft: Generates a smooth, rounded bevel.
Custom: Manually control the positioning of edge rows within the bevel.
Edge Sharpness (Custom only): Adjust bevel curvature within -100 to +100. Positive values push edge rows outward for sharper smoothing, while negative values pull them inward for a softer effect. Maximum sharpness or smoothness occurs at +/-100.
Connects edges or fills holes with new polygons. Adjust shape and tessellation using modifiers.
Bridge Modifiers are available only when using the Two Holes target.
Bridge Modifiers control the new topology's shape, curvature, resolution, and alignment when connecting edges or filling holes with the Two Holes target. These settings determine how the bridge transitions between selected edges, allowing for smooth, structured, or precise adjustments based on user-defined parameters.
Define the shape of the bridge connection.
Spline: Generates a smoothly curved bridge.
Circle: Forms a circular bridge.
Arcs: Create an arched bridge shape.
Arcs And Line: Combines arcs with straight-line segments.
Round Corners: Create smooth, rounded corners in the bridge structure.
Small Round Corners: Creates subtle corner rounding.
Tight Round Corners: Produces sharper transitions.
Straight Lines: Connects edges with straight-line polygons.
One Line: Generates a flat bridge with no curvature.
Defines the method for applying curvature to the bridge.
Interactive: Adjust curvature dynamically.
Optimal: Automatically generates an ideal curvature.
Half: Creates a curvature at half intensity.
Control the tessellation of the bridge.
Interactive: Adjust resolution dynamically.
Optimal: Uses an automatically optimized resolution.
Minimum: Applies the lowest tessellation possible.
Controls the Polygroups created along the bridge.
Columns: Generates polygroups in vertical sections.
Rows: Assigns polygroups in horizontal rows.
Flat: Maintains a single polygroup across the bridge.
Determines where to place the pivot for the bridge curvature.
On Hole Center: Uses the center of the hole as the pivot.
On Selected Edge: Pivots based on the clicked edge.
Defines how edges align during the bridge operation.
Auto: Automatically aligns edges.
Selected: Aligns edges based on user selection.
Fill a hole with new topology by clicking its edge. The Concave Hole target fills the hole with triangulated topology, and the Convex Hole fills the hole with quads and triangles, allowing interactive control over resolution and elevation.
Close Modifiers are available only when using the Convex Hole target.
Control how holes are closed when using the Convex Hole target. These settings control the new surface's shape, curve, and structure, allowing precise adjustments to preserve the model's design integrity.
Define the shape of the closed surface profile.
Spline: Generates a smoothly curved closure.
Circle: Closes the hole with a circular surface.
Arcs: Uses arched transitions.
Arcs And Line: Combines arcs with straight segments.
Round Corners: Round the edge corners of the closed hole.
Small Round Corners: Creates subtle rounding.
Tight Round Corners: Produces sharp transitions.
Straight Lines: Flattens the closure.
One Line: Generates a flat, single-surface closure.
Defines where the closed hole surface converges.
Center: Converges towards the center of the hole.
Edge: Aligns to the surrounding edge structure.
Point: Converges to a single point.
Determines how the closure curvature is applied.
Interactive: Drag left / right to adjust curvature and elevation manually.
Optimal: Uses an automatically optimized curvature.
Custom: Applies a user-defined curvature value.
Control the tessellation of the closure.
Interactive: Drag up / down to adjust tessellation interactively.
Optimal: Uses the best resolution based on shape.
Custom: Applies a user-defined resolution.
Define the amount of rotation applied to the closed hole surface.
None: No rotation applied.
360 Degrees: A single click twists the closed surface topology 360 degrees at its center point.
Custom: Applies a fixed twist amount in the range of +/-1800.
Twist (Custom only): A parameter to manually assign twist rotation.
Assign polygroups based on surface orientation.
Columns: Assign polygroups to vertical sections.
Rows: Assigns polygroups to horizontal sections.
Flat: Maintains a single polygroup across the surface.
Creates a new polygon by dragging from the selected target edge(s) of an island or geometry hole.
Alt/Option-modifier: Hold Alt/Option to extrude the connected edge loop when extruding with the Edgeloop Target.
Shift-modifier: Tap Shift to cycle between Angle modifiers during edge extrusion.
Ctrl/Cmd-modifier: During edge extrusion, hold Ctrl/Cmd to create additional extrusion steps, with spacing determined by the initial drag distance before pressing the modifier key.
These settings influence the behavior, direction, segmentation, alignment, and interaction of edge extrusions, allowing precise adjustments for different modeling needs.
Defines how the extrusion interacts with surrounding geometry.
Extend Surrounding Face: Extrudes the selected edge(s) while extending surrounding faces to maintain a continuous topology.
Regular Extrude: Extrudes only the selected edge(s) without affecting surrounding geometry.
Determine the direction of the extrusion relative to the original polygon.
Free: Allows extrusion at any angle without constraints. Holding Shift snaps the extrusion in 5-degree increments.
Planar: Keeps the extrusion aligned to the plane of the starting polygon. Holding Shift cycles through all three angle options.
Perpendicular: Forces the extrusion to be perpendicular to the starting polygon. Holding Shift cycles through all three angle options.
When extruding edges into polygons, these settings control the structure and alignment of the side edges. These settings determine whether the extruded shape maintains its original proportions, follows existing edge angles, or tapers for a more customized form.
Free: The side angles are freely adjustable without constraint.
Extend: Aligns the perpendicular edges of the extrusion with the original polygon's edges.
Parallel: Ensures the side edges remain parallel to the starting edge.
Taper: Allows tapering of the extruded polygon's sides by moving the cursor up or down.
These options determine the number of extrusion segment divisions.
Single: Creates a single polygon of any length.
Custom Number: Divides the extrusion into a specified number of segments, with polygon lengths determined by the extrusion distance. Holding Ctrl while moving the cursor up and down to adjust the Row count.
Custom Size: Sets a fixed segment length, repeating the polygons along the extrusion as needed.
Controls how the extrusion aligns relative to the surrounding geometry.
Free Move: Allows the extrusion to be positioned freely in space.
Snap to Surface: Constrains the extrusion to follow the surface of underlying SubTools.
Determines how the extrusion interacts with nearby geometry.
Smart: Dynamically detects and merges points with existing geometry when possible.
Normal: Attempts to merge extruded points with existing ones but only within a defined distance threshold, determined by the average edge length.
None: Disables point merging.
In some cases, ZBrush's minimum distance threshold may cause extremely close points to merge, even when merging is disabled.
Ensures that extruded edges maintain symmetry when working with mirrored geometry.
On: Keeps extruded edge points symmetrical and attempts to merge points along the symmetry plane.
Off: Only considers symmetry when selecting input edges without enforcing symmetrical extrusion.
This action applies only to polygon island edges or edges with open faces. It creates a new polygon by dragging the target edge(s) and stacking additional extrusions using modifier keys and parameters.
Ctrl/Cmd-modifier: During edge extrusion, hold Ctrl/Cmd and drag to generate additional stepping extrusions, with step spacing determined by the initial drag distance before pressing the modifier key.
Alt/Option-modifier: Hold Alt/Option to extrude the selected edge loop when using the Edgeloop Target.
Control how edges or polygons extend and reposition during extrusion. These settings define segmentation, alignment, attraction, and symmetry, allowing users to fine-tune extrusions to fit various modeling workflows. By adjusting these parameters, users can influence how extrusions interact with surrounding topology, maintain specific orientations, and achieve precise control over extrusion behavior.
Controls the number of segments in the extrusion, determining the level of subdivision applied.
Single: Creates an extrusion without additional segments.
Custom Number: Defines the number of segments manually.
Custom Size: Specifies the segment size.
Determines how the extrusion moves relative to the model's surface.
Free Move: Allows extrusion movement without restriction.
Snap to Surface: Constrains extrusion to the surface plane.
Controls how the extrusion interacts with nearby topology.
Smart: Adapts to the topology for seamless fusion.
Normal: Uses the Polygon's surface normal to determine the extrusion direction.
None: Keeps extruded polygons separate from existing geometry.
Ensures that extruded edges maintain symmetry when working with mirrored geometry.
On: Keeps extruded edge points symmetrical and attempts to merge points along the symmetry plane.
Off: Only considers symmetry when selecting input edges without enforcing symmetrical extrusion.
Create a 3D extrusion by dragging a closed face's target edge(s). This action adds and welds new polygons, forming a closed surface.
Shift-modifier: Hold Shift to create a flat polygon instead of a closed surface.
Ctrl/Cmd-modifier: Hold Ctrl/Cmd to cancel the extrusion and switch to an Edge Move action.
Control the rotation constraints of the extruded geometry, allowing for precise alignment and angle adjustments.
Defines how the extrusion rotates relative to its original position.
Straight: Extrudes without rotation.
15 Degrees: Constrains rotation in 15-degree increments.
Custom: Allows a user-defined rotation value.
Adds edge loops along an edge ring. Insert respects masking.
Ctrl/Cmd-modifier (Single EdgeLoop Target only): During the action, tap Ctrl/Cmd to cycle between edge snapping options, including Snap Off, Snap Half, Snap Quarter, and Snap Custom.
A collection of Insert modifiers and options for the Single EdgeLoop and Multi Edgeloops Targets.
Single EdgeLoop Target only
Configure snap settings to position inserted edge loops at specific distances precisely.
Off: Freely move the inserted edge loop within the available space without snapping.
Quarter: Snaps the inserted edge loop to the nearest quarter position within the available space while dragging.
Half: Snaps the inserted edge loop to the center halfway point within the available space while dragging.
Custom: Allows for a user-defined snap distance. ZBrush identifies the closest edge loop to the cursor on the target edge, setting it as the starting point for the custom distance.
Multiple EdgeLoops Target only
Define the method to insert edges.
Interactive: Adjusts the number of Insert edges dynamically by dragging up and down.
Custom: Manually input a fixed Insert edge count.
Multiple EdgeLoops Target only
Control the height offset for the Insert edges.
Custom: Defines elevation manually.
Interactive: Adjusts elevation interactively using cursor movement.
Smooth: Creates a uniform elevation change.
Multiple EdgeLoops Target only
Determine the shape of the inserted edges.
Spline: Generates a smoothly interpolated edge shape.
Radial: Distributes inserted edges in a radial pattern.
Linear: Inserts edges in a straight, even distribution.
Flat: Keeps inserted edges flush with the original surface.
Multiple EdgeLoops Target only
Controls how the inserted edges align with the surface.
Per Polygon Normal: Align edges based on individual polygon normals.
Selected Normal: Uses the clicked Polygon's normal for alignment.
Average Normals: Align edges based on the average surface normal angle of the surrounding surface.
Multiple EdgeLoops Target only
Controls how to assign polygroups to the Insert topology.
Alternate: Assign alternating polygroups to inserted edges.
Same: Maintains the existing polygroup.
Keep: Preserves the original polygroup structure.
Single and Multiple EdgeLoops Target only
Adds a crease when you insert an EdgeLoop. Enable the Create Edges toggle (see above) to turn on this feature.
The arrows below point to a single-crease EdgeLoop. Notice how the crease is a thicker line than a regular EdgeLoop.
Alternatively, you can set your Target to Multiple EdgeLoops. With a single EdgeLoop, you drag from an edge to establish a single crease (provided Crease Edges is enabled). When you select Multiple EdgeLoops, you create a crease, but the more your drag within that polygon, the more EdgeLoops you create. We show this below with two sets of EdgeLoops. We dragged the top set of EdgeLoops more than the bottom set, thus creating more creased Edges.
Shrinks or offsets a polygon's shape inward for all polygons adjacent to the selected target edge(s), generating new supporting edges while maintaining the original structure.
Control how edges are inset relative to their surrounding geometry. These settings define how inset edges connect to existing topology, maintain spacing, and apply size limitations.
Controls how inset edges are generated and connected to surrounding geometry.
Center and Border: Creates new inset edges and maintains the border structure of the original edges.
Border Only: Generates only the inset border edges, leaving the center empty.
Center Only: Generates only the central inset edges without surrounding border edges.
Determines whether the inset applies to individual edge loops or a grouped region.
Region: Treats the selected edge loops as a single unit, creating a shared inset structure.
Each Edge Loop: Applies an inset to each edge loop individually.
Controls how the inset edges are spaced relative to surrounding geometry.
Equidistant: Ensures equal spacing between the inset and surrounding edges, maintaining consistent topology.
Standard: Uses default spacing based on the original edge flow.
Legacy: Applies an older spacing method for compatibility with previous versions, which may introduce variations in spacing.
Restrict the maximum size of the inset relative to the original edge loops.
None: No size limit applied; insets can be any size.
Default: Uses a predefined size limit for insets.
Custom: Allows manual adjustment of the inset size.
Define edge spacing when using the Equidistant parameter.
Default: Uses standard equidistant spacing for inset edges.
Custom: Allows a user-defined equidistant spacing value for greater control.
A mask is applied to the target edge(s), protecting them from changes. Alt/Option-modifier: Hold Alt/Option and tap the target edge(s) to remove an existing mask.
Move the target edge freely based on the viewport camera's orientation.
Shift-modifier: Hold Shift while dragging constrains edge movement to the surface normal of the attached polygon.
Move the target edge(s) with a primary falloff effect, with additional controls for inflation and sliding.
Alt/Option-modifier: While dragging the target edge(s), Hold Alt/Option and drag up/down to inflate the edge(s).
Shift-modifier: While dragging the target edge(s), Hold Shift to lock and slide the edge(s) along surrounding edge loops.
Move the target edge(s) within the current Draw Size. Alt inflates and Shift slides edges.
Alt/Option-modifier: While dragging the target edge(s), Hold Alt/Option and drag up/down to inflate the edge(s).
Shift-modifier: While dragging the target edge(s), Hold Shift to lock and slide the edge(s) along surrounding edge loops.
Freely move the target edge(s) or polyloop within the range defined by the viewport camera's position relative to the model.
Alt/Option-modifier: While dragging the target edge(s), Hold Alt/Option and drag up/down to inflate the edge(s).
Shift-modifier: While dragging the target edge(s), Hold Shift to lock and slide the edge(s) along surrounding edge loops.
Assign a Polygroup to the polygons attached to the target edge(s) or polyloop.
Alt/Option-modifier: While holding your finger or pencil on target edge(s), tap Alt/Option to change the assigned polygroup.
Extrudes the target edge(s) with the ability to snap and fuse them with nearby polygons. Push edges inward or outward to achieve different extrusion results.
Adjust the extrusion's behavior, including the number of steps, rotational constraints, and fusion strength with adjacent polygons.
Controls the number of extrusion steps before reaching the maximum height.
Full Step: Extrudes the polygons in a single complete step.
Half Step: Divide the extrusion into two equal steps.
Quarter Step: Break the extrusion into four smaller steps.
Define the rotational constraints of the QMesh extrusion.
Straight: Extrudes without any rotational adjustment.
15 Degrees: Constrains rotation in 15-degree increments.
Custom: Allows a user-defined rotation value.
Determines how strongly the extruded geometry fuses with adjacent polygons.
Normal: Applies a standard fusion effect.
Weak: Reduces the strength of the fusion.
None: Turns off fusion, keeping the extruded polygons separate.
Creates new edges on the target topology by slicing across selected polygons.
Determine whether the new slice edges are automatically creased, controlling how they affect the model's surface and smoothing properties.
Controls whether the newly created slice edges are automatically creased.
On: Applies a crease to the new slice edges, making them visually distinct.
Off: Leaves the slice edges uncreased, maintaining the default topology flow.