Bottom Toolbar > Subdivision menu
Subdivisions can reach extreme resolutions to achieve photo-realistic sculpted details.
Subdivisions increase a model's active points by dividing each polygon. Applied subdivisions can increase resolution up to 100 million polygons per subtool.
Subdivisions do not change the base surface topology. Rather, they divide existing polygons. Each subdivision applied is stored in a subdivision level, offering the ability to adjust the SDiv slider level to a desired resolution for model editing.
Bottom Toolbar > Subdivision menu
Subdivisions can reach extreme resolutions to achieve photo-realistic sculpted details.
This example highlights using the DemoHeadFemale ZProject, found at Home Screen > New Sculpts > 3D Meshes.
1. Tap the Subdivide icon in the bottom toolbar to open settings.
2. Tap the Divide button three times to create three subdivisions.
The base level of a model is labeled as level 1. There are four total SDiv levels (base level 1 and three added subdivisions).
3. Apply the following steps to sculpt some textured details and test the surface resolution.
Select the Standard brush from the bottom toolbar or from the Brushes library on the left canvas toolbar.
In the left canvas toolbar, open the Strokes menu and select Spray.
In the left canvas toolbar, open the Alphas menu and select any textured alpha.
Apply some brush strokes to the surface.
In the top-left of the canvas underneath the Thumbnail window, the current active points count displays for the selected subtool.
Subdivision level 4 has 833,090 active points. At this resolution, the brush details are rough in texture and can be improved by adding more subdivisions.
More vertices means more sculpted and polypainted details are captured.
Fewer vertices means brush details are less visible due to a lack of vertex points to capture details.
This example demonstrates steps 1 through 3 described above.
4. Open the Subdivide menu and tap the Divide button to add two more subdivisions.
5. Apply brush strokes to the surface to see quality and smoothness improvements to the sculpted details.
This example demonstrates steps 4 and 5 described above, illustrating improved brush fidelity and surface smoothness for models at higher subdivisions.
6. Open the Subdivide menu and drag the SDiv slider to your desired resolution level.
ZBrush prioritizes sculpted details at the highest subdivision level. Use subdivision levels to increase or decrease the model's resolution. When you apply the Smooth brush to a model set to lower subdivision levels, returning to higher subdivision levels shows that the sculpted details are still retained despite being smoothed at a lower level.
7. Continue to sculpt and model at different subdivision levels as needed.
You can see that details applied to a lower subdivision can produce less refined textures and surface details from a brush with a textured alpha.
Set SDiv to a lower resolution to sculpt secondary forms and surfaces that do not require high fidelity. At higher subdivisions, apply high fidelity tertiary details that require extreme resolutions to capture their shape into the surface.
8. Subdivisions can be deleted with the Delete Higher and Delete Lower options. Set the slider to any level that is not the minimum or maximum value, then tap the Delete Higher or Delete Lower buttons.
This example demonstrates that the model has six total subdivisions when the slider is set to 3.
Delete Higher deletes subdivision level 4 and above.
Delete Lower deletes subdivision level 2 and below.
ZBrush User Settings offers a collection of gestures, including the ability to incrementally move up or down existing subdivision levels with two, three, or four finger-tap gestures.
1. Select Two Finger Tap, Action: Higher Res.
2. Select Three Finger Tap, Action: Lower Res.
3. Two-finger tap the canvas to move up one subdivision level.
4. Three-finger tap the canvas to move down one subdivision level.
The Subdivide menu in the bottom default toolbar has select features instanced from the Geometry menu. For more information on Subdivide functions, see this guide's Tool Palette > Geometry section.
Learn more about gesture actions in this guide's Touch Gesture Settings section.