[I]Pretty sure I’ve just broken Zbrush…
Whenever I go to mask my subtool, I somehow cast a magic spell that enables full retard mode within Zbrush.[/I]
As you can see here… It’s hard in some areas (and for some reason makes a weird pixel invert mask within the mask…) and then it goes soft in other areas… all on the same subtool.
Also any feedback on my WIP model is so welcome. I’m fairly new to Zbrush!
Hey, thanks for the reply, sorry for this long reply hah
The subtools have been decimated in order to reduce the polygon count. However the issue started to appear when I was messing with materials and colors (fill object MRBG mode and stuff) and so I have most likely clicked something by accident to cause this =o
Edit: The issue went away, but when I go to polypaint, this happens with the brown flakey stuff.
However when I turn polypainting off in the subtool menu, it goes away…
Deskflip
Problem is you’re trying to mask or polypaint on a decimated mesh. As both of these functions are polygon-face dependent, this is why you’re getting the odd-seeming behaviour. Decimating a mesh is only really used at the end of your workflow(depending on your intention for the assett) and certainly not suitable for any kind of sculpting/polypainting.
Also, as you’ve probably discovered, there are still several bugs in ZB that randomly fill subtools with paint in places, but these are usually related to layers.
Aha! I see. So I guess I now need to find a way of tricking Zbrush into thinking that it’s not been decimated? Somehow… Or an alternative to polypainting. What steps would you recommend taking next if I may ask? 
Also i’d like to thank you for all your time and help you put into helping the CG community as a whole. I’ve checked out your work and it is outstanding, I’m going to spend hours watching all your YT videos in order to learn more, you have earnt yourself a subscriber. 
It’s people like you who are the strong backbone in keeping the CG / Movie industry going and I thank you very much for putting so much effort into everything in order to help less experienced people such as myself get on their way. - I will certainly be helping anyone I can in favour of your dedication to the community and the help you’ve given me!
You can use mesh projection along with Zremesher.(informer man has posted a link to one of his macroscripts that does it automatically) but you might want to learn the steps manually as it’s important to understand what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ in ZB. If you check my YT tuts channel you’ll find a vid on projection methods. An alternative to polypainting would be many-fold: Mari, Mudbox, photoshop, texturing in your main 3d software using texture maps and procedurals. Also Ptex painting and UVless texturing in your 3d software. There are many, many ways. It’s about trying as many as you can and developing a workflow that suits you.
Also, thanks alot for the very kind words. Much appreciated. It’s great to be able to share my humble offerings back to the community that I myself have learned so much from over the years. Thanks again. And glad you’re enjoying my channel!
Sorry for the long waiting reply.
You are most welcome If you need help in any other things such as VFX, Music, Advanced computing, or servers / websites, I’ll be more than happy to help you.
One last thing if I may ask, is that, can you show me the general workflow of how you go from having nothing, to having a full, high poly and textured model?
e.g Something along the lines of…
> Use Zspheres to make model
> Make subtools
> Add detail
> Polypaint
> Decimate
> In 3DS Max do this n that…
And so on? Using key terms would be a bonus!
That’d greatly help me visualize in my head on how to get from point A to point B!
Many thanks for all your support! <3 