ZBrush Tip: Move Elastic — Soft, Volume‑Preserving Form Tweaks

Today’s quick win: use Move Elastic to nudge forms softly while preserving volume and silhouette integrity.

When to use Move Elastic

• Organic tweaks: cheeks, eyelids, lips, ears, fingers.
• Cloth and soft materials: drape direction, fold alignment, cuff shaping.
• Hair cards, braids, fins, feathers: gentle repositioning without kinks.
• Silhouette refinement: broad, believable shifts that don’t collapse surface detail.

Setup essentials

• Select the brush: open the Brush palette and start typing “Move Elastic.”
• Brush Size: work larger than you think (press S for quick size). The brush is most effective when it influences a broad area.
• Focal Shift: slightly positive (+10 to +40) for a soft falloff.
• Z Intensity: keep it modest (10–25) to avoid over-pulling; ramp up only as needed.
• AccuCurve: usually OFF for smoother deformation; enable only if you need a tighter “tip.”
• BackfaceMask (Brush > Auto Masking): ON for thin shells to prevent dragging the back side.
• Mask By PolyGroups (Brush > Auto Masking): raise it when you must preserve group borders while moving.

Micro‑workflow for soft, believable moves

1. Drop to a lower subdivision level for broad changes; return to higher levels to check and refine detail.
2. Use big strokes along the intended flow of the surface. Think directionality: pull along forms, not across them.
3. Feather the end of your stroke to avoid “ledges”; a gentle lift-off preserves curvature.
4. Tap Ctrl/Cmd to paint a quick mask as an anchor when you want to “hinge” a region rather than shift everything.
5. Quick pass with Smooth (low intensity) to relax micro-lumps; if you over-smooth, undo and reduce intensity.

Pro moves

• Silhouette pass: orbit the model and stroke only along edges visible to camera—small elastic pulls often beat heavy sculpting.
• Alternate with Move Topological for strands or cards that must slide independently; Elastic for volume, Topo for isolation.
• For cloth, combine with light Inflate strokes afterward to reintroduce subtle volume lost during repositioning.
• Keep topology reasonably even. Extreme density contrasts can create uneven stretching—Dynamesh or ZRemesher when necessary.
• If you see stepping, enable LazyMouse with a short LazyStep to stabilize your hand without losing responsiveness.

Troubleshooting quick hits

• Getting dents or tearing? Increase brush size, raise Focal Shift, and confirm BackfaceMask is on for thin parts.
• Edge waviness along panel lines? Increase Mask by PolyGroups or temporarily crease edges before moving.
• Detail smearing after big moves? Reproject from a stored morph target or a duplicate subtool once the macro shape is right.

Level up your pipeline

• Pair Move Elastic with Subdivision Level best practices and clean polygroups for predictable results.
• Consider a silhouette-first pass before fine detailing; it often saves hours later in polishing.

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