ZBrush Tip: ZRemesher Keep Groups for Controlled Polygroup-Preserving Topology

ZRemesher’s Keep Groups option helps preserve existing Polygroup boundaries while generating cleaner, more evenly distributed topology. It is especially useful when retopologizing armor, clothing panels, mechanical components, or any sculpt whose colored regions represent intentional design separations.

To use it, select the desired SubTool and open Tool > Geometry > ZRemesher. Activate Keep Groups, choose an appropriate Target Polygons Count, and run ZRemesher. ZBrush will attempt to maintain each Polygroup as a distinct region while rebuilding the surrounding edge flow.

• Prepare meaningful Polygroups: Remove tiny, accidental groups before remeshing. Every retained boundary adds a constraint, so fragmented groups can produce crowded edges or unnecessarily complex topology.
• Create clean borders: Jagged Polygroup boundaries generally lead to jagged topology. Before running ZRemesher, isolate each group and refine its outline with masking, visibility controls, or Polygroup editing tools.
• Start with a moderate target: A very low polygon target may not provide enough geometry to describe every boundary accurately. Begin with a moderate count, inspect the result, and reduce it gradually if necessary.
• Review boundary smoothing: Use the available group-smoothing controls to determine how closely the new topology follows the original Polygroup outlines. Lower smoothing is useful for rigid panels; more smoothing can improve flowing organic regions.
• Check all sides: Inspect thin surfaces, corners, intersections, and narrow groups. These areas are more likely to collapse or create compressed polygons when the target count is too low.

Keep Groups works best when Polygroups communicate structure rather than surface color alone. For example, assign separate groups to a character’s torso, limbs, fingers, and facial regions only when those divisions should influence topology. On a hard-surface model, use groups for plates, openings, trims, or sections that require controlled borders.

A practical non-destructive workflow is:

1. Duplicate the original high-resolution SubTool.
2. Clean and simplify its Polygroups.
3. Enable Keep Groups and run ZRemesher on the duplicate.
4. Inspect the new topology with PolyFrame enabled.
5. Subdivide the result and use Project All in controlled stages to recover sculpted detail.

Do not assume Keep Groups will preserve the original edge count or create animation-ready loops automatically. It preserves regional boundaries as a retopology constraint, but deformation areas such as shoulders, elbows, mouths, and eyelids may still require manual refinement. If a boundary is more important than the overall polygon target, increase the target count or divide the remeshing process into simpler sections.

Save a separate project before testing different settings, and compare each result at the lowest subdivision level. The best mesh is not necessarily the densest one; it is the version that maintains recognizable group borders without pinching, stretched polygons, or excessive edge concentration.

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