ZBrush - Polypaint

Normally with texturing a model, a UV Map needs to be created onto which a texture is painted. However, there is another method that can be used within ZBrush, which has its perks and downfalls.

Polypainting is a method of colouring a model in which each vertex is assigned a colour. The colour will form a gradient with the vertices next to it. This method is also known as vertex painting. The main downfall of this method of texturing a model is that it requires a high-poly mesh to get any sort of detail out of it, which means it is not yet used within games.

Turn on PolyPaint by clicking 'Colorize', making sure to turn on the 'RGB' setting on your brush

To activate PolyPaint, you must go down to the 'PolyPaint' menu and hit 'Colorize'. You must also set your brush to paint 'RGB'. You should also turn off 'Zadd' so that you only paint colour, and avoid modifying the mesh.

Change your colour with the palette

You can change the colour you are painting on your mesh by using the colour palette on the left side of the screen. Normally, this would colour the entire mesh, but since PolyPaint is turned on, this will no longer happen to this SubTool. If you are working with multiple Subtools, this will change the colour of them unless they are already painted.

Lots of gruesome texture

Polypaint is easy to use since you can paint right onto the model. You can also use it with brushes to add texture. This is achieved by turning 'Zadd' on whilst painting.

No longer looking so sharp...

However, one thing to be aware of is that detail will be lost if you go down in subdivisions. This can be avoided by using UV Maps, though this will mean you will have to map your model.