Extrude tool for Sculpt Mode
There is a feature in Zbrush called Extract Mask that allows you to take your painted mask and from it extrude out a copy of it from the mesh and then place it in its own subtool (i.e. separate it to a new object), this feature is extremely useful for things like tight-fitting clothing, embossed designs/patterns, etc.
I could see such a feature being implemented cleanly by using the opacity of the mask to determine extrude depth along face normals, with fully black areas being extruded 100% of [extrude depth], and unmasked areas 0% - this is probably how Zbrush does it, I'm not entirely sure.
3 Comments
Stupid question: Why not just do such an operation in Edit mode?
Granted, edit mode performance isn't great on super high-poly meshes, but if that could be remedied, then what would be the advantage of doing this in Sculpt mode?
@Jason van Gumster: Performance is the primary problem, but it's also just a lot easier to manipulate a high-density mesh with sculpt mode tools such as Mask than it is in Edit mode. Furthermore, doing so in sculpt mode could take advantage of Dyntopo to create edges where ones may not exist for the purposes of extruding a clean mesh.
Seconded. Also have a look at my Sculpt Mode wishlist, which includes this:
blender.community/c/rightclickselect/3mcbbc/