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    Retopology Advice Needed

    Megan Sheldon(illusiverealms)
    posted to: Character Retopology

    Hello :)

    I am currently working at retopologizing the body of my character model. I have been looking at retopo references and messing around quite a bit to try and achieve a satisfying result. However, it feels like I am missing some points in my approach. Attached are some screenshots of two separate attempts that I have been experimenting with.

    My Notes:

    1. The left model is what I am attempting to retopologize.
    2. The middle model is my attempt at avoiding too much granularity with the details early on. I thought that this approach was more effective, but have found that edge loops can be a problem down the line when you are trying to sharpen things up. The silhouette of the model also feels more washed out (like the batman suit issue) once the subsurf is added.  
    3. The right-most model I felt was too granular (initially), and has taken several hours to reach this level of completion. The silhouette detail is much better than the middle model when the subsurf is applied, but I am fighting the topology all over the place. 
    Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!


    Reply
    • Kent Trammell replied

      First, I want to nod the work you've done so far illusiverealms. It's looking pretty good overall despite the struggle with topology!

      The middle topology is the one I would go with. It's resolution is much more manageable than your second attempt, as I'm sure you found out. But you need to be on your A-game in terms of topology junctions in order to account for the main structures and details. Here's a some topology tips that I recommend:

         

      The main ideas being to maintain all quads and even out face size a bit more. Extra-long rectangles can be cut into more square-ish shapes. Also terminating 3 edges into 1 edge with quad junctions. You'll want to get very familiar with these junctions as you'll use them *all the time* when modeling/retopologizing:

    • Megan Sheldon(illusiverealms) replied

      Thank you! This will definitely help a lot.

    • Megan Sheldon(illusiverealms) replied

      Update: Much better results! :D 

      Definitely still need to improve my technique for certain areas, but satisfied with the progress compared to the way things were going before. 

    • Kent Trammell replied

      Much better illusiverealms! While I agree with you that some areas could be improved, overall this is far better than it was previously. Details have concentrated topology resolution and in general, faces are consistently sized; not stretched.

      Congratulations!