Any trick for hard surface retopo?

mzprox

Let's assume the high poly's topology is a mess so no edgeloops to remove, need a completely new mesh. Looking for tips to make this tedious job easier.

Auto retopos are not working well, they don't respect edges very well even with guides. Manual retopos are tipically hard because I need to click precisely on the edges/ corners.

Can you give me some workflow ideas or suggest a software in which hard surface rtopo is easier. (I use blender and zbrush btw). I was thinking if there was an app which could detect the hard surface model's major siulette, then during retopo I could use snap to those edges.. it would make the job easier..

Moobicat

mzprox wrote: »

Let's assume the high poly's topology is a mess so no edgeloops to remove, need a completely new mesh. Looking for tips to make this tedious job easier.

Auto retopos are not working well, they don't respect edges very well even with guides. Manual retopos are tipically hard because I need to click precisely on the edges/ corners.

Can you give me some workflow ideas or suggest a software in which hard surface rtopo is easier. (I use blender and zbrush btw). I was thinking if there was an app which could detect the hard surface model's major siulette, then during retopo I could use snap to those edges.. it would make the job easier..

There is few ways you could re-topology your model.
One of them is PolyDraw in Max, which can be useful for smaller assets but for the bigger ones i would recommend softeares like Topogun.

Link to Topogun
http://www.topogun.com/

SuperFranky

Unfortunately, you will have to do it by hand. Find a podcast to listen to and get to it.

CharacterCarl

3D Coat has Auto-Retopo for Hard Surface. Haven't tried it myself though:

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=trTqnA2M9iE[/ame]

ez5k

The best result you can get is doing retopology by hands. I'm using Modo for this. Tools like Topology Pen and Bridge can make a lot of work for you so you don't have to create each polygon by youself. Instead you create only "key" points and let the tools do the rest.

MisterSande

im interested in this as well. Methods I have yet to try out :
1. Zremesher for a base low poly cage, then import into 3D App (Max in my cage) and use the tools there.
- for Zremesher to work correctly your HP topology will need to be adjusted in most cases. This video might help: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Qs60arDQ0[/ame]


2. 3DSMax "Draw on Surface" tools in conjunction with the "Conform" brush. Basically, you can draw out planes very fast on the surface of your HP. Still tedious but its a start.

mzprox

I saw that video, but zremesher will never give anice game mesh ever. Not even a base to work on. I think a good decimation, then saving some edges deleting others could help in the process, but not always.

mspalante

I`m suffering with the same problem, even more with kit bash models, its beeing hard to retopo them, some friends talked about 3d Coat, i searched on internet, looks a good one to try.

Quack!

The actual fix to this problem isn't using a special program.  
It is planning your modelling workflow correctly. 
Definitely do NOT use tools designed for characters on hard surface assets. Any quad draw program will be a poor way to make a hard surface mesh over good ole polymodelling.
Doing hard surface in Zbrush costs alot of time that can be saved by creating hard surface asset in a modelling program also.

I recommend that when making hard surface you first start by making a mid poly model. This model will then be up-ressed/detailed into the high poly, and down-ressed/modified to the low poly. This mid poly will give you the base you need to start both meshes, no retopo-ing necessary.  This is far more detailed then a blockout, but far less detailed (read: no panel lines, bolts, floaters) than a high poly.

If you must use Zbrush to do a hard surface asset, I, HIGHLY, recommend you make a mid-poly asset first, rather then sculpting from the poor topology mesh in zbrush. It will save you time and headaches.

Watching any artist re-topo a hard surface asset using quad draw tools gives me a massive headache.
Remember, the work you do isn't just about getting work done, it is about being as efficient as possible while doing it.

musashidan

Sound advice @quack and my preferred workflow. However, there a certain assets that can be created very fast in something like Fusin360 that obviously result in polysoup. So the trade-off between time spent polymodeling from a blockout and optimising Vs Solid-modeling and manual retopo has to be weighed up front. I always advocate having as many workflow options at your disposal as you can, and having as many options available when it comes time to make the decision on fastest/easiest/least painful/best results creation-route to take.

Although I do try to avoid it, manual hard-surface retop in Max, for instance, is a fast process because I will combine primitives to quickly block certain forms, quad draw tools for sketching, and standard modeling tools for prescision/alignment/ensuring planar surfaces/etc. Max's quad draw tools and standard modeling tools are a seamless workflow so this kind of manual retop is relatively painless.

An example is this model I did recently to learn Fusion 360. It was retopoed in the manner above and didn't take long at all. Still some room for optimisation as it's 3898 on-card verts.(although for an FPS player asset it would be fine as is)