Topology factions have your say.

deohboeh

I am learning topology and the multiple ways of doing things is making my every confused! Tube or diamond curve? Loops around specific muscles or no loops at all?

I am trying to make a mesh that I as an amateur can rig. I haven't a clue which method to follow. Could you help me understand?
I have done the facial rig. Most of the facial rigs have some common themes, but the body and limb topologies keep changing per user.

Some use tube for the elbow. Like DMC by Ninja Theory has a tube like for throughout except the shoulders, face, and palm, back hand area.

And in many examples they use diamond curve as the better option.
Like ancientpig



My poly budget is ~30k.

Are shoulder blade loops useful? are oblique or seratus loops worth it? Should there be a loop for the rib cage?

Mark Dygert

There are a lot of ways to answer this, it really depends on a lot of factors.

I like Ancient Pigs example, it works pretty good on low poly objects. If the joint is in the dead center, it works a little better if you angle two of the loops.

This type of edge flow can go against a normal map and deform it oddly so you have to keep that in mind, but often what is getting distorted is the part you don't see.

Because of the triangles in the top example it doesn't up-res all that well and can make modeling and skinning kind of difficult if you work in loops and rings. Even on a low poly joint without that many verts it's not a big deal until you factor in 20 of them just for the hands.

This is Ancient Pigs 2nd example, it holds up pretty well, better if you angle the loops.
(it's quads with hidden edges shown, max supports flipping non-visible edges but its important that tri-stripping not run the other way or the joint can crumple oddly)

You can also angle two of these loops to get a little better handle on the deformation, but this is an old example.

If you use a higher poly quaded joint you can achieve different results that work just as well but there are often productivity gains in other areas.

With an elbow you might angle the loops and weight it so the top back part of the elbow stretches down and kind of pops out.

Topoploy isn't the only thing to think about, weighting and joint placement are very important. A discussion without them is like trying to drive a car without wheels.

If you need a sharp elbow, you can place the joint toward the back of the elbow
If you need to focus on the bicep and forearm clipping you might want to put it more forward but that will mush the elbow.
That placement maybe different for the knees or fingers.
You might want to place a helper joint in the elbow to pop it out when the forearm rotates.
You might want a patch on the joint to help deformation.
The topology depends on if its muscle or cloth.
You also have to factor in the tech budget, how many bones can you use, how important is the joint to the overall game.

The best methods are the ones that you sit down with your team and hash out for your project.

deohboeh

Thanks Mark! This is very informative! My model is a torso he's not wearing anything on top. So I wonder should I loop around his muscles? I have a poly budget of ~5k for the torso. I am the only one working on this project. I will be learning to rig him too.

This is how he looks. The face is looped and everything... But the torso has lots of muscles and stuff.. I understand that if it was cloth a tube shape would be best. It is the muscles that confuse me.
I saw the mesh for nude dante and he has almost no loops on the torso and on other meshes there are loops for the scapula, obliques, rib-cage and latismus dorsi. This is pretty confusing like the one at Blender Cookie

EDIT:
I decided to add the topo I am working on.