Modelling from high poly to low poly?

FEMTO

May I ask when modelling a complex high poly mesh and then needing to convert it to low poly what is the usual technique?

Is there a software that you can use to speed up the process or do you have to manually create the low mesh using elements from the high poly mesh?

sorry if it's such an obvious answer.

thanks

P.Rovaniemi

For organic shapes especially if you already have been sculpting the model in Zbrush already, you can use tools like Zremesher with guides to create a base re-topology that you later on can edit by hand. Another auto-start I have seen used during projects is 3D Coat, here again the result (if guided properly) can get you a OK start topology for your low-poly.

For hard-surface, if you build your high poly with the low poly in mind you can just reduce and edit many parts to get your low poly. This you can do inside your modelling software. One simple example of how to plan for low when building high is cylinders: If you are going to use a 12 sided cylinder in the final low poly, create the high from a 12 or 24 sided cylinder so that you then can just easily reduce things down.

Sorry if non of this is automatic, as I still end up doing most of my re-topology by hand. Doing things manually still gives the best control. But auto generated bases are good to get some speed up for sure.

Aaaand I am not saying that any of this is the "usual technique" just my personal input on the matter.

FEMTO

Thank you for the information. Some very useful tips regarding cylinders!

Farfarer

Yeah, same deal for me. For hard surface stuff, it's really just about pulling loops out of the high poly mesh until you have your low, then a bit of manual optimisation at the end.

Organic surfaces are a bit trickier and generally I'll do the majority of that via retopo. Sometimes you can do the same trick of pulling loops out, but takes a bit more clean up at the end.

[Deleted User]

It's been suggested to me to use a "mid poly" as a base for both the high and low for hard-surface, which seems to work well.

Previously I would load up an older copy of the model from before I started adding heavy detail, but it's effectively the same thing.

Organic surfaces I usually retop or make from scratch depending on the object.

Count Vertsalot

Organic is all sculpting and then retopology for me. Hard surface I just model the low poly to get the basic silhouette, make a copy, and then just adjust the edge weighting on that copy to get rounded corners before freezing the geo on the copy to get a high poly. Any other detail that doesn't affect the silhouette is done in Substance Painter because modeling it would take too long.

wenglish

I dont worry about low poly until the hp is done. i treat the hp as if im modeling for film. when im satisfied with that, ill build the lp from scratch face by face using surface snapping on the hp.

i like to make my high polys very dense so deleting edge by edge is not usually feasible

P.Rovaniemi

I would like to point out something that is often said on this very forum, if the end product is the low poly, in game, mesh then ALL should be build for that.... not the other way around. If the low poly has restrictions, polycounts etc, then the High poly sometimes has to be built differently to enable a good end result within the set limits.
The fact that edge softness and scale might depend on final texture resolution is one good example for how the high poly is subordinate to the final asset - The low poly.

Modelling for film is often different and while optimization is also important in that media, realtime in-game meshes have other prios.

WarrenM

Lawless Flogic wrote: »

I dont worry about low poly until the hp is done. i treat the hp as if im modeling for film. when im satisfied with that, ill build the lp from scratch face by face using surface snapping on the hp.

i like to make my high polys very dense so deleting edge by edge is not usually feasible

Have you heard of substance painter and/or ndo? You don't need to be that inefficient anymore.