Topology for characters: quads only without exception?

Hyperloop

I'm aware that tris are something that should be avoided when modeling things that need to animate well but I am just curious if you ever use any tris in your character topology or avoid them at all times no matter what. I would like to be sure my game-ready models are adhering to good industry practices in this regard. 

oglu

tris are fine... i would avoid them on the head... but we use tris all the time....

alekseypindrus

1. Your mesh will be triangulated in game engine anyway.
2. Tris per se are not a problem. Pure placement of them is.
3. The only thing that should be avoided: animated topology stretching/deformation & shading artefacts.

The go-to place for research is The Art of Moving Points by Brian Tindall.
Unfortunately only for Apple products but it's well worth it to invest in.

Also check this:
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Topology
http://polycount.com/discussion/146695/polycount-to-professors-ngons-are-useful

Good explanation about why people preach quads, check comments section too:
http://blog.digitaltutors.com/modeling-with-quads-or-triangles/
http://blog.digitaltutors.com/ngons-triangles-bad/

cmykristy

I learned to use exclusively quads if my model was going to go straight into a subdivision sculpting program. Subdivisions love quads the best. I agree with the others!

AtticusMars

cmykristy said:

I learned to use exclusively quads if my model was going to go straight into a subdivision sculpting program. Subdivisions love quads the best. I agree with the others!

I don't know how Mudbox deals with it but this isn't really true for ZBrush. It'll subdivide triangles just fine, it even creates them itself when you do local subdivisions.

JedTheKrampus

Tris can make surface control a bit tough though. They're fine for game meshes but I would probably avoid them for a base mesh if I could.

AtticusMars

JedTheKrampus said:

Tris can make surface control a bit tough though. They're fine for game meshes but I would probably avoid them for a base mesh if I could.

They subdivide into a quad pole, which is what you would more than likely be using if you didn't use a triangle.

Topology should be kept gridded as much as possible, but the difference between using a pole and a triangle is trivial.