My very first topology. Please provide feedback

proto93

I just finished my first attempt at topology. My main goal was to avoid triangles at all costs. That being said I feel like I did very bad. I think I used way too many polygons. And I had trouble with connecting the ears and eyes properly resulting in the mess in the second image. What can I do to prevent this in the future? On a scale of 1-10 how is this mesh for a complete beginner with only a month of exploring the 3d field in general?


Thank you for your time.

Sunray

Try to keep your faces a bit more squared.  You should look at reference when doing retopo look how other people do it study it. You can see someone flow when you mark al the stars(vert connecting to 5 quads)  you trace the edge flow starting from the star and try to replicate it on your model. find your self some wireframes and start tracing

YannickStoot

Hey man!

Since you say your new I would like to give you a few quick basics because I feel some newcomers get a bit set in "Rules" which are not actually rules but rather guidelines. Sorry if I come off a bit harsh but to get good you need honest advice, even if it hurts the ego sometimes.

1: Triangles are not necessarily bad, neither are Ngons. But in some cases they should be avoided. If you don't know when to use them. Please take some time to get to know them. Just learning to not model them is a bad thing since they have their use.

2: Sunray's point about the poly loops is absolutely vital when trying to model a character. If an animator is picking up your model and the loops are shit. Then there will be shading errors like jagged edges and pinching. Study other artists for this as this has been in the industry for as long as it exists. Google "facial poly loops" for more info.

3: Topology is more than poly-flow. It is also about the shape of the polys. I see many polys that are rectangular rather than square. This is not good for animation since the chance of overlapping polys in stretching and compressing is high when edges are really close to each other. In your case it seems like you don't know how to terminate certain loops. Google "terminating poly loops" for more info.

4: Just a small remark. You shouldn't ask for a different treatment just because you are a beginner. Your model should be modeled by industry standards and technical execution and thus be judged by that standard. Every artist has begun creating models and they were all shit when they began. The only remedy is by doing it a lot and studying people who are at a level you aspire to. 

proto93

YannickStoot said:

Hey man!

Since you say your new I would like to give you a few quick basics because I feel some newcomers get a bit set in "Rules" which are not actually rules but rather guidelines. Sorry if I come off a bit harsh but to get good you need honest advice, even if it hurts the ego sometimes.

1: Triangles are not necessarily bad, neither are Ngons. But in some cases they should be avoided. If you don't know when to use them. Please take some time to get to know them. Just learning to not model them is a bad thing since they have their use.

2: Sunray's point about the poly loops is absolutely vital when trying to model a character. If an animator is picking up your model and the loops are shit. Then there will be shading errors like jagged edges and pinching. Study other artists for this as this has been in the industry for as long as it exists. Google "facial poly loops" for more info.

3: Topology is more than poly-flow. It is also about the shape of the polys. I see many polys that are rectangular rather than square. This is not good for animation since the chance of overlapping polys in stretching and compressing is high when edges are really close to each other. In your case it seems like you don't know how to terminate certain loops. Google "terminating poly loops" for more info.

4: Just a small remark. You shouldn't ask for a different treatment just because you are a beginner. Your model should be modeled by industry standards and technical execution and thus be judged by that standard. Every artist has begun creating models and they were all shit when they began. The only remedy is by doing it a lot and studying people who are at a level you aspire to. 

My apologies for mentioning I was a beginner. I did this thinking it would avoid a situation where someone gives me an overly complex explanation. Thank you for the advice. I didnt know poly shape was important. I thought as long as I avoided triangles and make the polygons loop then I would be ok.

Sunray said:

Try to keep your faces a bit more squared.  You should look at reference when doing retopo look how other people do it study it. You can see someone flow when you mark al the stars(vert connecting to 5 quads)  you trace the edge flow starting from the star and try to replicate it on your model. find your self some wireframes and start tracing

I ended up looking this video up and giving it a watch. Thank you

jose.fuentes

agree with comments above.  Triangles are not bad, if you end up going into a game, the mesh will end up all triangles anyways.  One thing i like to do when retopoing is to set a polycount goal.  For example, my understanding of most current console games is that characters can be around 100K.  Though ive heard of other games having characters in the 50-60K range.  When i make characters for mobile games, i have a 10K limit.  

Another thing is to find plenty of reference.  I have a topology board on pinterest if that helps you

https://www.pinterest.com/fuentesjose/topology/

proto93

jose.fuentes said:

agree with comments above.  Triangles are not bad, if you end up going into a game, the mesh will end up all triangles anyways.  One thing i like to do when retopoing is to set a polycount goal.  For example, my understanding of most current console games is that characters can be around 100K.  Though ive heard of other games having characters in the 50-60K range.  When i make characters for mobile games, i have a 10K limit.  

Another thing is to find plenty of reference.  I have a topology board on pinterest if that helps you

https://www.pinterest.com/fuentesjose/topology/

This is great! Thank you

YannickStoot

@proto93
Another thing you might want to check out is re-topology. With the rise of sculpting software there has been quite a move towards this. Reason is that it is easier to clay the whole model first, not caring about the way the polygons flow. And then laying a lower poly mesh on top that is much more efficient and with proper loops. The advantage of this is that you can focus on the design first and then when that is done focus on the technical execution.

Ps: If you are interested in doing characters or organic objects more often I would highly recommend diving into ZBrush!