Retopology Question (Please and Thanks!)

kmyung

Hello there, 

I am new to the 3d game world as I've been doing concept art for years now, and was wondering if anyone could help me out!
What would be the best approach to re-topologizing this model? I'm a bit unsure to how far the normal maps can follow extrusions so I was wondering if I should treat these as basic shapes (like treating the bell as a cylinder) or should I follow the form of the extrusions as best I can?
Also one more question- I've been told to avoid tris except that they don't matter in areas that won't deform? Is this true and can I use tris or should I stick to quads for everything.

Thank you very much!!! 
Hope to be part of a new 3D community

Zablorg

I believe normal map details are best suited for features that you would pretty much miss if you looked at them parallel to the surface they're inscribed in. Things that don't protrude much, or to put another way, don't notably affect the silhouette of the object. Because, once baked into a normal map, they won't impact the silhouette.

With that in mind, I think the features you've already retopologized over, the features you've highlighted in red and blue, and the features I've highlighted in green, could probably be baked into the normal map:



There are some other misc scratches I've missed that can also be in the normal map, too.

As for triangles, you're correct that they're more a concern for things that move. They can often also result in poles/stars that can result in some strange shading, particularly on curved surfaces. I wouldn't be afraid to try them out and see how it goes.

kmyung

Thank you very much Zablorg! I will try it out as a simple re-topo then and see how it bakes.
Still quite a bit new to the process so I'll probably post sometime again soon... thanks again!

kmyung

Hello there- I am an absolute beginner in retopo so please bear with me.
I was wondering if anyone could help me wrap my head around how to retopo an object like this that has several parts? 
I understand I'm supposed to follow the edge loops around the cylindrical areas but what am I supposed to do with the topology where two different areas meet? How do I go from cylindrical topology to a square topology? I have 10 verts around the cylinder that are trying to connect to 6 verts around the square area.. do I just insert more loops? 

Could also anyone point me the right way in retopology guides? What to do/how to deal with different objects/what not to do. I've been trying to find some online but most I find deal with only the head/body.

As always thank you very much!

Eric Chadwick

I've merged your two topics into one. No need to create a second thread, just reply to the existing to give people some context.

kmyung

oh thanks Eric was a bit unsure if I should start a new thread or not.

Zablorg

An example of shape transition is below. This assumes an 8-sided circle, but on a flat surface you can make any kind of transition you like, no matter how sudden, and it won't effect the shading, so you can terminate any excess edges. If you're after a smooth transition, you simply make the transition between circle and square over several loops.

Note the edge loops that are close together- these are called supporting edge loops, and they help control the ray projection during the baking process.

kmyung

I am in your debt Zablorg. thanks again! This will help me retopo quite a bit of things... hopefully I can retopo everything else without hiccups.

P.S. If anyone else has great re-topo guides/tutorials they could link I'd be greatly appreciated. Even if it costs a bit of money.

Eric Chadwick

I put some stuff here
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Topology

kmyung

Hey Eric thanks a bunch. Took some time to read through and all the examples are great!