Whats your favorite retopology tool?

ModBlue

I really like using an add on for Blender called the PolyQuilt tool which works very similarly to Maya's Quad Draw which I also like, but it has even more functionality since you can work in other modes beyond vertex (edges, tris, quads and n-gons) and because your doing this in edit mode, you have access to Blenders full poly modeling toolkit for even more flexibility. I like working on a vertex by vertex basis personally because of the speed, precision and total freedom to edit the mesh at whatever point I want. This is the way.

Blender does have a built in one called the PolyPen, but its a bit limiting for my tastes. Additionally it requires a fair bit of time to setup and I've noticed it will glitch at times as faces you lay down wont stick to the live surface/high poly. I've tried others like Topogun, but just can't get over being stuck with face/edge editing without the ability to just lay down vertexes. 3D Coat is a popular option, but I don't even understand how to navigate the thing due to its clunky UI, much less get a retopo process going. I've not tried 3DS Max for retopology but I would assume its good for it since Max often gets praise for its modeling tools.

For Blender users interested in it, you can download it here for free. PolyQuilt - Blender (blender-addons.org)

While I generally loathe doing retopology, PolyQuit makes it manageable and perhaps dare I say fun at times.

pxgeek

R3DS Wrap :P

poopipe

Wrap is straight up magic.  

Neox

isnt wrap more used to transfer existing topology onto a new mesh? say you have unified base topo for heads in your game, with wrap you can transfer that onto any newly sculpted or scanned head?

myclay

I loved the symmetry warp feature (symmetry for asymmetrical meshes) in Topogun 1+2, haven´t seen that feature so far in any other retopo solution.


Yeah exactly what Neox wrote.Here an older video of Wrap with less than 2 minutes showcasing its main feature.

Wrap from Faceform is great but not 100% a retopo tool (there is no way of building topology from scratch) but it perfectly wraps a mesh onto another + it has some sculpting features for relaxing and moving the geometry over the reference geo.

I misuse Wrap to quickly adapt certain more often used retopo landmarks/patches onto other meshes and fill out missing areas with other retopo tools.
EDIT; the shortest to explain it is probably; prebuild modular retopo pieces : Retopo kitbashing.

pxgeek

yeah, not really a traditional retopo tool, but still amazing.
Was being a bit cheeky 

Eric Chadwick

The Retopology modifier in Max has been pretty good lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg2Nm-fwyME

Alemja

I used to use 3D coat, but I use SpeedRetopo for Blender now. It used to be free, but now is $10, worth it though. It pretty much puts all of the tools you need to retopo in blender in a central location, plus some extra. I wanted something that was utilizing my modeling package of choice, I didn't see the need to have an extra program just for retopo. If I can build good base meshes that can be used at the lower subdivisions or deconstructed in some way to make a lowpoly, I tend to do that too. Especially for hard surface stuff, It saves a lot of time.