minitut - topology brush inside 3DSMax

pior

Just found out a very obvious but handy way to emulate Silo's topology brush in max.

I know it sounds REALLY obvious but it helps a ton if you protoype your models (either tech or organic) in Z2 or scan them in and then want to get a cleaner topology for displacement, render to texture or anything of this kind.

It has made my workflow faster already



Hope it helps! Even if many might be using this already

JKMakowka

Hmmm, but how do you get such messy meshes in the first place?

Edit: Ok, you said it: 3d scanner or zbrush, but not very many people have 3d scanners, and I was under the impression that zbrush is mostly used to add detail to an existing clean mesh (if you don't use that strange ball/ring modeling method in zbrush)...

pior

Well JK, it really depends. I personnaly use it for doodling shapes these days, starting from a sphere or primitive, to test the model's mass in space before modelling more acurately... Everyone has his own workflow I guess

KDR_11k

JK: You could also use it to make a lowpoly mesh for a hipoly one for normalmap generation.

MoP

JKMakowka - Often I find it's easier to entirely make a new mesh from scratch for the "in game" lowpoly model, rather than optimise the control mesh used in the ZBrush process. Stuff like edge loops don't count as much in a game model, and in the end you're aiming for triangulation rather than quads - so I'd use this method to create an entirely new triangulated mesh rather than spend ages messing around with the control mesh trying to optimise it down.
Also as Pior says ZBrush can be used for "rapid prototyping" - making a highpoly doodle without ever touching 3dsmax, until the stage when you wanna make a more refined control mesh, or low poly in-game model.
I think it's a great method, I will probably be using it in future!

MoP

JKMakowka

Ok, convinced... I guess I am a bit ignorant to those issues, because prototyping and optimising is so quick an easy in Wings3d because of the "winged data" mesh method used in it.
And I don't have Zbrush either