Topology for characters: quads only without exception?

Hyperloop · Aug 2016

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 · Aug 2016

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

alekseypindrus · Aug 2016

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 · Aug 2016

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 · Aug 2016

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 · Aug 2016

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 · Aug 2016

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.

Topology for characters: quads only without exception?

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