3D Character Creation - Retopology & UV Editing

Beginning the Retopology process

Retopology before the start of the semester was an elusive process to me however after learning about the importance of it, I have finally started to retopologise my own character.  I first practised using topology edge flow and routing methods.



Practice in Maya

Knee topology I modelled in Maya while following materials

collection of Pinterest images


A Rough start 

I found, due to the stylised and albeit exaggerated planes that I sculpted on my character, the planar changes helped to indicate where the topology would sit for example the prominence of the brow bone, to the top of the cheekbones which meet around the hollows of the eyes.

 



Going forward, I will spend less time sculpting/modelling and more time invested in the “nitty gritty” of things, which is retopology, UV unwrapping and texturing. I believe even with my planning and scheduling some things unexpectedly took longer than expected.


Final Retopology: 



Topology is very heavy from afar





UV Editing

UV Unwrapping – I applied a simple planar projection and proceeded to cut seams where it would be best to unfold. I am following the UDIM workflow as this will help organise the parts of the body while ensuring a high level of resolution fit for film and television.

First Step _Seams_Unfolding


hand were separately unwrapped afterwards


Pinching and Grabbing to ease UVs


The 3d Cut and Sew tool in combination with the unfold is a 3D modeller’s best friend. After retopology and UV unwrapping, I have been able to identify the importance of clean modelling practices and why the process of retopology needs to be well placed. UV unwrapping the low poly hair resulted in 59 pieces of UV shells which were all different in size and curl, through unfolding, cutting and sewing, I felt like I understood the physics of how UVs work and how to troubleshoot minor retopology issues. 

Final Layout but the sizes of the body were adjusted accordingly
I wanted certain areas to have lower texel density due to the visibility of those areas and to save on the number of tiles to be used.




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