Workflow question

[Maniac]

I've always wondered about alternative workflows.


Almost all of the tutorials I've seen and read say make the low poly version first in a modeler, then transfer it to a sculpting program and finish off the high-res version.

Which has been the way I have been doing it, but it seems to take longer and at times have run into errors when I hit the high-res work.

But now I'm starting to think what if I start out in the sculpting program, create the high-res version first, then export out the model, and basically clean up the mesh and create the low poly version out of it. It would be faster for me this way, but I'm not experienced enough to know if this is such a good idea. Or if it would just create more problems.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions about this.

[MRico]

It's all about what works for you, dude...I guess, unless you're working somewhere and they have a specific way that they need you to do things.

I always start my base mesh first in 3ds max...although, this isn't the final low-poly...then I do my low-poly by modeling it ontop of the high poly model, in 3ds max with polyboost. That's usually how I go about things, I know people love the zspheres and retopo tools, I personally hate them, lol.

What kind of errors are you running into with the high-res?

[MattBlack]

I managed to get my normal map working but I have one more stoopid question - when I re topo my model does the hi res conform to the lo res mesh or vice versa?

[Maniac]

I managed to get my normal map working but I have one more stoopid question - when I re topo my model does the hi res conform to the lo res mesh or vice versa?

That depends on the program. Some apps want the low res mesh to have a specified UV that matches the high-res UV. Others just want a UV on the low-res and dont require a UV on the high-res.

What kind of errors are you running into with the high-res?

The most common one is the detail in the normal map gets warped or distorted in some areas after baking.

I'm not really sure what causes it. At first I thought it was a problem with the UV layout, but I ruled that out.

[MattBlack]

using Maya 2008