Smooth Mesh Modelling Tips

[Ghogiel]

I really don't understand why you can change topology.

[dazzerfong]

Oh dear lord, this is going to take a while to explain.

 

Triangles are essentially quads with a line bisecting it. Problem is, sometimes when it bisects, and if the vertices do not have at least one common plane (ie. flat), then the conversion from quad to a triangle and vice versa would yield different results. That's the problem with the 'auto-triangulator': you don't know if it's going to bisect along one vertex or another: you'll have to do it manually.

[Ghogiel]

That is what I am saying. Just change it.

[ziitch]

Let's put it in easier terms...

 

Avoid using triangles. Especially when using the subsurf modifier, it doesn't like triangles very well. Also, triangles don't preserve vertex loops or have nice loopcuts or bevels like quads can.

 

If you need to add or change something in the mesh, it's best to keep a .blend file and use that instead of using the NIF since it is immediately triangulated upon export.

Edited September 19, 2011 by ziitch

[Squizzo]

Update:

I've made some progress with the armor for the lower body (not yet weighted or properly textured), but before I continue with the rest I would like to get some opinions and clarification on a few questions.

Here is what I have so far (nsfw):

Front

Back

Side

Concept art

.blend file

 

Any constructive criticism and answers to the following questions are appreciated.

- Will it cause problems when texturing if some verts are inside a mesh (for example the little spikes on the cheeks of the skull)?

- For parts of the armor with the same model, (the sash for example) is it better to map the textures for just one peice and then duplicate it, or map the textures for both?

- Is it okay to use both smooth and solid meshes? Will the solid meshes look too flat?

- Finally, is the poly count acceptable?

[Ghogiel]

-an object that is very slightly sunk into another object is fine and won't cause any problem with texturing

-UV then duplicate, regardless. you can always lay the UVs out however you wish after the fact. this way you only really UV once then clone the mesh, which will also be UVed. then you can think about the final layout and whether you want to overlay some shells or have unique UV shells.

-Solid or smooth, as is face smoothing/hard edges? Of course. You might need a hard edge to sort smoothing errors, such as the shading error at the bottom of the loin cloth in your image.

-What is the poly count? in triangles.

[Squizzo]

The poly count is 5740 verts and 11276 faces, is that too high?

Also could you explain what the shading error on the loincloth is exactly.

[Ghogiel]

11276.. if that is in triangles and not actually 'polygons', to put that in perspective that is about half of any hero characters poly budget in nearly any game. on the very rare occasion you have in excess of 25k tris on a main character. Some bosses have more. but generally they are well under 20k tri. It really depends on what kind of game. In modding, think about integrating it, of course don't skimp because you don't have to, but still uniformly model with some thought of polycount. imo If that is the count just for a belt at that detail level, would mean it's quite dense for what it is.

 

the shading issue is the dark looking areas that light funny around faces that are at 90 degree angles to other faces. like at the bottom of the loin cloth thing.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Ghogiel