Five Topology Tips Every 3D Artist Should Know

Five tips to turn yourself into a topology wizard!
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#Blender #DECODED #b3d
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:42 Modeling into curved surfaces
04:00 Cutting into curved surfaces
06:05 T-joints
08:48 Radial modeling
10:57 Better cylinders

[@DECODEDVFX]

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[@digimbyte]

NOOOOOOO that is NOT how you preserve a hard edge - OH MY GOD knife tool on a machined surface look, how about a 0 depth bevel instead!?

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[@Shian_n]

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[@FunkyMind]

hey I'm a blender enthousiast and got a suggestion for you. You could enable the "screencast key" addon to display the keys you press while recording your blender sessions. It can help too. Thanks for these tips.

[@sven8866]

Just wanted to write this, and just checked comments if anyone has already suggested this and there you were.

[@LeneChibi]

this would be so helpful! I'm not a native English speaker and sometimes it's hard to be sure what he just said/meant without any written help

[@levidavidmurray]

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[@bookle5829]

​@DarkXSeries7 blender fan sounds weak

[@chuctanundaspiderbone5407]

Yes, please, more videos on basic topology. You are a very good teacher. I failed to learn basics like this when I first started out in Blender. Every beginner should master basic topology & tools before developing habits based on poorly learned basics. It is so much harder to unlearn than it is to learn properly the first time. When I first discovered Blender I jumped into ambitious projects, without mastering basic concepts. This slowed my learning process immensely. Now I am having to go back to the beginning and start over, so I really appreciate your focus on the basics.

[@zackakai5173]

Don't feel too bad about it, the Blender community is just bad about teaching certain basic things like topology. I chalk the main culprit up to the subsurf modifier. To a newbie who doesn't know anything about topology, the subsurf modifier simultaneously encourages them to use overly-simplistic shapes (which means they don't learn best practices for adding complex topology), while also making the actual topology of the object far more complex, while *also* being reliant on good underlying topology to work correctly. And unfortunately, a LOT of Blender tutorials aimed at beginners just train said beginners to throw a subsurf on damn near everything. That's why I tell people who are just starting out to avoid using the subsurf entirely. When I started out with Blender like fifteen years ago, I fell into the same trap. Then a few years later I went off to university and learned Maya, which forced me to learn good topology. I switched back to Blender a year or two ago now, and I barely ever use the subsurf modifier for anything.

[@chuctanundaspiderbone5407]

@@zackakai5173 This sounds a lot like my experience. I am in the process of starting over with some of my old unfinished projects that I dropped due to learning roadblocks, most of which were stymied by overuse of the subsurf modifier, which made my scenes unwieldy. Starting over with good topology means I can, in the long run, work faster and have better looking models, because unwrapping & texturing become much easier & the scene is just much more efficient with a bazillion fewer vertices.

[@N1kou]

Hey bro, can i ask u something? how did he make the top of that form got straight in 7:10??

[@Rune_AD]

This is so true. I started out a month ago and even though it's been going steady, it wasn't before I looked up stuff like this I really started realizing how to make solid shapes that doesn't need constant re-fixing. Great channel this!

[@dOpNePe]

Now that you have experience, could you recommend basic concepts that I should study? I'm starting and that's happening to me

[@VideoMan0904]

That radial modeling blew my mind. omg that is life changing.

[@andallicansayis]

that last cylinder should be added as a standard mesh in blender, it’s amazing!

[@markzaikov456]

Default cylinder should be like that

[@logosrule]

​@@markzaikov456 No, he means with the top face being inset and having a grid fill center.

[@markzaikov456]

@@logosrule No no, I meant the default cylinder SHOULD be the better version. Like the round cube rather than the default sphere.

[@logosrule]

​@Mark Zaikov OH. That makes sense haha

[@MichaelReed609]

If I see a shape a lot I just keep an organized library for reuse.

[@AsbestosSoup]

Its amazing how advanced artists just model complex things smartly in 20 seconds while I spend a whole afternoon. Really valuable vid :)

[@tormxnta]

This is so refreshing. I only learned Maya in school but now that my student license expired a while back i’ve been trying to get into blender. These videos are a huge help.

[@DinosourousRexx]

Same here!

[@ivensauro]

How are these topology things on Maya?

[@kdee1428]

​@@ivensaurothe technique is the same.... We just do it with different keyboard strokes else everything is the same

[@nmcrobie]

This is just brilliant, I am always amazed how easy it is to resolve those annoying issues I hit so often - thank you

[@xenofalcon]

I've been on a quest to learn good topology techniques, and you release this gem of a video. Thank you so much.

[@DECODEDVFX]

You're very welcome!

[@frozthound]

After years using Blender, tips like this always slap me to the ground. I mean, like, there are always new things to learn. Thank you for the lesson mate.

[@davidstedmond7705]

Great video! For the section on modelling into curved surfaces another nice trick to make the edges sharp is placing a bevel modifier above the subdivision modifier.

[@wouwou9146]

Have had 3D-modeling as a hobby since 2017 and learned so much from this video even today. All you did was new to me. This speeds up my work. Thanks!

[@LeneChibi]

That helped so much! My mind was blown a few times :D I've only worked with Blender a couple of weeks now but no tutorial I followed mentioned any of these tips! I ended up with multiple details that really bugged me (like pinched edges or deformed smoothed surfaces). Thank you so much!

[@VSWRKS]

Super well explained! I actually love watching tutorials like this before I go to sleep. I find it super relaxing.

[@Imar13]

The timing of this video comes great, thank you very much this will be very helpful for my school project

[@DECODEDVFX]

You're very welcome!

[@Jonah_Anthony]

The tip at 8:50 blew my mind bro. I have learned so much from your videos

[@Pumpkinwaffle]

Some very sound advice! Learnt a few tricks, tank you. Topology and simplifying/improving workflows is very precious.

[@kimholder]

Something I like to do when I need to bevel in a manner like you do with the revolver sketch is do a loop cut where I want to make it arch with enough slices for a good curve, turn on proportional editing, hide all the vertices I don't want affected, and then highlight the middle edge and move it with inverse square chosen until it looks good. Then unhide all the vertices, they will be unaffected. This is a great video. Please make more, and thanks!

[@matejivi]

The radial modeling method is awesome! Thanks.

[@DECODEDVFX]

Glad you like it!

[@PedroPascoaPedro]

Thank you. These are really good habits and the earlier you start applying them, the more lifesaving they can be on the long run

[@stacklysm]

The last cylinder should be a base mesh in Blender, it's so clean! Very good tutorial, I'll be trying to implement these tips in my learning sessions

[@TheJunipera]

For me as a beginner your first video was eye opening, and this is just as informative, straight to the point and I feel I've learned useful tips that I'll use 100%. Thanks for making this!

[@DECODEDVFX]

No problem. Thank you for watching.

[@Faux_Locke]

That final tip was just what I needed! It's so much better than merging at the center

[@harithsami843]

The radial modelling is a great time saver! Will using lots. 👌

[@LollyPoppi]

Wow, one of the best video about tips on Blender, love that kind of simple video making life easier, sharing knowlegde is a benediction!

[@ThePARtyZANish]

Grid fill is a great tip! Thank you!

[@tpros6289]

This was great! I really needed to know these topology techniques.

[@digitalgenre]

the last two blew my mind! i can't believe i went so long without knowing! glad i found this vid

[@michaelladdie878]

Thanks for the tips! The radial modelling is amazing! Such a time saver.

[@toefu6182]

gotta love these tips that help improve workflow! these makes things to much more simpler.

[@jikosauce]

One of the best beginner friendly vids I've seen

[@notsure1969]

This is a really fantastic demonstration of easily implemented tips that can really save time and energy down the road.

[@cuddlebunny1977]

Such good information in here on things i been struggling with here and there for years! ♥ much appreciated!!

[@DesignerBerg]

Oh, my god. That's absolutely wonderful! Thank you for this!

[@WillMadeDat405]

This video just answered all my topology questions, straight to the point. Superb instructions

[@RG-ef8vm]

Thanks for this video. New to blender, so I'm learning new stuff all the time. I found out when beveling the two pipes together, if you set the "shape" value in the tool to less than .5, the bevel is convex, instead of concave...in short, it produces an actual bead which looks like a true "weld".

[@DameNaNoYo]

the radial array method blows my mind, thank you for this!

[@SuperLongfield]

This video is a gold and I should have taken a selfie of my face when you explained the radial modelling. Thanks for sharing!

[@ShieldSniper]

The Radial modeling tip opened my third eye, thank you!!!

[@thetheeser659]

Great video! For the first case, a "ball extrude" you could also inset the faces first, then extrude and then inset thos aswell. Edge crease leave just to the corner edges.

[@ArtbyDiorella]

I love this video! Thank you for all the tips. I'm amazed at the cylinder tip you've shared. More of this please! Thank you again!

[@HMAnetwork]

Learned a couple new things. Thank you and keep them coming!

[@koljak9395]

Fantastic video! I've been using Blender for years, and still learned some new tricks today. Thanks! (And yes, more on clean topology, please).

[@CrazyAboutLife]

As a new Blender user, this is pure gold. Keep them coming and thank you.

[@Islaminenglish01]

I really enjoyed this Video. You man Fixed lot of my problems. God Bless you man.

[@synthbendati]

Thank you so much these tips are so helpful, specially the cylinder one that is a real pain in the ass most of the times, cheers!

[@miturtow]

About the two cylinders in a t-shape - the first method was a thing that I would never even think of :D It was the boolean modifier that immediately sprung into my mind.

[@therealrebelsquadron]

I've been using Blender for a couple of years now. Really enjoy working with it. This def had some useful tips on advanced modeling. Always on the lookout for tutorials such as this.

[@yevheniiao.2439]

The radial modelling trick saved my sanity. Thank you a lot!

[@vivekjha9597]

we were on the same page, now we are on the same page

[@gimimedia]

Yes, please make more videos on topology. Thanks for this tips.

[@CamSpaghett]

I really appreciate it that you show the mistakes then a better solution

[@lukaaleksijevic2723]

These videos are a gold mine. Keep it up

[@Twoface227]

Quick, concise, and easy to follow! Thank you!

[@RADRICH199X]

I'm new to Blender and spent almost all of last night just struggling to figure out how to get rid of the pinching on top of a sphere. The better cylinders tip here really helped (I just wish I had looked for it sooner haha). The other tips are also very insightful and I'm sure they'll save me a lot of headaches in the future, thanks!

[@zero_64]

i know already the first three tips but thank you.. this is very helpful for many people ! we hope to see more tips and more advanced ones

[@Jack_Wolfe]

12:20 WOA! Mind blowing, that fixes so many of my mesh issues with just that one tip.

[@MrDebkumarbasu]

Holy crap! That radial array is going to be a game changer for me!

[@kryptboy]

I watched this months ago when I was still VERY green with modelling (not much better now) but this makes so much more sense on rewatching it - thank you :D

[@user-mt1rt2so5l]

Those points that you said was so helpful for me ,thank you sooo much🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️

[@fabarangan]

Very nice. I never thought it could be done that way. Thank you very much.

[@justinstuder1649]

This was very helpful, thank you. I need more bite size tip videos like this so I can go try them straight away!

[@knightofbrokenglass9237]

Wow! Thank You! I modeled all of Mont Saint Michel in France - now I need to tighten it up. Thanks again!

[@mrminer6427]

WOW this video was so helpful! I watched a few of your videos last year and I just find your channel with this video again and immediately subscribed. you are a great teacher with a lot of knowledge, I hope you keep making this kinds of videos.

[@DECODEDVFX]

You're welcome. Thank you for subscribing!

[@Klarified01]

Sheeesh the last two were stuff I had never seen before! Thanks!

[@bluematter435]

the ways youre showing are so much easier and straightforward. not only are they easier to do than the alternatives but they are also more versitle and result in cleaner outcomes. thank you for making these vids man, they are really good and informative, i hope you have a lovely day

[@DECODEDVFX]

Thanks!

[@bassemb]

That radial modeling... whoa! And the improved cylinder needs to be a base mesh. I hope someone at Blender is watching this! And yes, your early topology video was FORMATIVE for me!

[@DECODEDVFX]

Radial modeling is great. I wouldn't expect the quad cylinder to be a default though. It's a bit of a workaround that mostly only works with a sub-div workflow. And it needs a supporting edge on the top to stay circular. Otherwise it's very blocky.

[@kotface3919]

I knew nothing about creasing before watching this videos. But now, i'm amazed by this function! It gives so many options and makes many things easier!

[@wren3060]

These are great tips for beginners, and anyone looking to beef up their topo skills!! That radial function is especially cool, gotta use that more often! You consistently make an excellent point here that starting with simpler topology is always a cleaner workflow. I taught zbrush for a while, and that was a concept I really had to drill into my students, who (understandably) assume subdividing the mess out of their model will smooth out imperfections. If only it were that easy! 🥲 Great video!

[@caribbeanchild]

Excellent. Thanks for that.

[@bodick_]

that radial one blew my mind. thank you sir

[@javadahmadi]

One of the best Blender topology videos

[@cmpix]

Great content, very informative, yes more topology, top job fella

[@xd_Ronin47]

Yes please more will be very much appreciated

[@rikkasummer2784]

learned so much in this! moreee topology video! more!!! thank youuu

[@cd_3d]

Its really helpful, especially the radial modelling technique.

[@Psyonic_One]

Oh yes! Some more advanced topology methods I'd love to see!

[@NwoRun]

If not too much hassle, yes we want more of this. Thanks

[@phxf]

Ah this was great! I've been relying on Array modifiers and annoying maths with rotated empty objects to get radial models. I never really learnt how to use SimpleDeform well, but this looks so much better as a workflow. Thanks for sharing! Definitely keen for more if you have more tips!

[@user-bl3wz8vc7c]

Thank you very much! It's really helpful

[@raisoreview5359]

on "modelling into curved surface" we can also use bevel and set the miter outer to arc. im always using it to create a custom kit for my car model. some parts like bumpers, side skirts & any parts that have a kinda shape edges.

[@abdussamet9118]

Awesome video, clear expressions and inspiring experiences. Please continue to do this contents

[@bumblebee55551]

Another banger, absolute legend for doing another

[@SomethingEternal]

What I learned from this video: Double tap G is the hotkey to slide vertices. Worth 13 minutes just for that. It'll save me 13 minutes five times a day...

[@sahilsen]

These kinds of videos with useful, universal principles are great!!

[@mediaman1346]

What great tips for topology this is so important thanks so much!

[@therealKrak]

All great tips but the 4th one... that's a real game changer. Thank you very much!

[@Tokirealy]

This is so good! I just started learning blender (like a month and a half or so) and this tips are really helpfull. I didn't come across any of this in other tutorials

[@Utum]

One trick that is also very useful for the time you have to do modifications to curved surfaces is the following: 1. You create your desired object without this modification and make sure it looks good in subd modifier. 2. Duplicate said object and modify it (eg. an extrusion). 3. Create a vertex group on the modified object with all vertices that arent affected by the extrusion. 4. On the same object, add a Shrinkwrap modifier and to the Vertex Group add your group and then follow it up selecting the Target to the original mesh With this method you can still use supporting edges and still have perfect shading Hope it helps ;)

[@N1kou]

Hey bro, can i ask u something? how did he make the top of that form got straight in 7:10???

[@Utum]

​@@N1kou So if I understand your question, you're asking how he flattened the top of the cilinder, right? ->So first of all you want to have selected all faces, edges or vertices you want to flatten. ->Secondly you press scale ("S" keybind). ->Next limit it on one of the axis by pressing the corresponding key (X, Y or Z). In this case, he pressed "Z" to limit the movement to that axis. ->Finally press "0" to flatten then to the same level on the same axis :)) Hope it helps

[@Jez2008UK]

@@Utum Your reply is exactly why this dude needs to put Screencast on and show what keys/mouse buttons he's using.

[@Reisen_Inaba]

Advice on how to do radial modeling is always great, but surprisingly the all-quads cylinder was the biggest tip for me, that's _so_ helpful

[@MioCaruso]

Please, more! I use C4D, but all of these apply. Thank you for the knowledge!

[@ashtyler8]

Ofcourse we want more :) Thanks for the video. I think a full topology Playlist would be more organized & awesome for us to easily follow along rather than finding bits & pieces on utube. Cheers DECODED!

[@issac7787]

6:54 tip was life changing, thank you DECODED

[@adibara]

awesome, thanks!

[@TheEmilmolnar3]

My man, sincerely liked your tutorial and the tips. I was quite impressed with how simple it is once you understand it. Quite better to implement in a non destructive build and also nicer to my inability to keep things simple :P

[@ViniSocramSaint]

Glad to see creases getting some love ^_^. They save me constantly, being able to make crisp edges on smoothed out meshes like a cartoony face, varying the creasing along an edge like a car body with side ridges that end nowhere, or just rounded edges on hard surfacing like in a cellphone. And meshes ALWAYS end up so much lighter, because there are no extra faces

[@Bee-KL]

In General, I agree. But that only applies if you are a hobbyist. You will not get away with that if you want to work in the industry or try to sell your modells. Nice looking and/or leightweight topology is not the same as good topology. The latter is more work, but you do not get around it if you want to make money with 3d. Creases are a no-go in the industry.

[@ViniSocramSaint]

@@Bee-KL Great explanation, gonna take the advice to heart. Was wondering tho if using creases to control a subdivision modifier, then applying the modifier would lead to a industry-level model? After the mod is applied, the faces become quads and the edge flow seems just as good as the industry-standard of adding loops. I constantly make models with subdiv mod without caring about n-gons, some models can have 12, 56-faced polygons, countless breaks in flow and edge flows that end in tris, then I apply the subdivision and the edge flow comes out perfect. Then just triangulate faces and it's ready for a videogame or character animation

[@Bee-KL]

@@ViniSocramSaint I don't use creases, at all. So I have no clue what happens when you apply the subd mod and then set the creases back to 0. If the shape is kept when you do that, and as long as you clean up the object so you don't have really unnecessary faces caused by the subd, then yes, I would say that model will be production ready. But there are better methods to achieve that. My advice is learning to do clean topology without creases and only go with them for personal projects. I don't do videos here on YT, but maybe search for the YT channel named MLT Studios. Malte has a video with 7 topology tips on that channel. Some are very similar to the tips you find here in the video from Decoded, some are different and IMHO a better solution, like beveling the edge you want to have sharp instead of creasing it. That is not always that easy, but learning to do clean bevels is not science, just practice, learning from mistakes, and practice more with avoiding the mistakes. I use ngons really often, especially in flat areas where the object is not deformed during an animation. I see no problem in that, and when it comes to animation or export to any other app: as long as the ngons are dissolved if needed (and in that case manuelly converted to clean topology) no problem at all. We use ngons - and tris as well - e.g. to redirect polygon-loops or stop them. But with a ngon that has so many vertices like you mentioned, if you just dissolve them by using a subd mod you will most likely never get those loops you would need in other production stages, like animation. At least not in a more complex mesh. If you want to use the subd mod, clean up the ngons manually before you do that and make sure you get the loops you will need. When it comes to triangulating the quads of a more complex mesh: at least by just auto-triangulating the quads you will not get far in the industry. Often (talking about more complex meshes again) you can't select needed edge-loops anymore after just selecting all faces and then triangulate. We triangulate as well if needed, depending on the target software, and if the asset will not be animated. And yes, sometimes it is really tempting to select all faces and just hit ctrl+T to convert everything to tris. But that is something you only should do if you are 200% sure that you will never need any face-loops in that region again. And we rarely know when it comes to client work. In general we don't know and then it goes like this: select a face-loop (often more loops, depending on the asset), hit ctrl+t. select the next loop/region, ctrl+t again. Repeat, repeat. It is boring and monotonous work, but on a lot of models the only way to keep edge loops so you can later select 2 loops, then select the inner region between them and hit Alt+J. That quickly gets you the quads back, if you need them again. Personally, I don't know any character animator who would take a triangulated mesh to animate it. The ones I do work with, always want quads in clean loops in those regions that will be animated. I have never worked in a game studio but I can't imagine it is very different compared to the projects we do (mostly ads and stuff for TV Shows). So I can only guess when you triangulate any mesh that needs to be animated for the game and send that to the animator, he might send it right back to you after informing the CD about it, with an order to do it properly. And that might be the last job you ever do for that studio ;-) IMO learning those skills on more simple meshes (where you probably wouldn't even need them), gets you started, and you can test different methods. And that gets you in a good habit, so later working on more complex meshes, it will not throw you of your path. Be patient with yourself, and if something goes wrong don't give up. Don't throw away those meshes you messed up either. Keep them and store them in a special folder. Try the same stuff again with some other steps or methods (maybe rewatch the topology videos), and after you made it through, save a copy of your success mesh in that special folder as well. Later you can come back and have a look at your achievements, but it also is a good practice if you make a mistake on a different project, to just have a look at the former mistakes and the solution you came up with for the older project. I have been working in the industry since 1994, and I still always have that folder which I have named "Mistakes". It doesn't happen often anymore after all those years, but sometimes I still mess up and have no problem to admit that.

[@ViniSocramSaint]

@@Bee-KL WOW! Wasn't expecting a crash course this good for free. Love the motivational bit. Much thanks . I am definitely watching videos and reading about all types of techniques and technologies - have been reading articles and revisiting math books about how to manipulate vectors to make infinite repetitions or custom textures lately, who knew trigonometry would ever be useful :P Anyways, gonna consider making that "Mistakes Folder". Already have something of an archive of old projects on external drives, but properly keeping track of our evolution seems awesome, I'd call it "Trophy Room" ^_^ Thanks again, those tips are GOLD! hope the best for you

[@Taskuvesku]

Thanks! Good video! I saved this in my 3D-modelling playlist. :)

[@BlueGuise9]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@PoliciaCaro]

that t joint with the cylinders was absolutely fantastic, subbed just for that haha

[@gbaroriquelme]

This is gold, great video 👍

[@OllarProductions]

Thanks for the tips