How To Retopologize ANYTHING in Blender in Less Than 6 Minutes

[@DirkTeucher]

4:40 - That workflow with the multi res modifier is excellent. Thanks for these tips.

[@Noggi_3D]

My pleasure. I'm happy you found it helpful. :)

[@Riceballer3D]

dude same here I just had my whole world rocked. I feel silly cause I'd been re-sculpting in details on my re-topoed model like a fool who loves to waste time

[@alexandercooney5540]

Same, it's so obvious in hindsight but it never occurred to me 😂

[@alejmc]

+1 on this tip. I would usually go from a somewhat close enough retopo-ed cage to baking displacement and/or normal maps right away… had only used shrink wrap modifiers (on 3dsmax) mostly to transfer skinning animations or just animate a lower res one to drive a higher res model. This method though, it’s great.. and that reshape to bring it all the more closer 👌

[@kylegerbrandt]

@@Riceballer3D I was like, here come the baking taking forever joke. This is awesome.

[@swthelostarchives]

Triangles are fine for games but when working in a studio where other people might have to use your model it's best practice to stick to quads so that people can understand your edge flow and edit the model if need be. For games polycount matters a lot. For film poly count doesn't matter. You must also make sure the model's topology allows for efficient deformations when animating.

[@Noggi_3D]

Very true!

[@XtremeSk8ter]

Poly count matters just as much in film as it does in games purely because they need to keep render times as low as possible so that they can meet deadlines.

[@meli1240]

@@XtremeSk8ter Yeah but in game it renders in real time, unlike in movies, that's why it's more important to keep it low in games. However it would be unplayable. Also fun fact, but if one frame of Avatar 2 was rendered on a normal computer 3D artists use, the frame would've taken 26 years to render

[@carrotylemons1190]

Hands down the best retopologizing tutorial on youtube, because it actually goes over the general principle instead of taking literally 1.5 hours to go over step by step for a single model. Have you ever considered a follow up UV unwrapping tutorial?

[@Noggi_3D]

I will very likely do more of these tutorials in the near future. UV unwrapping is not the first one, but it's on the list of potential topics. :)

[@JiluMiah-ek2rd]

😂 lmao this the video I needed. Because I wanted to continue to sculpt but I already decimated the model. I’m learning as I go

[@babaspector]

I've seen a lot of retopology related videos, but this one really contained all the things I was missing.

[@Noggi_3D]

I'm happy tho hear that. :)

[@Volaths]

The absolute BEST retopo video I've ever seen, I know how to retopo but I always struggled on the order in which to retain original model details and this is one of the only videos I've found that covers it step by step

[@Mr_Steve3D]

You literally broke down the entire workflow needed in one shot! Thanks!

[@rocketprops3739]

THIS WAS SO HELPFUL. I cant even describe how nice it is to have someone concisely explain this.

[@Noggi_3D]

Nice to know it was helpful to you. :)

[@linkunarre]

one of the reasons I dropped my 3d modeling course is because i was never told anything about topology and always found my models looked like ass and i felt like i had to make them good from the start. Recently looking back on that I started searching things up on my own and learnt about topology in general and i think i may start learning 3d modeling again, and retopology is a big reason why

[@metalman2140]

Extremely helpful. Retopology has always been a nightmare for me, and this video was a breath of fresh air.

[@Noggi_3D]

Thanks! It can be very intimidating in the beginning.

[@philmehrart]

If you have trouble I'd recommend just downloading well made base meshes and trying to mimic the topology, reverse engineering models. That's how I learned to do old school Blizzard textures, checking textures from the WoW Classic assets and mimicking the painting style.

[@approachingetterath9959]

my most important take-away from this was to duplicate the retopo, use shrinkwrap and subdivs on one, apply, and then project these details onto a retopo with multires. i didn't know this was possible. this will save me so much hassle in the future.

[@JR-xp1yr]

This is what a perfect retopology video looks like

[@elsantopadre710]

Last 20 seconds with the multi res are gold info man.Thank you

[@kimitalvitie]

That multires workflow at the end of the video is super handy! One thing I find useful is turning on "In Front" setting for the retopo object from the 'Object properties' -> 'Viewport display'. It helps you see the faces youre projecting on the high res model. Also 'Auto merge vertices' comes handy when extruding faces and having them automatically snap to closest vertex, that way you dont have to do the connecting of faces yourself, saves a ton of time. Be careful with high detail retopo meshes though, as sometimes the margin for merging is so large that you may have some unintended merges.

[@Noggi_3D]

Great tips! toggling "In Front" on or off is great to compare the original and the retopologized mesh.

[@ThrashyB]

literally never animate my models but recently ive needed to pose them.. ive had to retopologize like 3 times in the past 6 months and always come back to this video lol thanks

[@Noggi_3D]

Haha, good to know it's helpful to you. :)

[@Snoight]

The multires modifier with reshape blew my mind! Thanks!

[@Khontadhondato]

I do NOT want to even start believing the number of information I needed to learn, that I have learned from this video.... Thank you so so much!!

[@michaelbendavid777]

Pro tip as continuation of min 4:35: select either two boundary edges (not the whole boundary but only 2 parallel boundaries edge sides) which must have equal vertex count and preferably pair numbers, and then run the grid fill operator and it will automatically detect and fill perfectly your hole without needing to adjust any of the operator settings... even though take into account that the other 2 parallel edges also must be equal vertex count each (but not necessarily the same vertex count as the other 2 boundary edges for making the selection for accurate grid filling) as well to work properly, or otherwise some edge loops will get merged at the boundaries of the hole...

[@JF-rf8xy]

as a blender baby who has been hacking at the program like a caveman for the past year trying to figure out retopo with literally any other video i found, this one saved my life. thank you dude. sending good vibes your way.

[@Noggi_3D]

Glad I could help! :)

[@potaterjim]

I feel like he forgot to mention baking normal maps, which I strongly recommend as follow up learning. No matter how finely you divide it, this method will lose the small, fine details that your original sculpt had. Baking those details into a normal map gives you the immaculate lighting details of a sculpt with the performance and usability of the new topology

[@Noggi_3D]

Good point. I should've mentioned that in the multires section as an alternative.

[@Mikhanreld]

And what is the best way to avoid losses?

[@Mikhanreld]

@@Noggi_3D, Not very clear… What would be the algorithm in this case then?

[@nielstombeur6921]

you retopo your model and then you bake your highpoly mesh on your lowpoly mesh fe in substance painter but if you plan to animate a character always retopo@@Mikhanreld

[@ranska2506]

4:33 About filling area between edge flow. I'm currently search, shortcut or technics like grid or other to improve my beginner skill. Thanks a lot for this vidéo. It can be cool to have more small detail on this topic :) Merci beaucoup 👍😺

[@heart-sprout]

love how quick and to the point this is, 10/10

[@Layston]

Would love to see more videos on this subject from you. You explain it very well and don't waste time! I'd especially would love a more detailed explanation of edge flow.

[@Noggi_3D]

I'm happy you like it. I might go more in depth in the future. I'll keep it in mind. :)

[@oblivius5538]

Have you any idea how much your comment helped me?, a year later and if not for this comment i would be lost thanks a lot man. you really helped me out

[@Layston]

I did?@@oblivius5538

[@human_of_homosapiens_]

This is a terrific video for everything you need to know! Wow! Spectacular!! I can't believe you completely blew my mind and saved me from going into certain beginner ruts in only 6 minutes!!! Huge time savor, you're the best! Thanks for putting in all the work!!

[@Noggi_3D]

Haha, thank you. My pleasure. :)

[@devonjuvinall5409]

That was quite complicated because you went so fast but it was super super informative thank you!! Imma watch again and pause a lot now!

[@PrinceWesterburg]

Thanks for mentioning SoftWrap - its just comedic watching it work, so amazing!

[@Noggi_3D]

Yeah, it's a really fun addon :D

[@RinKaz-xh6yn]

it's exactly the information i was looking for, thanks

[@Amgeezy]

Lately I've been taking my models into gravity sketch on the oculus quest 2 for retopology and it works pretty damn good for manual retopology, clothing, and hair.

[@Noggi_3D]

Cool! I haven't heard of that one before.

[@kingsevil5255]

THANK. YOU. I have been searching for a retopology video that explains whats going on, edgeflow and why it matters for so long aaaa

[@Noggi_3D]

I'm happy it was helpful to you. :)

[@wienerboy4587]

absolutely perfect video. love the fast and clear explanation, this has really helped!

[@Noggi_3D]

Thanks! Nice to hear. :)

[@reesemurrow7696]

My firet project has been on tbe backburner for a couple months because i didnt know how to do this. Time to jump back into it!

[@notmyname90]

This one of the best videos about retopology i've ever seen. Thanks

[@Noggi_3D]

Oh wow, such high praise. Thank you. :)

[@emiltrt]

You save lives man. The first time I saw you I said "damn he good". Few videos later I decided that my project need some character. So I made one with your help ofc. Then I saw few mil faces and said "my pc aint buyin that" so I started retopo. Watched few vids and it didnt helped, so I said f this can wait. Maybe month later I see this video and oh man I was so mad "what can I learn in 6 minutes, you fkin kidding me? A f 6 minutes video? I do respect u much but Houston we have a major problem that needs to be solved, why no one can help, yea?" So I watched it again and then "wow this is masterpiece" Opened blender. Screenshot of purple macho mask in pureref (2:54). Few minutes later "I got it". I wish I saw this earlier. I wish u best man, ur best sculpter I have ever seen. You make entertaining videos and teach how like this tutorial is so powerful. Love your work. Wish u best.

[@Noggi_3D]

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words and am happy I could help. :)

[@emiltrt]

@@Noggi_3D Im trying to learn re- and topology to know what im doing before using addons to quicken work. Mainly wanted to ask if its good idea to use (4:16) to solve edges inequality or adding loop cut (CTRL + R) is better? On parts like knees elbows it helps I think but on face? Wouldnt it distort or mess up subdividing retopoligized model? Also Daisy video is really good man, looking up to you!

[@hayond656]

I thought the title said "Apologize LIKE A PRO in 6 minutes"

[@Spinofan]

Literally the perfect video!

[@mtvevo2542]

I love the way he cooks, tysmmm ❤️❤️❤️

[@ranska2506]

4:22 very interesting topic. I will be nice to talk more about it.

[@EMB3D]

well compacted info, very well done, thank you, subbed!

[@diomiziofattorelli6609]

Amazing teacher! Thank you for sharing your workflows!

[@jesusforever444]

I couldn't find a reason to dislike this is the best ! thank you

[@UjangBoyor]

as a person who dont want (and unable to) spend $100-3999 over 3d software/addons this really helpful. thanks^^

[@Noggi_3D]

Yeah, the costs can stack up pretty rapidly. :D

[@emmerkspg3d]

I gave it a like after seeing the little guy taking a thumbs up from his pocket. Big idea

[@nic3670]

Very helpful it is good for texturing and many other tools in blender that need low resolution models.

[@joselopeslinsneto3176]

Dude you are pro, I love it, I learn a lot thank you !

[@h4nv]

This was really helpful! Especially the magnet thing that I didn't even know it exict. _Edit. First try was total mess, but I decided to start again and seems I learn from my earlier mistakes and it's looking very clean for now_

[@Noggi_3D]

Nice! The second try is always miles better. :D

[@LadyBug-ox8bg]

Can you please do a tutorial about rigging? Your videos are super helpful, I'm a new subscriber💫

[@Noggi_3D]

I'm not as well versed in rigging as I am in e.g. Retopology, but I'll keep it in mind. :)

[@muteryu273]

That SoftWrap tool certainly surprised me.

[@Noggi_3D]

It's really cool. Especially after retopologizing a few characters. :)

[@Crippley]

This is just what I'll need when I get further with my human model! Super helpful. :^D

[@Rinkyu]

The divide and conquer method is the best

[@Noggi_3D]

100%

[@mingesack5606]

Goddamn bodysnatcher that warps and wraps around your body until it becomes you. Softwrap is the stuff of nightmares.

[@cyber4joy]

This retopology idea would also work with 3D scans where the mesh needs clean-up and touch-up. Thanks for the idea; I am going to give it a try.

[@gabrielviquez7092]

5:40 omg I need to try that, nice tips

[@kath5847]

ok I had my doubts on how helpful it would be since i hate manual retopology but this makes me feel like i could do it now. So thanks :)

[@Noggi_3D]

I like to compare it to a math formula. Once you understand all the variables, you can use it for everything. :)

[@Robb1n11]

thanks for this, i was stuck at the multi res modifier didnt knew when exactly to apply it.

[@Noggi_3D]

Yeah, it can be quite confusing. You can also replace the subdivision modifier with the multires modifier and apply the shrinkwrap modifier right underneath it. That saves a step. :)

[@bin4rym4ge]

Extremely useful. Thank you. God bless.

[@chukwudiebite7775]

👏 This is a brilliant tutorial I loved it

[@visual_mika]

Great tips. You make it look so easy!

[@SoulshaBoy]

HOW DID I NOT THINK OF THIS BEFORE

[@kte-5716]

Extremely useful method, thank you.

[@Knapperoni]

This is going to be a massive pain when I get to this stage, but at least this video made me feel just a little bit more confident about how it'll go

[@Noggi_3D]

That's exactly what it's supposed to do. You got this! :)

[@SarahBadr]

This is an excellent overview, thank you!

[@Robinbobin]

just wanted to say you have a great logo! 😍

[@Noggi_3D]

Thank you. :)

[@mykalesalad]

Very concise and informative, thanks for the video!

[@ShadowTheHedgehogCZ]

4:13 - This is what I was looking for. At least I think I can use it... I just started playing with 3D models two weeks ago, and I have no idea how to even look up solutions to my problems, because I don't know the terminology, or the concepts behind it. My problem is that I have a square grid on a plane (or a lightly bent surface), and I want this square grid to transition into a radial grid, as if the top of UV spehere was protruding from it upwards. And I have no idea how to create a topology around this transition between the plane and the half UV spehere. I tried some boolean operators on a plane and sphere, I tried bevel vertices on plane, I tried by hand... It's always a mess. Nothing looks topologically correct. Well, this division of one quad into three making up a 90 degree turn is probably something I will need to apply in some way... though in my case, maybe I need a different angle then 90 degrees...

[@Noggi_3D]

If you need more help, or have more questions, feel free to join my discord. We have a specific channel for exact questions like these. :)

[@ShadowTheHedgehogCZ]

@@Noggi_3D Yeah, I think I will :)

[@staticbuilds7613]

Is there a more fuller version of this showing the tools and how to activate and use them more clearly anywhere?

[@itsyaboinadia]

wow this explained wverything so well. thank you ❤

[@guzuse7199]

Noice love it when it learn stuff.. Just a total noob here like when I first started playing: Apex Legends Didn't know what a hotdrop was

[@KingLouie111]

Great video! I have a question about that last step though. Why not just put a shrinkwrap and multires modifier on the manually retoplogized model? What's the advantage of the additional steps?

[@Noggi_3D]

Yeah, you can also just apply the shrinkwrap on the multires model. No need to transfer the shape. :)

[@devendrameena9928]

thank you so much for this video. its really helpful.

[@Noggi_3D]

I'm glad you found it helpful. :)

[@devendrameena9928]

@@Noggi_3D but topology is kinda difficult task for me😥

[@P-Ian]

I touched Blender maybe twice, more than a decade ago, and mainly work in CAD. I have a idea for a character, but just the amount of effort needed to turn this character, after it's built, into a usable model for animation seems like a fucking lot to do. You organic modeling people are some higher form of a human

[@cerberouse1]

5:31 You could also just retopo-quads in UV and do the shrink-wrap subdivide thing over your high-poly model :3

[@Noggi_3D]

It's not as clean but that might work too. :)

Thank you very much for the video, I may start sculpting now!

[@Noggi_3D]

You should try it at least once. It's my favorite 3D modeling technique. :)

[@glenrisk5234]

Awesome, straight forward, easy to follow and succinctly informative. Subbed on first video watched.

[@nidgithm]

this is why i just dont sculpt and just immediately go in vertex by vertex, following topology rules from the start, retopologizing sounds like a nightmare haha

[@LeanPrints]

Sick work! I loved the way you explained everything. So precise! I bet you put a lot of work into scripting the video and of course the work itself! Sorry man, but I really appreciate the sheer flow in this!

[@Noggi_3D]

Thank you! :D

[@ЖмыхАирлейнс-о8м]

Many thanks dude, saved my poor head

[@lucas-correa]

Thanks for the video. I was worried on how to approach the edge flow for a cartoonish giraffe character and now I know how to search for references.

[@Noggi_3D]

Awesome! Feels good to know I could help. :)

[@HonsHon]

Dude I was worried about my workflow for horny dolphin but now I am set

[@vivvygipe9605]

Broooo thank you so much for this! So succint but informative at the same time!

[@Noggi_3D]

Happy to hear that. :)

[@Akomarongg]

2:18 how do you keep the plane from clipping through to the underside of the mesh object?

[@LycheeFruitsLich]

Thanks a lot!!) It was really helpful!

[@Handleforyoutubedude]

Is there a benefit to fixing the topology rather than just UV unwrapping the complex model and baking the normals onto a low poly render?

[@brumbogetbrum2714]

Why do your new faces seem to stay on top of the model as you extrude from edges? Mine are mostly sunk inside.

[@MichelleKnobloch]

maybe you gotta turn on snapping :>

[@BestMods168]

If you use subdivide and multires, doesnt that defeat the purpose of retopology? For game objects, an ideal triangle count for a persons outfit would be around 5k triangles. Using the subdivide and multires would bring those figures back up to 50k to 100k.

[@Noggi_3D]

For games that's true, you wouldn't use multires or subdivisions there. But for use cases where you want to keep the geometry detail like animations, it enables you to work with the low res model and render the high res version.

[@regibyte]

@@Noggi_3D I'm a noob but how about baking the normals of the higher res model and use it as the low res normals input, would that help to keep some details in a game?

[@Noggi_3D]

@@regibyte Yes! That's how you usually do it. At least from what I know. I'm not a game designer. :D

[@jrM5492]

@4:12 It's a little advanced here. How do you know there needs to be an additional half edge loop close to the wrist at the thumb finger? Is it based on experience? Some topology fundamentals would help.

[@hawkingoh]

that was awesome... Thank you!

[@beepbeep-m6m]

This is the simplest tutorial I've seen on this so far, subscribed! I just have one question. If you were to export this model to a game engine, you'd have to bake this detail into a texture map, right?

[@Noggi_3D]

To optimize the model for the game engine, you would bake the details into a texture map, correct. I'm not an expert on game design, so I might be wrong, but I'm 90% certain.

[@Erkille7]

you must to bake the normals of the high res model in the low poly model i usually do it in substance

[@josephvanwyk2088]

Man, this feels like Rocket Science. Wish there was a magic button. So essentially you are doing double the work if not triple.

[@Noggi_3D]

It can be pretty confusing and complicated sometimes. Retopology is not used to create the same model again, but rather to prepare and optimize it for stuff like animations or texturing. You can also clean up the geometry of your first model, but that will most likely take way longer. :)

[@josephvanwyk2088]

@@Noggi_3D Ah, so basically "layers" right? You would animate the lower-poly layer. How do you use the high poly layer then?

[@Noggi_3D]

@@josephvanwyk2088 You can save and switch between the high and low poly level by using the multiresolution modifier. While animating, you lower the subdivision level, while rendering you increase the subdivision level.

[@NebMotion]

Great tutorial!!

[@Noggi_3D]

Thanks. :)

[@AAbc-bx8zg]

The first guy to ask us to dislike if we didn’t like it and tell him why

[@samratix2497]

I was just going to comment this

[@VaegaDiscord]

at 5:21, how did you make the retopo model grayed out and transparent while leaving the hig res model at full opacity?

[@bochang7230]

why not just add multires and shrinkwrap modifier to the retopo mesh and apply the shrinkwrap modifier,the shrinkwrap effect will be baked into the multires

[@Noggi_3D]

I've never tried it that way, but it sounds like a good alternative.

[@ghostwarrior-ni1xb]

i will try it tommorow

[@7Volkan6]

I just tried this and it works!

[@Lase211]

Thank you so much for this video. You have no idea how much it has helped me

[@Noggi_3D]

My pleasure. :)

[@abhilashsethumadhavan781]

Broo 🔥 this one helped a lot❣️

[@phantomarchive]

Thanks!

[@Noggi_3D]

No thank you! :D

[@buda3d2007]

you got a new subscriber, if you could do rigify in this way and also highlight the regular pitfalls to avoid that would be awesome.

[@Noggi_3D]

Unfortunately, I don't use the advanced Rigify rig. I just use the basic one before you convert it. So I don't have a lot of experience with it. :D

[@Solusarian]

Props for outlining the methods for making a topology - reusing an existing good topology wasn't even mentioned by any other tutorial I watched so far. Also, nobody so far mentioned the vertices snapping to faces feature that makes the manual retopo flow make much more sense. However, I have to downvote for the silence behind and inclusion of the mystery topology diagrams that keep appearing whenever I look up topology. Nobody explains them, nobody says why they are the only way to connect different amounts of faces together, and they don't make sense to someone who wants to make a usable model out of a sculpt without going through the math and theory of "good topology".

[@Noggi_3D]

With diagrams, do you mean the images showing how you can reroute edge flow? You don't need to do math, to do retopology. The best way to learn what good topology looks like is by retopologizing yourself with some reference images. Good luck. :)

[@Solusarian]

@@Noggi_3D These diagrams keep showing up in videos without any comment. This was the first time it was mentioned that they can be used for edge flow routing, but then how does it play into the divide and conquer strategy?

[@Noggi_3D]

@@Solusarian For some areas of the body (e.g. top of the head), you can't just create straight edge flows. In these cases, you would use these techniques to keep the geometry as even as possible. It's hard to explain. You'll run into it when you reteopologize yourself, and then it will make sense.

[@Solusarian]

@@Noggi_3D After bashing my head against it, and trying to mesh the edge flows together manually, I can finally admit it that it makes more sense. Especially the divide and conquer part, and having the loops start and end with triangles part. I decided to invest in the QuadRemesher plugin, but it still needs some knowledge and coercing to generate good edge flows where needed.

[@Noggi_3D]

@@Solusarian Nice to hear (or read) that. Retopology is just something you have to do to understand it fully. 👍

[@vector2680]

unfortunately the link for human retopo reffs doesnt work for me, could you reshare it? btw awesome video!

[@Lync1111]

Hello im new to your lessons. Yes please create more like this. Someone mentioned (Baking), Is this step critical znd is it possible to continue this course explaing why or why not, thanks!

[@karmel376h]

I dont say this often but holy shit this video is good Thank you very much!

[@Noggi_3D]

I appreciate it, thank you! :)

[@louxie6367]

This was insanely helpful! Thank you so much :D

[@thegamingherosavethegaming8930]

The video was amazing , I just understand why we duplicated the retope model ? The one we you reshaped it , why you didn’t use the one we retoped ? Which version should you use ? The duplicated one ?

[@Noggi_3D]

If you duplicate it, you have a backup if something goes wrong. But you can also, instead of the subdivision modifier, use a multiresolution modifier. Then you increase the subdivision levels in the multires modifier and apply the shrinkwrap modifier. This way you don't have to transfer the shape of the subdivided model to the multires model.