Retopology a Detailed Guide - Part 1 - The Setup

[@tentative4474]

Grant, I'm not compleatly sure but most probably you might just be best blender teacher ever, your way of explaining is flawless and can be undstood just by watching onece, thank you

[@neshiah4747]

I think he used to be a teacher. Well, still is, obviously. But pre KZbin 😀🙏🏼

[@jinkstacks4830]

I always wondered what wizardry was going on when I watch people do this to sculptures. Thanks for the guide :)

[@IGarrettI]

Unfortunately no wizardry, just tedious work :(

[@gavabundo_0072]

@@IGarrettI Sculpting is fun, Retopology is masochism.

[@IGarrettI]

@@gavabundo_0072 usually because one doesn't understand it. Once you do, it's either like meditation or just boring; depends on the person !

[@Obiwahn89]

I recently bought Grants character course. I actually only bought it to support him since the channel is filled with free quality tutorials already. Before watching the course videos I thought most of the content is already well covered by this KZbin channel, but I really enjoyed watching it and I learned a lot of new things that helped me speed up my work flow. So I can highly recommend it 5/5.

[@grabbitt]

Thanks :)

[@unipup81]

How are you sooooo good at using blender??? this man deserves a LOT more subs.

[@CarpeUniversum]

Try his character course from his website! Worth every penny! I'm about 60% through and it's already paid for itself several times over.

[@SaadTheGlad]

I absolutely loved when you admitted that someone else could know more than you

[@samarthsaxena4853]

This is the most clear introduction to retopology on the web. Others are just hurrying through, whilst this explains everything in loads of detail.

[@IndianCitizen04]

Any noob can understand the complex process as Grant's teaching and explanation is flawless so far. Many many thanks to you for this tutorial.

[@androidgameplays4every13]

For every serious problem I face you have an awesome video tutorial already made, I'll have to give you something back.

[@lordeikyl]

thank you for making it easy to understand and not feel like important things like these are secrets.

[@manonthedollar]

Man I just want to quit my job and follow your courses all day.

[@FlickerJab]

Been looking for this step by step sculpting workflow for a while now. Much appreciated!

[@dimaisatree]

Thank you so much, you fixed a problem I had that nobody else talked about. My mesh kept going inside my sculpture even tho I used the modifier, its just that nobody else went into depth to explain how the modifier actually works.

[@clickchapman5240]

Look here. I consider myself an advanced Blender user so I know everything you're saying but dang it if I don't keep coming back to that soothing voice! ASMR? More like Grant Abbitt Tutorials! Keep em coming! Legend.

[@jaatrader]

I'm 2 months into Blender, clocking as many hours as possible, watching multitude of tutorials etc, by far the best has been Mr. Grant and secondly Mr. Andrew, the donut guru, not to rank anyone etc but these 2 gentlemen have the patience and calm approach of describing each step that is critical for a beginner development. Blessing to them both

[@TreasonsGreetings]

I think its good to learn how to retopologize from start to finish by hand, it teaches you the intricacies of how things work and how to think about retopologizing, but once you've done it once no thanks! I'm a big fan of a free addon called speedretopo that automates or streamlines a lot of the process for you; its not as robust as say retopoflow or what have you, but it does what I need!

[@hansxie5503]

Great! Finally there is a Detailed Retopology series to enjoy. Thanks a lot , Grant.

[@jonhimself77]

Been struggling with this for a few weeks, this guide is so helpful - thank you

[@dreamsprayanimation]

I have never been able to use the Shrinkwrap modifier correctly because it would always snap my topology all over in weird places. Turns out all this time the main culprit was the unapplied rotation of that first plane that I flipped on the 90 degrees in object mode. Now it works just fine. The ultimate Blender Chad Grant Strikes again!

[@StudioLD]

Thanks Grant! I always wanted a detailed retopology tutorial!

[@werewolf6031]

Really good video, you go into detail on stuff so well.

[@Oveyz]

Perfect timing, as I finally started on Zbrush, it's about time I sit down to retopo and get used to the workflow and into SP too, so this is brilliant. Cheers Grant.

[@LeonIsLate]

Hey I was just wishing for a retopology guide in the newer versions of Blender when this video came out. Thanks Grant you absolute mind reader

[@Animatodaa]

I watched your old video about retopology, but it's a bit confusing because it was using old version of blender. thankfully! you made a new video about this. Thanks shifu!

[@simonak9699]

Thank you! Incredibly helpful and informative, as always!

[@lDhoko]

i'm ready for retopology, let's complete another Grant's serie!!

[@paul-thys]

You continue to create absolute gold. Have bought you dragon sculpting course. Keep the good work Grant!

[@grabbitt]

😀

[@hugocoty1970]

Keep on doing what you do, we all appreciate you and your work ❤️

[@pathumshehan9187]

Your teaching skill is incredible!

[@chitamule9040]

Thanks for this tutorial, I needed a refresher after not really keeping up with all the changes that have come about since the interface changed with 2.8X series. Another alternative to method to get your model to draw in front of your sculpt object is to go to object properties tab and check the 'in front' option on the viewport display drop down.

[@EenaTheBudgie]

You can be the 3d modeller for Hollywood movies because you are the best 3d artist

[@alkistagaras8269]

Amazing video! Can't wait to see the rest of the series!

[@wojt3d415]

great one - im waiting for next one!

[@AlOn556]

Yes! Thanks so much for making this an in depth series! Can't wait for it all to come out ☺

[@Cyber_Kriss]

02:30 THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God I have been waiting for this moment for a year ! I haven't seen ANY video talking about that "after retopo" workflow. I never dig that sculpt thing because I was wondering what was the use to retopology when you lose lots and lots of details. I could never understand how big my "retopo faces" should be because I tried to save the details... Gosh.

[@MorkMcFly]

Awesome! Been taking your blender game character course on Udemy and the retopology section was rather disappointing because it didn't teach the proper method. It was more of a rushed solution. Glad you made this video to rectify that. Looking forward to the next video already!

[@grabbitt]

yeah i would say these are more advanced techniques so not really suitable for the course completely but maybe i should put in a link to this video within the course also :)

[@kinofrosty]

Finished your course, left a review saying I was going on to study retopology, and here's a guide! Thanks :D.

[@LaszloIvanyi]

Well explained, thank you! At the end you may explore automatic options too, just to compare the results, this seems like a LOT of work :D

[@LaszloIvanyi]

@love dude I think the advantage is precise control and a lower poly model. You can decide how big of a poly you can put in a place. Automatic software cannot judge what is imortant section and what is less imortant. They work based on detail. But you might have a detail on the neck for example, skin scar veins, but you can represent it with a tube and bake the details to a texture. An automatic solution might judge it as detailful and not reduce it to a tube just a bumpy tube with a lot of poly still. While you are doing it manually you can say ok this is not important part, will be less seen, you can just use large chunks of polygons. This is one of the keypoints why I'm interested in UE5, they said polycount no longer matters, you can use your high poly model and the engine will reduce it on the fly as needed. This would mean you no longer need to bake details or retopo, just make your model and throw it in. Of course we see it when we see it. I suspect these tutorials will be a key learning point for a looong time.. 😁

[@thornnorton5953]

@@LaszloIvanyi only for static meshes. Plus, retopologized meshes are better for animating.

[@FinalFantasyHQ]

Really excited about this series of tutorials! I've been struggling with retopology for a very long time because I haven't found any decent tutorials and it's difficult for me to determine if what I'm doing is actually good. Keep up the great videos, Grant!

[@andre_kirey]

You might want to check out danny mac’s videos too where he retopo a human body

[@VeryBlueBot]

Oh thanks was waiting exactly for this! Made a really over high poly sculpture (following one of your older tut's) which almost melted my laptop.. And Got really confuted about retopo vs decimate modifier vs re mesh. So this answers most of my questions. Also can't wait for the next episodes about the baking of maps and so forth - really got lost with those Thanks again, you channel is pure gold :)

[@andre_kirey]

You can decimate the high poly sculpt a bit to increase performance when retopoing

[@VeryBlueBot]

@@andre_kirey Ill try on my next sculpt thanks

[@houseofgaming4]

Thanks Grant your are the man.

[@kamilamammadova8619]

thank you, thank you, thank you Grant Abbitt

[@user-cr3hg1cv4g]

You explain very well!

[@domin6168]

Heard about Repology, but didn't know what it is (and I've been dealing with 3D graphics since January this year), thanks Abbit for learning this definition and the overall tutorial of this dragon head :D

[@devriv8983]

Thank you so much Grant.

[@White25390]

Awesome! Can't wait for the cavity map process!

[@xavvey]

This was one hell of a complete understandable explanation! I kinda knew why retopo was used.. this made it all just click!

[@StarWeaverThree]

Huh, I never thought about using shrinkwrap for this; I just use "In Front" (in the object buttons / viewport display) and "Hidden Wire" (in the overlays dropdown wen in edit mode) together to get the retopo objects wires with the sculpt mesh showing through otherwise. I did bind toggling them to keys which helps too, tho.

[@harald_schubert]

Great video. So informative.

[@jasperbrooks2118]

Grant, please make a series about making a. architecture ( a mansion, castle ), or a vehicle, a car, a boat, or a plane . . .

[@BOOMLAT]

you are just awesome 🎉I was facing problem more than 2 years 😢but you solve that enjust 5 minutes. How??😅 from today you are my teacher. please told me can I do anything for you teacher ❤

[@sauravarun4383]

ur a wizard grant abbit

[@PaolaLaborda]

thanks a lot for this tutorial! it was very helpful.

[@andre_kirey]

I love it! Thanks, always can count on you for great tuts grant

[@TNWP30]

CG geek said in one of his vids of character making that we have to enable Backface curling, Project individual elements and align rotation in snapping settings

[@grabbitt]

Yeah back have culling isn't necessary but can help

[@TNWP30]

@@grabbitt also if you don't mind can you like just briefly tell how backface curling works?

[@jasperbrooks2118]

Grant, try go into preferences, theme settings, scroll down to size, of vertix, standard 2pixels, set it higher . . it makes vertix points bigger, so they are easier to see, on surface, of 3D stuff . . . Also, one can enable ' wireframe ' in Object properties, right above Modifier wrench section, when enabling the wireframe in viewport, the high-poly also gets shown . . notice, when increasing size of vertix, they gain more volume, so they stick out, and are easier to see, on the retopos . .

[@pablo199014]

Love your work!

[@brandongrey9240]

I haven’t been sculpting at all in a while yet I watched this during dinner

[@AleksandarPopovic]

Very nice, i can wait next video, good job keep going and good luck with your next projects!!!!

[@NICOLASMOROS]

Master Thank you!

[@jasperbrooks2118]

if you don't know, switching between vertix, line and, plane mode, is button 1, 2, 3 on keyboard, makes retopo faster . .

[@RobCardIV]

brilliant and fun to listen too. thanks mate !

[@tayyabhameed9559]

Wonderful have been looking up tuts on retopology.....but don't have the sculpted dragon...it would be immensely helpful if you gave a link to the dragon sculpt file...so that I could simply jump to retopology section and start modeling.thankyou

[@ommutyal8712]

This is what I was looking for.... thanks a lot grant ✌️👍

[@Andytzzu1]

Thaaaank you for this. I will watch it later or at uni

[@Azer0sz]

Thank you for making this tutorial, seriously!

[@bijaykarki7812]

Thanks for this series sir... Really appreciate it

[@simvik4743]

Thanks for all the great tutorials! Just putting a wish out for a realistic human face model and texturing tutorial. :) Where the final render is super photo realistic face (best case with hair). :) I'd be happy to pay for a tutorial like that.

[@raylaurenz5623]

thankyou for the guide, im new

[@spacegriffin1446]

Me when grant says there may be someone who knows more than him: *Impossible*

[@andreast.1373]

My thoughts exactly

[@chekeichan]

This is exactly what I need right now. I look forward to this series!

[@njs811271]

Does anyone else actually enjoy manually retopologizing? It's almost like putting a puzzle together by combining good flow with accurate vertices.

[@anzatzi]

perfect timing!

[@ticoelephant664]

thanks!

[@nickydeduck255]

Thank you! I always wanted to know what to do after you done retopologizing or how do you go about making the topology "even" all around

[@grabbitt]

i talk about that in the next video :)

[@teddyadventure337]

awesome

[@musicandhappinessbyjo795]

When is the next video coming out. Cant wait

[@grabbitt]

probably monday

[@jeffspinner6579]

As you go thru this course, can you speak to why you chose a cavity map over an AO to bake? They are applied almost identically, though the AO's are shown to be added with a multiply mixRBG not overlay... I've started to appreciate the AO because of my work in UE4 rendering animations (someday to be a short film...) ty for any upcoming quenching of my derpyness. Ty for sharing any knowledge that makes Blender less obtuse.

[@deep8673]

Thank You :)

[@fuckdick520]

This is exactly what I needed!

[@RajJaiswal538]

Loved the video. Its the video i needed for months... But my question still stands- Can i do these with my decent laptop that has no good graphics card with/without some changes?

[@andre_kirey]

You can try :) might want to decimate modifier the original sculpt for better system performance, just be careful from going too low with the decimate else the shape may deform

[@RajJaiswal538]

@@andre_kirey thanks... I'll keep that in mind

[@mistakos]

First let me say a huge Thank you to all of you that do these kinds of videos, especially for amateurs like me that just want to do stuff without any financial gain out of it... just for fun! Your guides are awesome and they have helped me so much in learning things about blender which i can't find anywhere else! So.. Thank You!!! Secondly, i have a question if you don't mind answering. I recently sculpted a goblin head (first time trying sculpting in general, and in blender specifically). I tried to paint it. it was a bit of a mess but it came out ok. I wanted to try texture painting on it. I am not gonna put it in an animation or game. Just to render the image to have it for myself. Do I need to retopo it in order for the texture painting to work or I can do it as it is? @1:50 you talk about the decimator modifier. Will this be anough for me?

[@grabbitt]

yes you need to retopo. the better hte retopo the easier it is to paint

[@Zvosab]

Great

[@arphaxadarphaxad1592]

can i 'bake' a sculpture (something thats 1 million tri's) all the way down to 30,000 tri's (like you said in a video) than continue 'baking' that high poly figure down some more until it's low poly? (from 30,000 to 900 tri's)

[@arphaxadarphaxad1592]

thank you.

[@grabbitt]

You don't do it in stages you just go straight from the high poly to low

[@Alex-by4zv]

Amazing work there as usual. Hey Grant, I was playing around with some alpha brushes the other day (GTX 1060 6Gb here) and it seems like my current GPU is too weak for that kind of modelling. I was wondering if there is a way to avoid subdividing the whole mesh and instead using some kind of adaptive subdivision locally when using alpha brush with high amount of details. Is there any work around for that kind of issue with my current GPU? Any advice on that? I appreciate the time you take to read and, hopefully, answer this one.

[@grabbitt]

its your cpu not gpu when doing this thats important

[@Alex-by4zv]

@@grabbitt appreciate your reply, Grant. amd fx 8350 is the one I have atm, not the worst one, but it is kind of old already.

[@somedude5951]

Should such a dragon not be modeled with his mouth open, for use in games or movies?

[@grabbitt]

Yes

[@bagboybrown]

Retop is so annoying maybe this will help! :D

[@ambientlightofdarknesss4245]

A little help. Eveytime i exit the sculpt mode all of the fine brush details fet removed from the mesh (scales etc) idk what I'm doing wrong.

[@grabbitt]

It's just the preview option I believe

[@aidanmckelvie4284]

I'm lost at 3:30 when you instantly have a smooth dragon head to retopologies on could someone explain how he got to that point.

[@grabbitt]

I'm not sure what you mean

[@francisangoring5352]

It's the same dragon head but the multires level view is set to 0 (You can see it in the modifiers)

[@d_denragon]

Another tutorial with a dragon model? S T O N K S

[@JavierD]

Before starting the retopology, how did you reduce the mesh at 3:50? It looks that is not the same detailed as the beginning

[@grabbitt]

decimate

[@cyborg9099]

What about multiresolution modifier

[@grabbitt]

Yes you can use that if you want to it's a slightly different approach

[@matthewmassey2333]

New to blender and I just had a quick question / idea. I know this video is 1yr old, with that said. Today's gaming consoles and PCs are able to display a lot more triangles on screen does this change how modeling would be done today. Do you have to still try to reduce the triangle count drastically like you would have before? For example UE5 and it's nanite tech.

[@grabbitt]

Not yet but eventually

[@Ludwig6583]

face nearest or face project in snapping options?

[@grabbitt]

I cant actually fully remember as i leave it on default by theoretically project makes the most sense, i think

[@xnagato666x]

Is there a way to pose models in blender? I made a hand but can't pose the fingers

[@grabbitt]

there is a pose brush

[@Lada430]

What stops me of the copying the old mesh and just click the unsubdivide button in the Multiresolution modifier?

[@grabbitt]

Have a go and see

[@alexo2303]

I love you.

[@EbenPineal]

Hello, if I understand correctly the retopology is necessary when you want to animate your sculpt? If I make a retopology on my sculptures I could animate with rig of course but could I also with this new mesh print the sculpture

[@grabbitt]

Yes

[@EbenPineal]

@@grabbitt okay thank you

[@RobCardIV]

jump to 3:15 if you already understand why you want to watch this video.

[@emu.r6534]

when i add mirror modifier to plane it doesnt mirror anything. why is that?

[@grabbitt]

See my video on mirror modifier

[@lazycatcoffeehouse1148]

Hey Gran, what about to do it with quad mesher? as a Addon

[@grabbitt]

Not used it myself