WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:03.780 With the basics covered, it's time to plan out our topology. 00:04.460 --> 00:09.380 I can generally recommend doing some amount of preparation instead of just winging it. 00:09.960 --> 00:13.360 You will have an easier time solving this puzzle that way. 00:13.620 --> 00:16.280 And to show how important a bit of preparation is, 00:16.560 --> 00:20.940 I will guide you through my thought process of retopologizing the face, 00:21.340 --> 00:23.840 one of the most complex areas in my opinion. 00:24.420 --> 00:26.639 If you know how to tackle that, you know how 00:26.651 --> 00:28.780 to basically retopologize almost anything. 00:28.781 --> 00:34.160 It's also good to mention that my terminology so far and in the rest of the chapter 00:34.161 --> 00:39.460 is pretty much a wild mix from other artists and what I came up myself. 00:40.040 --> 00:43.520 There's no commonly agreed on terminology, 00:43.521 --> 00:50.240 so I'll at least make sure that mine is well explained and consistent. 00:50.900 --> 00:55.720 For the planning, I'll use the sculpt of rain after the expression tests were made 00:55.721 --> 00:58.800 and withdraw overs from the annotation tool. 00:59.540 --> 01:04.100 With this, we will determine the goals and minimum requirements of our topology, 01:04.340 --> 01:06.880 especially from what we learned in chapter 3. 01:07.480 --> 01:10.060 First off, we start with the general edge flow. 01:10.560 --> 01:14.820 This is often the same across humanoid characters or even most animals. 01:15.800 --> 01:20.100 There are circular loops going around the eyes, 01:20.101 --> 01:21.940 eyelids, nose, and mouth to support the general shape. 01:21.941 --> 01:25.020 There's also a loop going around the chin, 01:25.260 --> 01:30.520 last line and into the nose bridge to frame the mouth and the nasal area. 01:31.960 --> 01:36.620 The edge flow is also roughly aligned with the movement of the muscles in those areas, 01:36.920 --> 01:38.060 not just the shapes. 01:39.060 --> 01:43.160 Lastly, there's a loop along the jaw, ear, and temple 01:43.161 --> 01:48.400 and then the forehead to frame the face and follow the shapes and the muscles there. 01:48.401 --> 01:53.340 I made a separation in the middle since the other side will just be symmetrical, 01:53.600 --> 01:55.120 so we'll just use the mirror modifier, 01:55.480 --> 01:59.980 but this is the most basic outline that most faces will follow. 02:00.800 --> 02:03.280 Next up, we have our landmarks. 02:03.460 --> 02:08.080 These are areas that for specific reasons need to match a certain structure. 02:08.540 --> 02:12.580 In this case, there are the eyebrow objects on top of the face, 02:12.760 --> 02:17.440 which I want to match as closely as possible with the topology on the face. 02:17.441 --> 02:22.940 This way I can be sure that the skin and the eyebrows will deform in unison. 02:23.520 --> 02:26.140 If you would use hair simulation and grooming, 02:26.540 --> 02:28.420 then this is probably not as important. 02:29.560 --> 02:33.700 It's really if there are two separate objects on top of each other. 02:34.220 --> 02:40.560 You might also have big piercings, a nasty scar with stitches, or any other landmarks, 02:40.900 --> 02:46.620 but these are only meant to provide enough geometry to move with other objects 02:46.621 --> 02:50.640 that are attached, not to model other objects into them. 02:51.240 --> 02:55.680 Stitches, piercings, eyebrows, etc. should be kept 02:55.681 --> 02:58.080 separate to not make the topology too complicated. 02:59.080 --> 03:02.060 Following the general shapes is the first thing. 03:02.480 --> 03:06.640 The next important thing is capturing specific surface details. 03:07.560 --> 03:09.940 We can outline the primary creases, 03:10.340 --> 03:14.320 which are hard edges that need to be captured by the topology. 03:14.321 --> 03:20.200 This is usually achieved by having one or two proximity loops 03:20.201 --> 03:23.660 next to the hard edge to keep it sharp while subdivided. 03:24.100 --> 03:27.140 Tight to this idea are the secondary creases, 03:27.320 --> 03:30.660 which are only becoming sharp when the area is getting compressed. 03:31.440 --> 03:36.740 You can base these on the muscle movement and expression tests that we sculpted. 03:37.640 --> 03:42.200 For this, there also needs to be one or two proximity loops, 03:42.201 --> 03:46.000 but spaced out more to keep the surface smooth by default. 03:46.840 --> 03:50.580 Only when, for example, firing off a muscle to smile 03:50.581 --> 03:56.000 do the secondary creases become sharp by compressing the loops together. 03:56.620 --> 04:00.160 But to make this possible, the loops need to be there and ready. 04:00.720 --> 04:03.340 But now that we talked about the deformations of the mesh, 04:03.480 --> 04:09.160 it's good to give an ideal structure to the areas that will articulate the most. 04:09.161 --> 04:12.840 These are, for example, the brows, eyelids, and lips, 04:13.140 --> 04:16.480 which can deform in various ways based on the expression. 04:17.360 --> 04:19.760 To make the deformations as clean as possible, 04:20.080 --> 04:26.140 there need to be at least three loops to define any arc or curvature in these areas. 04:27.120 --> 04:29.718 What I'm talking about now is basically based 04:29.730 --> 04:32.340 on the three-curve principle by Brian Tindal, 04:32.420 --> 04:35.820 which I can highly recommend if you want to dive deeper into the subject. 04:35.821 --> 04:41.880 So there need to be one mid and two end loops for each brow, 04:41.881 --> 04:45.240 eye, and the mouth with a horizontal separation in the middle. 04:46.320 --> 04:49.900 But just like adding curve handles will give you more control, 04:50.280 --> 04:54.220 each of these loops should have two loops next to them. 04:54.820 --> 04:57.900 From there on out, more loops can be added if needed 04:57.901 --> 05:01.680 by the deformation or curvature of the surface. 05:01.681 --> 05:04.540 But try to keep this three-curve structure 05:04.541 --> 05:09.760 and the amount of loops symmetrical vertically and even horizontally. 05:10.760 --> 05:14.540 The rest of the loops that go perpendicular to these articulation loops 05:14.541 --> 05:18.580 should just be to keep the curvature of the surface intact. 05:19.160 --> 05:23.220 For example, for the closed eyes or stretched and compressed expression, 05:23.580 --> 05:27.840 there need to be enough loops to keep the structure of these shapes standing 05:27.841 --> 05:32.200 and not end up with too stretched or flat surfaces. 05:33.020 --> 05:36.680 But with all of these pieces of the puzzle, how do we connect them? 05:37.340 --> 05:40.880 This is where the strategic placement of Poles comes in. 05:41.460 --> 05:44.438 What we want to do with them is to redirect 05:44.450 --> 05:47.580 these lines into square and circular patches. 05:48.540 --> 05:52.460 The Poles should be placed away from the creases and hard edges 05:52.461 --> 05:55.720 and instead on surfaces that stay mostly flat, 05:55.721 --> 05:59.740 won't deform heavily or are hidden by other geometry. 06:01.260 --> 06:04.040 With these Poles placed, we can connect the dots 06:04.041 --> 06:08.040 and define specific patches to guide all of the 06:08.041 --> 06:10.660 other lines in the right direction without conflicts. 06:11.740 --> 06:13.900 So for example, by placing some Poles, 06:14.280 --> 06:19.160 we can create a square patch inside or next to circular ones. 06:19.940 --> 06:24.380 It's important to actually connect the Poles and not spiral them off. 06:24.381 --> 06:29.000 This way, we have very clearly defined square and circular patches 06:29.001 --> 06:34.220 in a constant ebb and flow next to each other and within each other. 06:34.640 --> 06:39.040 Bringing this all together in modeling, you should end up with something like this. 06:39.440 --> 06:42.040 I call it the patches to make the structure more clear. 06:42.460 --> 06:45.240 But this is very much an open-ended puzzle 06:45.241 --> 06:48.480 since there is no gold standard for retopology. 06:49.820 --> 06:53.540 This retopology can be reused for multiple characters, 06:53.541 --> 06:58.940 but some might need some special attention and different implementations. 06:59.580 --> 07:03.780 For example, if you would want to add some more loops below the eyelids 07:03.781 --> 07:07.440 and between the brows to get more definition, 07:07.900 --> 07:11.080 you could add another circular patch like a hero mask. 07:11.900 --> 07:14.920 If you look online at other artists' retopologies, 07:15.200 --> 07:17.900 you will find many different solutions to the puzzle. 07:18.480 --> 07:23.200 But as long as you understand the principles and what is needed for your character, 07:23.201 --> 07:25.840 then you can pretty much retopologize anything. 07:26.600 --> 07:29.180 Of course, in an actual production environment, 07:29.660 --> 07:31.240 there is an extra chaos factor. 07:31.840 --> 07:35.240 This planning and execution is pretty much an ideal scenario, 07:35.320 --> 07:40.700 but there might still be some changes and last-minute adjustments, 07:41.120 --> 07:43.720 or the time available is only very minimal. 07:44.360 --> 07:48.480 You might want a couple more loops in the brow area 07:48.560 --> 07:51.480 for frowning, and you add a diamond and try to hide it. 07:51.481 --> 07:54.160 It's a bit ugly, but you can make it work. 07:54.880 --> 07:57.560 There could also be a little graveyard below the jaw 07:57.561 --> 08:02.540 where the arcs are just wide enough to not be too noticeable. 08:03.340 --> 08:06.040 Also as a side note, I drew the arc the wrong way. 08:06.300 --> 08:11.020 Loops would be coming from the face and redirected back into it. 08:11.420 --> 08:13.740 So just to clear that up. 08:14.820 --> 08:19.740 Extra pulse to lead some more loops into an 08:19.741 --> 08:21.240 area where you need them is also very common. 08:22.140 --> 08:24.520 Or some areas might lack extra pulse, 08:24.640 --> 08:27.040 which makes the available loops a bit thin. 08:27.780 --> 08:32.240 The better the topology, the better the animated outcome will be. 08:33.640 --> 08:39.280 But placing more pulse comes at a cost of more stretching and pinching. 08:39.620 --> 08:41.520 That's the tricky part of the puzzle. 08:42.920 --> 08:47.220 In the next videos, I'll demonstrate how to retopologize the face in practice 08:47.221 --> 08:50.520 to get to the results you see on the screen right now.