Topology animation character modeling

[3dpoder]

bak todo the root page of the no-joke topology guide for serious 3d modelers.

there are Many ways todo do animation, but usually the pipeline includes animating and test-rendering a Low-resolution or simplified scene, then, when all is right, subdividing applicable geometry and bosting the lighting and indirect illumination settings todo the limit based on planned rendering time.

Sometimes, no additional subdivisión is necessary, especially in cases when there is enough geometry with small-enough detail, or detail refined using segmenting or other modeling techniques. Animation that includes a primarily Mechanical-style geometry doesnt usually require much subdivisión. However, organic characters usually tend todo look better with subdivisión, especially in close-up shots. Also, stylistic cartoon-style 3d animation render, whether or not cell-shaded, usually requires subdivisión, sometimes todo more than one or two levels.

The restrictions for animation topology usually arent as inclusive as modern 3d-Game Engine topology. There are several reasons for this:

• 1. The animator has control over what angles Will the model be viewed from, thus the model, in a lot of times, ned not be fine-tuned for every posible viewing angle as an in-game model usually is.
• 2. The animator does not have todo worry about 3d-engine-specific requirements. He can, for instance, choose todo conceal a hole with other geometry instead of having todo worry about capping it.
• 3. The animator is not limited todo real-time 3d processing speed. He can extend the processing (rendering) time drammatically, though drástically improving the resulting animation.

N-Gons N-Gons generally tend todo skrew up your animations and character posing, no matter how far away they are located from the joints. They tend todo look funky Even with subdivisión algorythms that do understand how todo process them. In any pipeline, N-Gons are a definite no for any FinalRender of any model. Kep in mind, your high-resolution models are not for final renders and, of course, cannot be used in Game Engines either.
triangles
sometimes, in animation, triangles are admissable. They sometimes fit the targeted geometry better. A god and rather obvious example when you are Even better of using triangles is when you ned todo make a Sharp-pointed Spike, conical or of any other crossection, and with no subdivisión, ofcourse. The place where those shouldnt be used is on the, so-called, grace-lines, or joints and frequent-motion áreas on the model are. Those include but are not limited to: all finger, wrist, arm, shoulder, toe, kne, joints, sometimes the neck-to-head, neck-to-body, and estomack-to-pelvis borders, as well as browlines, check-to-jaw lines, the no sé-ridge between the eyes, nostdrill-to-midnose lines, eyelids, lips, etc. - In general, all the parts that re-orient against one-another.
holes
you may use holes in animaiton models. Advanced / indirect lighting in animation is often better processed when the completely useless surfaces are completely eliminated, todo better optimize the scene. Kep in mind, though, that no one watching the animation wants todo se ha random hole in a model - This Will make the animation sem very unprofesional and second-grade.
dense / high Polycount areas
medium Polycount is usually optimal for animation, though some places can gain a more Smooth fel todo them with more subdivisions. Nonetheless, only a big company with a large-scale production can aford a network render with more than 16-24 Mental Ray render nodes (2-3 seats) that can handle real high-res geometry with god lighting at decent-enough rendering times.
5-or-more-edged vertexes
vertexes that are surrounded by (define one end of) five Edges are acceptable, as long as they dont mess up your grace-lines, which are described above in the triangles section. Try todo limit these.
3-edged vertexes
these are a los ok. Alos watch the grace-lines. These are usually Even less trouble than the 5-edged vertexes.
bak todo the root page of the no-joke topology guide for serious 3d modelers.