Checking the model topology

00:03

Now,

00:04

we need to check what is probably the most

00:05

important element of any model and that's its topology.

00:10

I'll switch on default lighting

00:12

and disable the textures.

00:14

I'll also turn on wireframe unshaded. So we can see how the polygons are formed.

00:21

So now we can see the model.

00:23

The first areas I like to check are the head and face.

00:27

When working on a facial rig, you need to make sure the head can support one

00:30

and I can see straight away this one won't,

00:34

the mouth has been modeled closed. So we can't open it.

00:38

If I hide the head,

00:39

there are no inner mouth teeth or tongue models.

00:42

These elements along with the wall of the mouth are often referred to as a mouth bag.

00:47

So if this was to have a facial rig,

00:49

I would need to contact the artist who built it and ask them to update the head.

00:53

Other areas we would need to check are how the edges float along the surface

00:57

and how many edge loops are around deforming areas like the eyelids and lips.

01:02

There needs to be enough topology so the eyes can close

01:05

and the lips can deform

01:07

in this instance, these areas would need adjusting too.

01:11

There's not really much point in doing it at this

01:13

stage because we're not going to be adding a facial rig

01:17

when building a head model or in fact, when building any organic model,

01:21

you should try to follow the natural muscle lines.

01:24

So basically, the polygon edges try to match how the underlying muscles are formed.

01:30

This means the model will deform in a much more natural way when animated.

01:34

So for this workshop, it unfortunately means we won't be building a facial rig,

01:38

but we will be looking at a more detailed facial rig set up in a future course.

01:43

Let's instead focus on the rest of the model.

01:46

It looks like there are quite a few problem areas here.

01:49

We have a lot of triangles which are not an issue when placed correctly,

01:53

but these seem to be all over the place

01:56

here. For example, in the inner thigh,

01:59

we have similar issues up here with lots of triangles which aren't needed.

02:05

There are triangles up here

02:08

and down here

02:10

and here.

02:11

In fact, there are a lot of areas that need reworking on this model.

02:16

The problem with all these triangles is they

02:17

will cause problems as the model deforms,

02:21

the surface will pinch and tear in areas and in some cases cause unwanted creases,

02:27

the fingers need to be able to bend.

02:29

So it looks like we may need to add another edge loop around the knuckles,

02:33

we need this because as the finger bends,

02:36

the polygons around this area will stretch

02:38

and ultimately look very sharp and angular.

02:41

Having another edge loop will give us a nice natural curve instead,

02:46

lots more triangles up here.

02:49

OK.

02:49

So to be honest at this stage,

02:51

I would normally send this model back to the

02:53

artist with a list of suggested changes and improvements.

02:57

But instead, let's use it as a learning exercise and update the model ourselves.

03:02

It is important to state though that you

03:04

shouldn't do this without the client's permission.

03:07

They may have a pipeline which needs to be adhered to.

03:10

So they may have to do the updates themselves in house.