Hard-Surface Weapon Retopology in Blender

Hard-Surface Weapon Retopology in Blender

by Jonathan Williamson

Learn How To Retopologize Complex, Hard-surface Forms in Blender

Through the continued improvement of sculpting tools and workflow we now have a lot of different ways we can choose to model a subject. A perfect example is Kent Trammell?s training series that looks at how to use Blender?s sculpting tools for creating a hard-surface weapon design. The techniques Kent uses rely on the dynamic topology feature, allowing Kent to create most anything he can imagine. However, these techniques and workflows don?t generally result in models that are easy to work with through the rest of the production pipeline. Dynamic topology, and sculpting in general, result in very high-resolution models that may have beautiful forms but they?re challenging to texture, render, or do much of anything with. This is where retopology comes into play.

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Retopology is the process of recreating an existing form with a clean mesh structure that accurately represents the original form. This process is often used to yield a animation or render-ready model that?s not only easier to work with, but may also have cleaner surfaces that give the artist more freedom in the remaining stages of the complete workflow (such as texturing, shading, and rendering.)

What you?ll learn through this course

Building on Kent?s previous series, Sculpting a Sci-Fi Weapon, this Blender course will take you through the retopology process for that final sci-fi weapon model. Among other things you will learn:

How to break the model down into key forms

Modeling methodically to get more control over the mesh

How to easily add sharp details with proximity loops (holding edges) and edge creasing

How to use surface snapping for fine mesh control

How to use the Shrinkwrap modifier for better visibility

How to use the BSurfaces add-on as a retopology tool