HUGE SALE! You can save 50% on all my courses until the end of Christmas with the code XMAS - The Essential Topology Guide - decoded.gumroad.com/l/ESSENTIALTOPO Also available on Blender Market - blendermarket.com/products/essentialtopo The Interior Masterclass - decoded.gumroad.com/l/interiormasterclass Also available on Blender Market - blendermarket.com/products/the-interior-masterclass The Exterior Masterclass - decoded.gumroad.com/l/exteriormasterclass Also available on Blender Market - blendermarket.com/products/the-exterior-masterclass
This is excellent, Thank you. I failed to learn these concepts when I started out with Blender. It made my learning journey that much longer. Now I'm having to go back and unlearn lots of bad habits, so your clear & specific explanations are very useful. Thanks again.
@@mrlightwriter Though engines like Unreal have their own solutions for quads, any game engine will transform any mesh you throw at it to tris meaning it doesn't matter for the most part, poles aka ngons are bad bc the game engine doesn't know how to deal with them as it can only deal with quads/tris so if you don't place them in flat topology they may be imported wrong bc the engine didn't know how to convert the ngons to tris and did it wrong.
*For people having trouble in **4:10* If you want to snap the vertices like that you have to select Vertex Snapping (Hotkey = Ctrl + Shift + Tab), then you have to press G and X to lock it to that axis, and while holding Ctrl you have to put your cursor directly on a vertex in the Y axis (above or below the selected vertex). It should snap with that vertex but just in the X axis, then you repeat that with the Y axis, putting your cursor on a vertex on the X axis. I think it's important to always explain kinda this stuff since it can go unnoticed, I personally had to learn it by trial and error and took me like 10 minutes with some help from another comment. 😅
Easy way to choose every other edge: 1. Choose 1st edge 2. Choose 3rd edge 3. Press Ctrl + Shift + Numpad(+) That's a shortcut for the "Choose Next". This also works for choosing every 3rd, every 4th and etc
2:00 You need to select vertecies around, then checker deselect them, then also add center vertex to the selection with Shift. And now press 2 to go to edge mode. Done
just did this, thanks for the tip you can also select the edgeloop ( [2], then alt-click an edge to get the loop) and hit 1 to have all the verts selected
Yes, topology decimation master, you are entirely correct. You can't checker deselect edges with a common vertex but you can checker deselect their outer vertices, which saves potentially enormous amount of time. Thank you for writing this suggestion, I was scrolling down the comments for this exact one.
You can easily checker deselect by alt selecting the outer ring in vertex mode, checker deselect, then select the middle vertex, switch to edge mode, ctrl+x
If you create an inner ring of faces, Ctrl-Alt select the edges of that inner ring, then checker deselect and dissolve edges, you can then merge the remaining vertices and get quads in the middle.
When this showed up on my feed I was like "Oh here we go again, another random dude explaining basic stuff". I am so glad I still, those are very helpful tips and examples, really well done!
Funny that< I've come across this video now, recommended, WEEKS after I've searched youtube for the EXACT same thing, and no results, or subpar results. These tips are a GOD SEND, thank you so very much... having said that, two weeks later, and I've built a lot of models for my project, without these tips, sooo... :) Im in Engon hell :)
1:46 You can also use *Poke faces* (Ctrl+F -> P) with the cap selected to make a triangle fan in one step. Poke Faces adds a vertex to the center of each selected face and creates a triangle fan around it.
2:00 after you inset the second time (the circle you collapse), just select the inner edges with circle select tool, then do checker deselect, ctrl+delete, then collapse the middle, much faster!
I feel like it is necessary to call out a little gem of a tip that I didn't know about and maybe others don't either. 4:10 to snap the vertex to align to the ones around it, select the vertex, use G, X to constrain it to the X-axis, then hold CTRL and hover over an aligned Y vert. Behold, it snaps!! Repeat for the Y direction using G, Y, then hold CTRL and hover over an aligned X vert. All these years I didn't know about this handy trick. :-} Thanks Mr. D!
Excellent tutorial that I never even though I needed. I swear it was just a random click on my UA-cam feed. Thank you alghorithm. And thank you Decoded.
Thanks for another great video on topology. Your early videos on topology were a huge help in demystifying it to me. That laptop looks very interesting!
In terms of making a standard cylinder there is actually nothing wrong with a triangle fan. When you subdivide the structure at 2:00 will be generated by the subdivision anyway. It's much faster to use 2 control loops instead of selecting every other edge and dissolving them. It also uses less geometry than some of the other methods which will start adding up fast in your high polys.
At 2:00 you say that "Checker Deselect" will not work, but it DOES work. What you need to do is select that ring, and then go into vertex mode and use "Checker Deselect", then SHIFT select the center vert and you can dissolve the edges.
2:00 you actually could bevel the middle vert(Ctrl+Shift+B), use edge ring (either any selecting method you want), checker deselect, dissolve, merge middle beveled ring at center. Much less frustraiting
@carlosfranca2602 Howdy carlos. There are some cubic forms (like dice with rounded faces) which use 6-spoked piles on the corners. When extruding a checkerboard arrangement of inset faces they are the best topology and they are the only sensible topology available when 3 axes are extruded in 3 separate directions (happens all the time). There is one type of sphere - kind of half way between a uv sphere and a quadsphere which uses them too. They do crop up occasionally(normally on corner of less than 90 degree angles which use them very efficiently too. Their usage is generally a little more advanced but sometimes they are the best solution!
If you enjoyed this video, you should check out my course, the Essential Topology Guide. Use the code Big20 to get 20% off at Gumroad - decoded.gumroad.com/l/ESSENTIALTOPO
Very interesting. I'd like for extra clarification between working topology, subdivision compatible topology, and final topology. Low poly optimized game assets also use a ton of obscure tricks to keep poly count down.
Maybe I just missed it, but I don't think he mentioned where E and N poles get their names: the letter E has 5 edges while the letter N has 3 edges! That always helped me remember which was which.
Another great submission. Though, you should really make use of the various shading models people also use for sculpting. These help you judge the surface of a mesh much better.
Here's a topology tip that saved me a ton of time and my UV's Instead of doubletapping G to slide the vertex or edge. Triple tap G and get full freedom of movement then use any axis to lock your direction if required. This is also nondestructible to your texture/ UV's
@MonsterJuiced It really is not! There is no third mode. "g" to freely rransform. "gg" to go to edge slide mode. Pressing g a third time just goes back to free transform. There is not an extra mode! (Edit - I was wrong. There is a third press of g which works as the tip says!)
@@threadlington3430 But there is though I use it. Do you have loop tools plugin enabled? I'll check what allows me to do it because this thing has been a life saver for me for the past few months
@@threadlington3430 I think youtube removed my comment because it has a link in it. Trying again: watch?v=ZyrZZqpbFNA That video will show you the third G option
Thank you! Very cool, but a bit too fast for me and so, kind of stressful, not meant in a rude way. I'm not sure, but it seems that the mouse overlay on the left is sometimes overlapped by menus.
i have seen so many 3d artist making videogame assets with the most unoptitmized polycount ever because the "all quads mindset" so: hard surface non deformable object: yes, use triangles character or object meant to be deformed in any way: no, avoid triangles
Over here struggling to keep my 1660 Ti PC alive and Asus just casually sending people 4k series PCs for free. I need to start doing Blender Tutorials... I have the knowledge, just gotta do it!
people need to stop with the “all quads” rubbish. Triangles aren’t a problem in a mesh; POLES are. sticking a vertex halfway along one edge of a tri doesn’t make it better topology just because it’s a quad now.
@@8p8c50sometimes it isn’t worth the effort. Like in hard surface modeling, it’s not AS important, especially if you’re just modeling a quick concept. Soft body modeling and “final drafts” of hard surface modeling should definitely prioritize quads though. Working with quads is generally easier. Tldr, quads are more or less important depending on the case, so you shouldn’t rip your hair out over every little tri or ngon. That being said, quads can make a major impact.
sometimes you specifically need to arbitrarily declare where the quad should fold otherwise youll get inconsistent results in mesh deformation or game engine imports, different programs interpret triangulation differenly, which isnt a problem if your quads are flat. but sometimes it cannot be that way. and creating quads with vertices too close to one another is a recipe for clipping and z-fighting. i had it once where I had to do this for a low poly chips bag for it to be smooth throughout towards the corners
Blender is fun, you can make stupid mods like play as your fav character in your fav game. It's stupid until you realize some places think it's neat on a job app. Had no idea fooling around in game would be quite this beneficial. Eye opener for sure.
I sometimes use triangle fan to top off a flat end of a cylindrical object, without the points being merged, in order to have the easiest to work with (square) UVs for tangent use when dealing with anisotropic shading. How would you approach getting good tangents and seamless transition on such a work piece using more "proper" topology? Note that UV driven tangents are *NOT* smoothed across the seam like normals are. And according to developers, "it's a feature, not a bug" 🤦There are procedural texturing reasons I need UVs in this weird layout too, so just assume the tangent has to be UV driven. How would you approach this?
Remember topology depends on final use, dont blindly follow rules and instead learn to adapt Perfect square quads are not the only right way to model and oftentimes tris can be good
Quads aren't as important as the edge loops themselves but this only applies for "organic" movement, background/props or anything inorganic can use any kind of topology for the most part.
Usually i start with a 6sides cylinder when i know i am going to SD anyway, keeping the typology simple to deal with and the final result will stay the same.
Hey, I'm learning how to use Blender and making 3D graphics in general and this might be a dumb question, but should all faces be quads and if so why? From my personal experience it makes it harder to apply materials to faces that aren't quads, but is there something more to it and how to avoid doing it when making complex models (like human characters)?
i've just started out myself, but from the many mistakes i already made, i noticed that having quads is good because there won't be weird unnecessary sharp edges when you subdivide it, and if you decide to transform quads into tris at some point, it won't cause that problem either. i think they're just good because they make way for clean and smooth surfaces, plus what you said about easier application of materials
HUGE SALE! You can save 50% on all my courses until the end of Christmas with the code XMAS -
The Essential Topology Guide -
decoded.gumroad.com/l/ESSENTIALTOPO
Also available on Blender Market - blendermarket.com/products/essentialtopo
The Interior Masterclass -
decoded.gumroad.com/l/interiormasterclass
Also available on Blender Market - blendermarket.com/products/the-interior-masterclass
The Exterior Masterclass -
decoded.gumroad.com/l/exteriormasterclass
Also available on Blender Market - blendermarket.com/products/the-exterior-masterclass
This is excellent, Thank you. I failed to learn these concepts when I started out with Blender. It made my learning journey that much longer. Now I'm having to go back and unlearn lots of bad habits, so your clear & specific explanations are very useful. Thanks again.
Except his philosophy is all wrongheaded and founded on the idea that poles are OK but tris are bad, which is just plain backwards.
Aren't tris bad most of the time?
@@mrlightwriter Though engines like Unreal have their own solutions for quads, any game engine will transform any mesh you throw at it to tris meaning it doesn't matter for the most part, poles aka ngons are bad bc the game engine doesn't know how to deal with them as it can only deal with quads/tris so if you don't place them in flat topology they may be imported wrong bc the engine didn't know how to convert the ngons to tris and did it wrong.
8:23 Face poll landmarks - Thanks so much for this. This is just so cool!
*For people having trouble in **4:10*
If you want to snap the vertices like that you have to select Vertex Snapping (Hotkey = Ctrl + Shift + Tab), then you have to press G and X to lock it to that axis, and while holding Ctrl you have to put your cursor directly on a vertex in the Y axis (above or below the selected vertex). It should snap with that vertex but just in the X axis, then you repeat that with the Y axis, putting your cursor on a vertex on the X axis.
I think it's important to always explain kinda this stuff since it can go unnoticed, I personally had to learn it by trial and error and took me like 10 minutes with some help from another comment. 😅
Lord bless you ❤
I remember when i discovered i could lock axes. Felt like a million bucks.
I love the blender community man thank you so much
It's just so funny
that I soon as I stuck three I rushed to comment and here you are - saving with the top comment with the solution of my problem
@@Tachastasiia Happy to help ❤️
Easy way to choose every other edge:
1. Choose 1st edge
2. Choose 3rd edge
3. Press Ctrl + Shift + Numpad(+)
That's a shortcut for the "Choose Next". This also works for choosing every 3rd, every 4th and etc
2:00 You need to select vertecies around, then checker deselect them, then also add center vertex to the selection with Shift. And now press 2 to go to edge mode. Done
This way is better than my suggestion.
just did this, thanks for the tip
you can also select the edgeloop ( [2], then alt-click an edge to get the loop) and hit 1 to have all the verts selected
Yes, topology decimation master, you are entirely correct. You can't checker deselect edges with a common vertex but you can checker deselect their outer vertices, which saves potentially enormous amount of time. Thank you for writing this suggestion, I was scrolling down the comments for this exact one.
Your way of explaining and showing what is said is exceptional. Thank you for the video!
You can easily checker deselect by alt selecting the outer ring in vertex mode, checker deselect, then select the middle vertex, switch to edge mode, ctrl+x
Fantastic. One of the few YT videos I've seen so clearly described on this topic. cheers
Okay, that bit about joint is actually excellent. Thanks.
Agree, but he missed 2 Edge Loops on Subdivision, so I will note what best, what not.
@@thepseudowhiteokay, then. Show me how it's done.
If you create an inner ring of faces, Ctrl-Alt select the edges of that inner ring, then checker deselect and dissolve edges, you can then merge the remaining vertices and get quads in the middle.
Elaborate?
Ohh my gosh, you made it look so easy. Thank you so much.
When this showed up on my feed I was like "Oh here we go again, another random dude explaining basic stuff". I am so glad I still, those are very helpful tips and examples, really well done!
Funny that< I've come across this video now, recommended, WEEKS after I've searched youtube for the EXACT same thing, and no results, or subpar results. These tips are a GOD SEND, thank you so very much... having said that, two weeks later, and I've built a lot of models for my project, without these tips, sooo... :) Im in Engon hell :)
You are the master of Topology
1:46 You can also use *Poke faces* (Ctrl+F -> P) with the cap selected to make a triangle fan in one step.
Poke Faces adds a vertex to the center of each selected face and creates a triangle fan around it.
Thank you. The finger's part is really useful, in fact, today I was thinking about different uses for the inset tool. I'm new in blender.
2:00 after you inset the second time (the circle you collapse), just select the inner edges with circle select tool, then do checker deselect, ctrl+delete, then collapse the middle, much faster!
I feel like it is necessary to call out a little gem of a tip that I didn't know about and maybe others don't either. 4:10 to snap the vertex to align to the ones around it, select the vertex, use G, X to constrain it to the X-axis, then hold CTRL and hover over an aligned Y vert. Behold, it snaps!! Repeat for the Y direction using G, Y, then hold CTRL and hover over an aligned X vert. All these years I didn't know about this handy trick. :-} Thanks Mr. D!
Yeah ctrl snapping is great. I use it constantly. It works in object mode too, if you want to align objects with another surface. 👍
For some reason when I'm doing this the snapping works weird. It snaps, but not with the vertices, it remains a little crooked on the Y axis
you can snap with ctrl what?
WHAT??
Excellent tutorial that I never even though I needed. I swear it was just a random click on my UA-cam feed. Thank you alghorithm. And thank you Decoded.
I learn more from your videos than i ever did in class. Thanks
Topology, pole theory.. really innovative, elegant concepts here, very cool
Good video lad for us newbies
This is exactly what I was looking for, You are the only one who has it. Thank You so much.
Thanks for another great video on topology. Your early videos on topology were a huge help in demystifying it to me. That laptop looks very interesting!
Thank you. Loving these tips lately. Stuff I never thought about consciously before.
The knuckle tip was actually very cool.
Really clear and quick. Thanks!
In terms of making a standard cylinder there is actually nothing wrong with a triangle fan. When you subdivide the structure at 2:00 will be generated by the subdivision anyway. It's much faster to use 2 control loops instead of selecting every other edge and dissolving them. It also uses less geometry than some of the other methods which will start adding up fast in your high polys.
At 2:00 you say that "Checker Deselect" will not work, but it DOES work. What you need to do is select that ring, and then go into vertex mode and use "Checker Deselect", then SHIFT select the center vert and you can dissolve the edges.
At 2:00, use ctrl shift numpad+ to select the repeating pattern
2:00 you actually could bevel the middle vert(Ctrl+Shift+B), use edge ring (either any selecting method you want), checker deselect, dissolve, merge middle beveled ring at center. Much less frustraiting
Very helpful and informative for this intermediate newbie. Thank you!
Great tips! Always welcome to learn more ways to create correct topology when you need one:)
Thank you for these tips!
It is pretty useful
This was incredibly useful, thanks.
good information
didnt know at all about the finger and face topology things
Super useful info.
I’ll be using the tips in Lightwave.
3:26 Seeing how to make a screwhead already haha.
Just need the screw's bottom part :D
If I understood it correctly all three options is about avoiding triangled meshes for proper shading, is it right?
Hello Geordie! I use 6-poles all the time. I think they are optimal in several circumstances. (I'm from South Shields!)
For which circumstances you use them most? Which would be the recommended moment to use them? Truly curious noob here.
@carlosfranca2602 Howdy carlos. There are some cubic forms (like dice with rounded faces) which use 6-spoked piles on the corners. When extruding a checkerboard arrangement of inset faces they are the best topology and they are the only sensible topology available when 3 axes are extruded in 3 separate directions (happens all the time). There is one type of sphere - kind of half way between a uv sphere and a quadsphere which uses them too. They do crop up occasionally(normally on corner of less than 90 degree angles which use them very efficiently too. Their usage is generally a little more advanced but sometimes they are the best solution!
Really helpful tips! Thank you for making this video!
Great video, thank you.
You are welcome!
I swear I've learnt more from this one tutorial about topology than all the others 😂
Thank you so much! Your content is awesome.
@ 2:08 u can select 2 edges and then press CTRL+SHIFT+"numpad+"
Good stuff, thanks!
If you enjoyed this video, you should check out my course, the Essential Topology Guide. Use the code Big20 to get 20% off at Gumroad -
decoded.gumroad.com/l/ESSENTIALTOPO
Just keep the tips coming, you beautiful polygonal god bear!
Very interesting. I'd like for extra clarification between working topology, subdivision compatible topology, and final topology.
Low poly optimized game assets also use a ton of obscure tricks to keep poly count down.
this was informative. thank you!
may i know the addons you downloaded in object mode tool bar section?
Nice video i learnt better ways to topology as I knew only one type earlier
Thanks a lot!
So many handy tricks.
Very useful, thank you, I had changed my style.
Thanks 4 the great video
tnx a lot brother i was suffering with this for soo long , now with ur help my topology is better. LOVE YOU 💝💝
im curious what is the problem with combining quads and tris?
Excellent! (Said in the voice of Mr Burns)
remember, edge and vertex creasing is also good if you dont want to add extra edges to your mesh.
That’s only if the model stays in Blender. If you need to bring it into other softwares, the creased parts will not look creased in other softwares.
Maybe I just missed it, but I don't think he mentioned where E and N poles get their names: the letter E has 5 edges while the letter N has 3 edges! That always helped me remember which was which.
Thank you!
the last tip is so usefull thanks
AMAZING STUFF THX!!!
very nice one ^^
great! make more topology tips !!
Good vid 👌
Another great submission.
Though, you should really make use of the various shading models people also use for sculpting. These help you judge the surface of a mesh much better.
Here's a topology tip that saved me a ton of time and my UV's
Instead of doubletapping G to slide the vertex or edge. Triple tap G and get full freedom of movement then use any axis to lock your direction if required. This is also nondestructible to your texture/ UV's
But pressing G three times is just the same as only pressing it once!!!
@threadlington3430 no it isn't. Pressing it once just moves, which warps the texture. Twice is slide mode. Three times is free-form slide
@MonsterJuiced It really is not! There is no third mode. "g" to freely rransform. "gg" to go to edge slide mode. Pressing g a third time just goes back to free transform. There is not an extra mode! (Edit - I was wrong. There is a third press of g which works as the tip says!)
@@threadlington3430 But there is though I use it. Do you have loop tools plugin enabled? I'll check what allows me to do it because this thing has been a life saver for me for the past few months
@@threadlington3430 I think youtube removed my comment because it has a link in it. Trying again: watch?v=ZyrZZqpbFNA
That video will show you the third G option
Thanks for sharing. :)
Oooh getting sponsored by the big ones eh? Congrats :) 🎉
Thank You
Very great video
Thank you! Very cool, but a bit too fast for me and so, kind of stressful, not meant in a rude way. I'm not sure, but it seems that the mouse overlay on the left is sometimes overlapped by menus.
i have seen so many 3d artist making videogame assets with the most unoptitmized polycount ever because the "all quads mindset" so:
hard surface non deformable object: yes, use triangles
character or object meant to be deformed in any way: no, avoid triangles
1:55 why not select two and then ctrl+=?
Great video. Any news on the laptop. Been eyeing this one, or the equivalent by MSI. Thx 😊
great one
Uff bro thank you i learned alot a things dude 😃🖐
Nice video
Over here struggling to keep my 1660 Ti PC alive and Asus just casually sending people 4k series PCs for free. I need to start doing Blender Tutorials... I have the knowledge, just gotta do it!
people need to stop with the “all quads” rubbish. Triangles aren’t a problem in a mesh; POLES are. sticking a vertex halfway along one edge of a tri doesn’t make it better topology just because it’s a quad now.
Why do you think that's rubbish?
@@8p8c50sometimes it isn’t worth the effort. Like in hard surface modeling, it’s not AS important, especially if you’re just modeling a quick concept. Soft body modeling and “final drafts” of hard surface modeling should definitely prioritize quads though. Working with quads is generally easier.
Tldr, quads are more or less important depending on the case, so you shouldn’t rip your hair out over every little tri or ngon. That being said, quads can make a major impact.
@@8p8c50 some times triangls give me less shading issues than quads
sometimes you specifically need to arbitrarily declare where the quad should fold otherwise youll get inconsistent results in mesh deformation or game engine imports, different programs interpret triangulation differenly, which isnt a problem if your quads are flat. but sometimes it cannot be that way. and creating quads with vertices too close to one another is a recipe for clipping and z-fighting. i had it once where I had to do this for a low poly chips bag for it to be smooth throughout towards the corners
@Bleak1302 a vertex that has 5 edges linked in it
Tysm !!
does loops always have to flushed to x,y,z? can you manually place them?
Thank you, this video is so helpful to me
Very interesting video. Shame I know nothing about modelling and have no use for this 💀
Very useful even if am a max user
Ty sir
How about good CONE topology? the tip has many lines converging
That ASUS laptop look noice! Can they send me one as well?🤪
Now how do you handle it when you want the end of the cylinder to have a dome?
Blender is fun, you can make stupid mods like play as your fav character in your fav game. It's stupid until you realize some places think it's neat on a job app. Had no idea fooling around in game would be quite this beneficial. Eye opener for sure.
I sometimes use triangle fan to top off a flat end of a cylindrical object, without the points being merged, in order to have the easiest to work with (square) UVs for tangent use when dealing with anisotropic shading. How would you approach getting good tangents and seamless transition on such a work piece using more "proper" topology? Note that UV driven tangents are *NOT* smoothed across the seam like normals are. And according to developers, "it's a feature, not a bug" 🤦There are procedural texturing reasons I need UVs in this weird layout too, so just assume the tangent has to be UV driven. How would you approach this?
Remember topology depends on final use, dont blindly follow rules and instead learn to adapt
Perfect square quads are not the only right way to model and oftentimes tris can be good
Quads aren't as important as the edge loops themselves but this only applies for "organic" movement, background/props or anything inorganic can use any kind of topology for the most part.
Usually i start with a 6sides cylinder when i know i am going to SD anyway, keeping the typology simple to deal with and the final result will stay the same.
Hey, I'm learning how to use Blender and making 3D graphics in general and this might be a dumb question, but should all faces be quads and if so why? From my personal experience it makes it harder to apply materials to faces that aren't quads, but is there something more to it and how to avoid doing it when making complex models (like human characters)?
i've just started out myself, but from the many mistakes i already made, i noticed that having quads is good because there won't be weird unnecessary sharp edges when you subdivide it, and if you decide to transform quads into tris at some point, it won't cause that problem either. i think they're just good because they make way for clean and smooth surfaces, plus what you said about easier application of materials
Wow, this is magic.
becoming a master jedi, feel i
I dont know how I got here but now Im interested. Why are triangles bad? I thought computer graphics was all about the number of triangles.