Full disclosure; I'm a Poly modelling hammer. Now that been said; in your example you are shooting yourself in the foot doing all that from the start, basically starting backwards, extruding and trying to get a form with so many polys from the beginning, for example that lip with 36 edges is a HUGE mistake. In my experience with polys (been modelling since 1997) you start with a base mesh with basic (VERY BASIC) topology, and after you got the structure and the proportions set you add detail and refine adding loops and going up in poly count. Is the same method as sculpting, you start up with a base mesh with foundations and structure THEN you add detail on top. My point is that you guys are presenting the poly modelling scenario like a silly infomercial before situation. It is like trying to sculpt a face and subdivide the sphere 6 times right at the beginning. In the other hand YES sculpting is the way to go for almost any organic (or funky hard surface) model out there. You are going to deal with more steps and more post work like retopo and exporting mesh from here to there, but in the hand of a talented sculptor it's a vastly superior technique.
I was thinking the same thing. I'm no pro, but I've learned the hard way you gotta block in your shapes first using only as many polys as you need, else you'll be in for a world of hurt pretty quick.
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@@dzibanart8521 /it does'nt necessarily need to start out as a box. That's a good way, but not the only way. You can start the same way he did here, he just went too vert crazy too soon.
I actually just started poly modeling a face recently and all that I could say is, always start at a low poly count. The very first thing I did was to use a a lot of poly right from the start, then I had difficulty in refining it. After trying so hard to do it, I decided to just start from scratch and guess what? It's much easier with low poly since you can always increase the poly count, but you cannot decrease it as easily.
@@kerwwyngonzales9547 they're doing the meme where the 1st episode of a let's play is simple and then the 2nd episode they've done a ton of work off screen
The polygon modeling at the beginning, particularly the lip part looked like those infomercials where people are incapable of sitting down with a bowl of popcorn or can't drink out of a cup. Lol. Like, I know you're trying to prove a point, but it's funny how you were proving it.
You mean those ones where the fails are shot in a weird looking black and white and when they screw up a big red X goes over them? Those are hilarious!
Trantor The Troll You create a new image that is the "normal map", which is a RGB map containing height/angular values to use in a Shader/Material. This is used to fake the details in a low poly mesh, which, as you probably now, is way better to animations and games. So, instead of having, let's say, a character that has over 3 million polygons (super heavy), you would have a 100k or even less polygons, and if the baking was done correctly, you probably would not be able to tell the difference.
My workflow too. I like the precision you get with polymodeling. Zbrush isnt really made to trace over a reference image. Its more for artist who have a good eye for copying proportions.
2:45 - but in poly modelling you have many tools to speed up your workflow. Soft selection for example. So poly modeling is not about just moving vertices. You may need to straight create topology rather then sculpt, and for that poly modelling is your friend. Also it may be even simplier then sculpting for those, who don't have art skills at all, but want to start working in 3d.
I tried sculpting and found making a head impossible, I finally tried poly modelling after days of attempting sculpting and made a really nice looking head in like 10 minutes (really surprising myself how easy it was.). It really depends on the person imo. I've always been more maths oriented and my artistic skills are negligible.
Omg same. I'm good at math but I am far from being artistic. My brother is the opposite, he's very creative/artistic but not the best at math. In that regards we have a lot to learn from each other LOL, he's been helping me learn sculpting and I've helped him with maths.😅
I am also kind of math guy. I feel the same "pull" towards poly modeling. But on the other hand you shouldn't do a whole organic object by poly modeling. Easyest way to describe poly modeling is "perfect". While sculpturing can easilly described as "imperfect". Manufactured items (unless bad quality or specifics of materials used) are comonly perfect. Organic object are comonly imperfect. If you look at someone face and draw a thick vertical line centered between eyes, you will notice that there are marginal differences between both sides. The point is you should allways get atleast the final touch with sculpting to create imperfections on organic materials. Sculpturing is a powerful tool at our disposal and only by learning it we can move forward, no matter if we like it or not.
I'm quite the opposite, I've started to use blender 2 weeks ago ... in the first 2 hours I sculpt an very pleasing head without any base knowledge on the subject. But at the same time, I struggle with poly modeling, I struggled that much that I know I have to keep sculpting aside for now and just work on poly modeling.... So I tried it, got frustrated, got me blender Add ons for 40$ (Hard Ops and Box Cutter) - which I'm so glad I did- And now I work on more and more complex shapes, to rise up my game, step by step. Every skill can be learnd, it may only take you a bit longer then others, but when you get there it's even more satisfying
interesting i'm more hands on and visually artistic and stray away from math as much as possible because of my short attention span i'll typically zone out when thinking mathematically. But i don't like sculpting. I think poly modeling is great if you have a great reference. i'm very practical so i like using poly modeling with a reference.
Totally agree, I can't really do much in sculpting based modeling but I've been polygon modeling cars, robots and other mechanical components for years and I was able to get decent head and body models in a month. I still don't like to to do much organic modeling but at least I know that I can do it with poly modeling if I have to.
@Trantor The Troll , automatic retopology is never perfect. You will end up with weird edge flow leading to bad uvs (because of not ending loops) and bad topology for deformation when animating. Parts of the head also need more polygons than others such as the ears, automatic retopology will try to equalize the amount of poly on your mesh, so if you need to have a optimized mesh like a game model, you need low poly count and thats where automatic retopo will absolutely destroy those area in need of more polys like the ears. And btw zbrush manual retopology is pretty bad overall, maya have a pretty solid one.
Zremesher have options for all those scenarios tho, you dont just slap the Zremesh button and call it a day, Add Guide curves to control topology, add vertex paint to control density. Once you give it that it hands out a good basemesh to clean up in Maya or max or Blender, and it will save you hours of manually building a mesh.
I kinda like poly modeling i currently find it actually easier to learn than sculpting a character. I’m very frustrated trying to learn to sculpt although it is exciting and I know I’ll eventually get better. I’m learning the basics of poly modeling in blender and i find myself more engaged in it even tho I’m actually a doodler. Last night I spent two hours creating a medium poly has mesh to give myself a head start with all my future sculpts and I felt more confident with taking that approach with the default cube, extruding it to the desired head shape with eye sockets nose and mouth then making light sculpts. As I get better at sculpting I’ll probably ditch that whole workflow and do it the way I see everyone doing it here. I also find that checking retopology is kind of a headache when increasing the numbers as the additions get super grungy, so I keep it at a low number like less than 5 to make my strokes smoother. So far I’m having a good time with it even tho all my Sculpts suck.
@@jinxatron Poly modeling doesn't taker hours in fact making a full base mesh should take you 30m - 40m, Sze jones from Cristaldynamics makes them even faster, anyway I can't think in any scenario were you want to make details in polymodeling, thats a zbrush job
I can remember when I used to model everything, before I realized digital sculpting was a thing, honestly it's a lifesaver- so much time was wasted worrying about topology when I should've been practicing sculpting and improving my design skills.
I watched a handful of blender videos yesterday. You taught me things in ten minutes that ten videos didn’t cover. Thank you! I like this podcast style video.
The poly modeling here is done very clumsy like the modeler was trying to make poly modeling look bad, blender to look bad, or he didn't know how to do it. The proper way to poly model is with two reference images. You can do it without them like here but it requires more skill. Many fine human models were done with poly. You also neglected the fact that you can get a quick start in poly and move to sculpting.
I started Poly modeling and my teacher in college was a little outdated so she never really taught us sculpting, until I found this channel... This explains why all all my characters look like the stock head
The poly modeling here was done very clumsy like you were trying to make the poly model or Blender look bads on purpose (or you are not very good at it). The real way to do poly modeling is with two references images. Of course, you can do it without the reference images, but you need to be more skillful.
After doing traditional poly modeling for characters for a while, I'm leaning more and more into sculpting as it makes it where you don't have to worry about chasing topology issues around while working out the model shape and details at the same time. Makes it so much easier to focus on the shape first and then deal with topology during retopo imo.
As someone who has only been into 3D art for 6 months or so this has puzzled me more than once, thanks for the explanation and clearing some things up! good video guys! ありがとう。
I wouldn't say ありがとう too fast. I've been a professional 3D artist for over 18 years. The video wasn't that impressive. They did a poor job of explaining the benefits of poly modeling and tried to make it look like sculpting is the best thing since sliced bread. Each has it's own place and not just one for characters, one for hard surfaces.
The car industry does a full scale clay sculpt of car bodies to see a full scale mock up of a design and refine it, so saying you cant model cars in clay is bunkem
Poly model the base mesh; then sculpt refined imperfections details after. This workflow is useful even when making a hard surface model like a Star Wars, vehicle:)
Hi, a question of curiosity, so I'm going to University for Game Art and some tutors not all ban the use of Blender and force you to use Maya. I understand that they do this because Maya is more accepted for the industry at this moment, but if you were in their shows would you do this same, considering that a student is capable of using both software and just uses the strong suit of each of them. Here is an example, a lot of times I will encounter problems with UVing and will switch to the other software to see if I get a better result, or if I plan to boolean at all I will use Blender. It seems a bit unnecessary to force people to use a single software, especially considering that maybe in the future we have to use 3DMax and we haven't learned it at all, so kinda defeats the purpose since you might have to use a different DCC altogether once you do have a job.
To learn Maya is far to be a punishment or a waste of time, you could decide to blindly listen to them, and work it hard. Then, i guess at home you don't have 3d dictators, so you can do whatever you want. Or you want to follow some strong intuition and do it your way because you know you're right, and this may be effectively the case. Who knows? ; )
You remind me of myself at uni- I had used blender for a few years prior to joining, they said I shouldn't use it because they don't know how, but it seems like Maya is becoming less relevant- at least from the perspective of an indie artist or hobbyist. I'd just try not to worry about the software- learn the basics, focus on the art skills, fundamentals, anatomy or whatever it is you're trying to design rather than the tools. It is frustrating to use something inferior but if they're teaching you all the other stuff focus on that.
As an alternative you can teach yourself instead of going to an expensive uni, if you consider yourself creative. There's a lot of free information out there so you won't have to reinvent the wheel. And a good portfolio is worth a lot more than a diploma in any creative industry. Feedback is also important, but thanks to the internet that's not much of a problem either.
Honestly, once you know and truly understand the fundamentals of modeling, learning a new software isn't difficult at all. They might have different naming conventions on certain tools or whatnot, but in the end, they all operate the same way more or less. UV mapping problems might just be a result of not fully understanding all tools available to you in whatever software you're using. Maya's UV tools have gotten significantly better over the last few years and shouldn't hold you back in any way at this point honestly. If that's where you were having problems with it anyway.
I'm lucky, I am in my 2nd year at University but I started at 25 and with a good amount of experience under my belt. My advice is this, follow what they say in class and make sure you learn the tools they ask. BUT you're gonna have a hell of a lot of free time, so don't waste it procrastinating on things just go ahead and do your own thing in your spare time and learn everything you can. An issue I've personally noted is most fresh university starters expect to be taught everything there has ever been, they want to finish uni after 3 years and be fully proficient in all aspects. But it doesn't work like that, they give you the basics and you decided how far you want to progress, self teach any spare chance you get, on their tools, your tools or whatever takes your fancy and you'll do great ! and dear lord, get yourself a couple bottles of hard liquor for when the group projects start ! did you know people are idiots ? xD
Another topic you could cover similar to this would be modelling objects as a whole or separate pieces, it took me a very long time to realise that not everything in the model has the be same mesh
I had the same issue when I first started working in 3d attempting SubD modelling and wondered why my models were getting so difficult to work with with. Their intro to Maya covers this, I think but it would make a nice standalone video and would probably end up on google search results for beginners.
Lastly i made hands by combining the two method. I did use poly modeling for making the base shape, then i used sculpting. While sculpting i kept the mesh so clean that i even could animate it without retopology. I tried to animate sculpted objects before but those tries made messes.. while sculpting i checked the mesh and made some corrections if it was needed. Basically i think my workflow fits this method because i find balance in dancing between things. While sculpting its easier to give life to the object, but poly modelling can control the whole process. Next to my expressions i have to admit. I can’t imagine sculpting some object like cars, or anything non-organic shapes. But if we want to add some touches, we may have to sculpt.. like wrinkles in a pillow or scars, scratches, etc.
you could sculpt without reference in case you are good in anatomy "in matter of characters, animals and creatures but poly modeling without reference is pain in sculpting you are just focusing on the artistic part but in modeling your brain will separate between the artistic and technical parts
I start all my organic designs that I finish in zBush in Modo with traditional poly modeling :P I find it quicker and easier and it guarantees I have good topology (which isn't even necessary because I design most things for 3d printing and decimate it afterwards), but it means I can go back in and use the base face for super easy modifications in the future, which I like.
I'd love to see what you worked on when you were in the industry. That would make a great video. Like going thought shots you've made, insights on production, etc...
My current workflow is: poly modeling with reference images for inspiration, use sculpting as a polish phase to avoid having to grab individual verticies and move around for chape changes.
I like this 2 methods, I use poly for animate characters and sculpting for just a single piece, but I'm agree with you in this all aspects that you mentioned
For hard surface, polymodeling is the best method. But I've also has success polymodeling a head or a body in Maya to get the topology correct from the get-go, then moving it into ZBrush and adding more refined details
As i understood modeling can achieve low and middle poly, scluting is high poly but u cant make face animation with sculpting but u can do it with modeling. Right?
You forgot the 3rd ultimate masochist option which is: 1. Get the basic shapes by sculpting a blockout, no detail work. 2. retopo 3. In Blender use multires on the retopo to sculpt in the detail (like pores and wrinkles) and instantly bake it all into a normal/displacement map for the retopo *Pros:* you can be selective early on with where you want the detail and due to the topology the detail will also align to your exact needs on higher levels. Not sure how to describe it, but it feels like it just sculpts itself, because e.g. the topo will be just right for the wrinkles you wanna do. The retopo will also most closely resemble the sculpt compared to any other approach. Baking textures for overlapping stuff and convex angles will be PERFECT. *Cons:* if you deviate from level 0 too much, the bake is fucked. If you go back to editing lower levels after having edited higher ones already, you get everything fucked. It also still takes fucking forever, because you basically have to sculpt twice. It's a very top-down approach.
Polygon modeling is ultra fast for many of us and much more practical that zbrush as there is no need to retopo. My character workflow always starts out with a primitive. The way you guys are doing it is just super slow. For my workflow, sculpting comes on the tail end along with texturing. It is very practical and very fast. After 25 years I have no need to even create base meshes anymore but I do it to maintain. Diving right in is killing people on retopo because they don't understand polygon manipulation.
My recent workflow for more complicated characters is this (let's assume, we make humans or similar): First start using a simple model (might just be a cube or sphere, but also a finished human, already created another time). Then get a basic shape done using dyntopo sculpting. Add more simple models and join them using modelling (for example hands, feet, a nose, or some other properties specific to a fantasy creature, etc.). Then also add other details using dyntopo sculpting. Then turn off dyntopo and sculpt using the existing topology (might be less destructive). When the shape is good enough, do a retopology using modelling and snapping. Then disable snapping, hide or delete the original model, and add important details, which were difficult before (like holes of the nose, or the inner of the mouth, or maybe the space between toes). You can also add simple models of other objects you made or found in this phase (for example when you had problems doing a good retopo of the hand). Then do sculpting for smoothing and detials without dyntopo, when problems arise, you might need to improve topology in some places, so it matches the shape.
Wich is better to rig? I'm trying sculpting. But didn't tried rig it yet. I'm afraid I'd lose time. I know poly modeling is used with rigging, but I just feel better sculpting
Another great conversation starter guys. Love your attraction titles... like your Retopology video it ends up being what is not "better" but what's best for your own needs at the time. Recently I've been sticking in Zbrush for all modeling even hard surface. Personally i can pretty much do hard surface modeling just as fast or even faster in zbrush (which is a mainly seen as a sculpting tool). With a mix of zmodeler, panel loops, live boolean, project primitive, etc. its surprisingly good and fast. Although i recently bought some add-ons for Blender for hard surface modeling. I'd like to see how enhanced or efficient the new hard surface tools arem
love your channel Sculpting is better for organic shapes but poly modeling can help before you start Poly Modeling is essential for your career or hobby
Well technically when you do retopology of a sculpt you’re polymodeling, neither is superior to the other, they’re meant to be used interchangeably. It’s the method that better suits the workflow, if I’m polymodeling and I want to make broad changes I switch to sculpt mode.
if you sculpt a character head and have to find animate it for facial animation... don't you need the kind of topology that modeling gives to make it move properly? I guess the part I dont get is how does sculpting for animated faces work when sculpting seems to give so many more polygons in strange mesh forms.
I poly model faces all the time, then I unwrap the UV map, subdivide and sculpt the details. I get correct topology and I guarantee that the details I sculpted will have a really good fidelity because I'm sculpting them from a subdivided version of my already correctly-topologized model. The difference may not be *super* noticeable, but I've had less than accurate results by resorting to sculpting from a poorly topologized model and importing the maps to a correctly topologized one.
I learn in the hard way when modeling stay with the less details in the model as posible; since blender and other 3dcg promrams use a mechanic like multires it will helps you a LOT to modeling and tweak you creations fast. Nice explaination btw, I will try to sculp some things soon.
ZBrush came out several years before the Golem model was created for LOTR. In fact, for the interview to do character modelling for LOTR they gave modellers ZBrush to come up with models for Orcs, Balrog etc. The guy who passed the interview told them that he's not used to working with ZBrush and asked if he could have clay instead and as the beginning of this long sentence have already mentioned he passed the interview where the ZBrush guys failed.
I'm only 16 years old and I've learned Zbrush for sculpting in a high Poly resolution, but If I want a low Poly resolution to animate and keep the details what I need to do??
So would it be smart to model first then switch to sculpting to do the detail and finishing? Like using the poly modeling to make your base mesh for lets say a scify creature. Then sculpt all the details in after?
it's best to have both skills, keep getting better don't get in fights of which method is better, instead find your way to model, which ever is best for you, whether it's poly, sculpting, or both
It's edge loop selection. Hold Alt and left click the connection between edges. If it's an edge junction, click slightly toward the target edge loop next to the junction.
So glad I subscribed. 😄 I'm actually trying to flip normals. I'm on my first non-guided practice project, and used a bunch of mirroring. My project is really piecework, with lots of unaligned seams. So, as a result, many of my faces are backwards. I'm trying to flip normals after-the-fact. Not working as well as I wish. Oh well, only a practice project!!
It's in Show Overlays to see the normals direction. Then to flip the normal: (edit mode) mesh tab->Normals->Flip. The issue is mismatch alignment between parts and spotty particles (hair). I know where I went wrong. Not a fix, but a do-over! 😂
So I understand that once you have a solid foundation, you won't necessarily sculpt things from scratch. You can use base meshes to get it started. My question is, how feasible is it to use something like DAZ3D or Character Creator from Reallusion to create a fast and easy base mesh, and then export this to Zbrush for refinement, and on to the rest of the pipeline?
I do cad at work and although it does work well its not quite great for helmets. I did make a sword in it though. I mean it can be done but it's a little complex.
In my experience (wich isn´t so much) Organic shapes can be easier made with sculpting, but those are not good for production because the poly count, so there will always be a retopology process. Also, I haven´t ever heard about anyone texturing with modeling (you know, you have to substract the normals information, as much faces as smoother the result) this is better done with sculpting tools, or procedural texturing, you will only use modeling for texturing if you are workking with Hard-surface modeling for videogames (when smoothing corners and keeping a low poly count. In summary: There´s no reason to think one is better than another, they have different porpouses in production and you have to avoid stick with one or another. You have to attach to what gives you the same result (or better) in shorter time.
i am a poly modeller and dont know a single thing about zbrush , although i used it to paint some normals before, but thats it. but since my characters is quite cartoony, its not difficult for poly modelling
For characters with a ton of detail of course I would use sculpting software (not zbrush of course), but for a more cartoony character like Disney or Pixar stuff, I would feel more comfortable using sub-Ds.
I'm currently teaching myself Blender. I watch a Video that uses Poly Modeling and Sculpting. Poly Modeling first, sculpting after, repeat. Should I just ignore Poly Mdoeling at all and simply go for sculpting, or is it still a good idea to learn the topology of the model while poly modeling? Also would a sculpted Model still be the better way if I want to rig the model afterwards,animate it, etc?
I'm trying to make a character. I started with poly modeling for main shapes and then switched to sculpting for detail. Does anyone foresee a problem in my future?
this video was very helpfull to me! i always wanted to do simple toy figures from the 80s... i first tried sketchup... then fusion... some ppl told me use modeling in fusion... some told me to use blender and sculpting! i tried sculpting and this is wayyy better than poly modeling!
Full disclosure; I'm a Poly modelling hammer.
Now that been said; in your example you are shooting yourself in the foot doing all that from the start, basically starting backwards, extruding and trying to get a form with so many polys from the beginning, for example that lip with 36 edges is a HUGE mistake. In my experience with polys (been modelling since 1997) you start with a base mesh with basic (VERY BASIC) topology, and after you got the structure and the proportions set you add detail and refine adding loops and going up in poly count. Is the same method as sculpting, you start up with a base mesh with foundations and structure THEN you add detail on top. My point is that you guys are presenting the poly modelling scenario like a silly infomercial before situation. It is like trying to sculpt a face and subdivide the sphere 6 times right at the beginning.
In the other hand YES sculpting is the way to go for almost any organic (or funky hard surface) model out there. You are going to deal with more steps and more post work like retopo and exporting mesh from here to there, but in the hand of a talented sculptor it's a vastly superior technique.
I was thinking the same thing. I'm no pro, but I've learned the hard way you gotta block in your shapes first using only as many polys as you need, else you'll be in for a world of hurt pretty quick.
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indeed, one should start with the boxy shape of the head, and slowly introduce loops that match key points of reference image.
@@dzibanart8521 /it does'nt necessarily need to start out as a box. That's a good way, but not the only way. You can start the same way he did here, he just went too vert crazy too soon.
I actually just started poly modeling a face recently and all that I could say is, always start at a low poly count.
The very first thing I did was to use a a lot of poly right from the start, then I had difficulty in refining it.
After trying so hard to do it, I decided to just start from scratch and guess what? It's much easier with low poly since you can always increase the poly count, but you cannot decrease it as easily.
I think the combination of both is the best, polymodeling to get the rough shape, and sculpting on the model to add fine details and texture
This is good. I tend to create a low poly basemesh with strong edge loops, then import to sculpt so I can keep the deforms correct.
and then finally retopology to a mesh with a better edge flow. sculpting is great but loses topology control.
In blender you can use multires to get very straight forward baking of the sculpt too if you start from a poly model.
Yes I think that makes sense
For me it’s polymodel the bare mesh and use sculpting tools to adjust it in ways I doubt edit mode would be able to do
5:08 : Thanks for watching episode 1 of my minecraft lets play
5:12 : As you can see, I did some mining of camera
HUUUUH!?
????
@@kerwwyngonzales9547 they're doing the meme where the 1st episode of a let's play is simple and then the 2nd episode they've done a ton of work off screen
He did /give lol
LMFAOOOO TRUE
3D model head with poly modeling? Yeah, I like challenges... but i'm not masochist
@@alefin2960 And also first half of 00's, but good riddance 😄
I poly model everything XD for some reason when I sculpt it gets all messed up?
@@alefin2960 Blockbuster entered the chat
I remember modeling heads that way. I had Jason Osipa's book, Stop Staring, and my heads always had a deformed and pained look to them.
@@AdrianParkinsonFilms , That is not a modeling or sculpting book.
The polygon modeling at the beginning, particularly the lip part looked like those infomercials where people are incapable of sitting down with a bowl of popcorn or can't drink out of a cup. Lol. Like, I know you're trying to prove a point, but it's funny how you were proving it.
You mean those ones where the fails are shot in a weird looking black and white and when they screw up a big red X goes over them? Those are hilarious!
@@harryguidotti3815 Yeah. Lol.
I use polymodelling for the base mesh and later on sculpt on it....and bake the normal maps
Trantor The Troll You create a new image that is the "normal map", which is a RGB map containing height/angular values to use in a Shader/Material. This is used to fake the details in a low poly mesh, which, as you probably now, is way better to animations and games.
So, instead of having, let's say, a character that has over 3 million polygons (super heavy), you would have a 100k or even less polygons, and if the baking was done correctly, you probably would not be able to tell the difference.
@@goldentearrpg Nice explanation.... and for the final touches I take my mesh to substance painter....and texture paint them
My workflow too. I like the precision you get with polymodeling. Zbrush isnt really made to trace over a reference image. Its more for artist who have a good eye for copying proportions.
Me too...gives great results rendering in Unreal Engine...
I love a bit of clickbait. You guys never cease to amaze me. The 'sculpt' in the thumbnail is clearly photogrammetry
Or some other type of scan.
2:45 - but in poly modelling you have many tools to speed up your workflow.
Soft selection for example. So poly modeling is not about just moving vertices.
You may need to straight create topology rather then sculpt, and for that poly modelling is your friend.
Also it may be even simplier then sculpting for those, who don't have art skills at all, but want to start working in 3d.
I tried sculpting and found making a head impossible, I finally tried poly modelling after days of attempting sculpting and made a really nice looking head in like 10 minutes (really surprising myself how easy it was.). It really depends on the person imo. I've always been more maths oriented and my artistic skills are negligible.
Omg same. I'm good at math but I am far from being artistic. My brother is the opposite, he's very creative/artistic but not the best at math. In that regards we have a lot to learn from each other LOL, he's been helping me learn sculpting and I've helped him with maths.😅
I am also kind of math guy. I feel the same "pull" towards poly modeling. But on the other hand you shouldn't do a whole organic object by poly modeling.
Easyest way to describe poly modeling is "perfect".
While sculpturing can easilly described as "imperfect".
Manufactured items (unless bad quality or specifics of materials used) are comonly perfect.
Organic object are comonly imperfect. If you look at someone face and draw a thick vertical line centered between eyes, you will notice that there are marginal differences between both sides.
The point is you should allways get atleast the final touch with sculpting to create imperfections on organic materials.
Sculpturing is a powerful tool at our disposal and only by learning it we can move forward, no matter if we like it or not.
I'm quite the opposite, I've started to use blender 2 weeks ago ... in the first 2 hours I sculpt an very pleasing head without any base knowledge on the subject.
But at the same time, I struggle with poly modeling, I struggled that much that I know I have to keep sculpting aside for now and just work on poly modeling....
So I tried it, got frustrated, got me blender Add ons for 40$ (Hard Ops and Box Cutter) - which I'm so glad I did-
And now I work on more and more complex shapes, to rise up my game, step by step.
Every skill can be learnd, it may only take you a bit longer then others, but when you get there it's even more satisfying
interesting i'm more hands on and visually artistic and stray away from math as much as possible because of my short attention span i'll typically zone out when thinking mathematically. But i don't like sculpting. I think poly modeling is great if you have a great reference. i'm very practical so i like using poly modeling with a reference.
Totally agree, I can't really do much in sculpting based modeling but I've been polygon modeling cars, robots and other mechanical components for years and I was able to get decent head and body models in a month. I still don't like to to do much organic modeling but at least I know that I can do it with poly modeling if I have to.
To be fair that wasn't a very good poly modeling workflow. It's far more optimal to work directly from a reference.
@Trantor The Troll , automatic retopology is never perfect. You will end up with weird edge flow leading to bad uvs (because of not ending loops) and bad topology for deformation when animating. Parts of the head also need more polygons than others such as the ears, automatic retopology will try to equalize the amount of poly on your mesh, so if you need to have a optimized mesh like a game model, you need low poly count and thats where automatic retopo will absolutely destroy those area in need of more polys like the ears. And btw zbrush manual retopology is pretty bad overall, maya have a pretty solid one.
Zremesher have options for all those scenarios tho, you dont just slap the Zremesh button and call it a day, Add Guide curves to control topology, add vertex paint to control density. Once you give it that it hands out a good basemesh to clean up in Maya or max or Blender, and it will save you hours of manually building a mesh.
I kinda like poly modeling i currently find it actually easier to learn than sculpting a character. I’m very frustrated trying to learn to sculpt although it is exciting and I know I’ll eventually get better. I’m learning the basics of poly modeling in blender and i find myself more engaged in it even tho I’m actually a doodler. Last night I spent two hours creating a medium poly has mesh to give myself a head start with all my future sculpts and I felt more confident with taking that approach with the default cube, extruding it to the desired head shape with eye sockets nose and mouth then making light sculpts. As I get better at sculpting I’ll probably ditch that whole workflow and do it the way I see everyone doing it here. I also find that checking retopology is kind of a headache when increasing the numbers as the additions get super grungy, so I keep it at a low number like less than 5 to make my strokes smoother. So far I’m having a good time with it even tho all my Sculpts suck.
@@jinxatron Poly modeling doesn't taker hours in fact making a full base mesh should take you 30m - 40m, Sze jones from Cristaldynamics makes them even faster, anyway I can't think in any scenario were you want to make details in polymodeling, thats a zbrush job
what if you have a preference imagined in your head
It`s even better using low-poly, then sculpt it to the shape you want and then retopo it again X)
eyy. someone who knows my workflow XD
Brilliant
Great
As I learn, modeling tends to give me more freedom and easier to pull off even with good topology at ease compared to scuplting.
Then you might scuplt on it after as create a humanoid base mesh from a sphere is really hard to do.
I can remember when I used to model everything, before I realized digital sculpting was a thing, honestly it's a lifesaver- so much time was wasted worrying about topology when I should've been practicing sculpting and improving my design skills.
Duplicate your models and zremesh them. Subdivide the duplicate and project your original model to the new one.. Ez topology fix.
I watched a handful of blender videos yesterday. You taught me things in ten minutes that ten videos didn’t cover. Thank you! I like this podcast style video.
The poly modeling here is done very clumsy like the modeler was trying to make poly modeling look bad, blender to look bad, or he didn't know how to do it. The proper way to poly model is with two reference images. You can do it without them like here but it requires more skill. Many fine human models were done with poly. You also neglected the fact that you can get a quick start in poly and move to sculpting.
I agree 100%, i do this for faces all the time and it isn't so hard Subdiv modeling is key, and use a sculpt program to do the small details
I made the mistake of learning first poly modeling when designing a character instead of sculpting😂 Now I know better.
neither is better... it rests in the hands of the artist.
I think any artist would say certain tools are better for certain jobs though. You wouldn't use a pencil to make an oil painting.
A wise man once said:
@@yuko3437 Leave before you go.
I started Poly modeling and my teacher in college was a little outdated so she never really taught us sculpting, until I found this channel... This explains why all all my characters look like the stock head
You need them both: Poly Modeling to create the basic shapes, and Sculpting to add details to the shape.
This makes alot of sense
The poly modeling here was done very clumsy like you were trying to make the poly model or Blender look bads on purpose (or you are not very good at it). The real way to do poly modeling is with two references images. Of course, you can do it without the reference images, but you need to be more skillful.
Important thing to consider, this is.
@@beesmongeese2978 ended up involuntarily reading that in a Yoda voice, gave me a chuckle
the overall topology was pretty terrible too, poles everywhere meaning probably shading artifacts.
At least two. Preferably 3 or more.
7:36 i laughed too hard when you transitioned back to the original face lol
yeah its embarrassing huh
2:06 *oooo*
2:09 *AHHHHHHHHHHHHH*
yea@!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lol XD exactly wat they saying
9:46 eeeeeeeeeeeee
The most underrated comment here
Back in my day we made characters one edge loop at a time
In many cases that would be a lot faster than trying to sculpt it and then retopo.
After doing traditional poly modeling for characters for a while, I'm leaning more and more into sculpting as it makes it where you don't have to worry about chasing topology issues around while working out the model shape and details at the same time. Makes it so much easier to focus on the shape first and then deal with topology during retopo imo.
I'm 99,99% sure that the "sculpting" head, which you used in your thumbnail, is scanned and not sculpted.
I think poly modeling is better for establishing a general shape and form, but sculpting is better for small intricate detail.
Which is better for sculpting ?
Zbrush or mari ?
@@samsonic6320 zbrush is a mainstream sculpting software, so I obviously recommend zbrush.
Other way around.
I am absolutely agree
As someone who has only been into 3D art for 6 months or so this has puzzled me more than once, thanks for the explanation and clearing some things up! good video guys! ありがとう。
I wouldn't say ありがとう too fast. I've been a professional 3D artist for over 18 years. The video wasn't that impressive. They did a poor job of explaining the benefits of poly modeling and tried to make it look like sculpting is the best thing since sliced bread. Each has it's own place and not just one for characters, one for hard surfaces.
The car industry does a full scale clay sculpt of car bodies to see a full scale mock up of a design and refine it, so saying you cant model cars in clay is bunkem
It makes no sense, but you can do it.
@@chosenideahandle ua-cam.com/video/wVAatvGYXJ4/v-deo.html
Poly model the base mesh; then sculpt refined imperfections details after. This workflow is useful even when making a hard surface model like a Star Wars, vehicle:)
Amazingn how you guys keep making videos to supplement my lectures. Right on time.
Hi, a question of curiosity, so I'm going to University for Game Art and some tutors not all ban the use of Blender and force you to use Maya. I understand that they do this because Maya is more accepted for the industry at this moment, but if you were in their shows would you do this same, considering that a student is capable of using both software and just uses the strong suit of each of them. Here is an example, a lot of times I will encounter problems with UVing and will switch to the other software to see if I get a better result, or if I plan to boolean at all I will use Blender. It seems a bit unnecessary to force people to use a single software, especially considering that maybe in the future we have to use 3DMax and we haven't learned it at all, so kinda defeats the purpose since you might have to use a different DCC altogether once you do have a job.
To learn Maya is far to be a punishment or a waste of time, you could decide to blindly listen to them, and work it hard. Then, i guess at home you don't have 3d dictators, so you can do whatever you want. Or you want to follow some strong intuition and do it your way because you know you're right, and this may be effectively the case. Who knows? ; )
You remind me of myself at uni- I had used blender for a few years prior to joining, they said I shouldn't use it because they don't know how, but it seems like Maya is becoming less relevant- at least from the perspective of an indie artist or hobbyist. I'd just try not to worry about the software- learn the basics, focus on the art skills, fundamentals, anatomy or whatever it is you're trying to design rather than the tools. It is frustrating to use something inferior but if they're teaching you all the other stuff focus on that.
As an alternative you can teach yourself instead of going to an expensive uni, if you consider yourself creative. There's a lot of free information out there so you won't have to reinvent the wheel. And a good portfolio is worth a lot more than a diploma in any creative industry. Feedback is also important, but thanks to the internet that's not much of a problem either.
Honestly, once you know and truly understand the fundamentals of modeling, learning a new software isn't difficult at all. They might have different naming conventions on certain tools or whatnot, but in the end, they all operate the same way more or less. UV mapping problems might just be a result of not fully understanding all tools available to you in whatever software you're using. Maya's UV tools have gotten significantly better over the last few years and shouldn't hold you back in any way at this point honestly. If that's where you were having problems with it anyway.
I'm lucky, I am in my 2nd year at University but I started at 25 and with a good amount of experience under my belt. My advice is this, follow what they say in class and make sure you learn the tools they ask. BUT you're gonna have a hell of a lot of free time, so don't waste it procrastinating on things just go ahead and do your own thing in your spare time and learn everything you can. An issue I've personally noted is most fresh university starters expect to be taught everything there has ever been, they want to finish uni after 3 years and be fully proficient in all aspects. But it doesn't work like that, they give you the basics and you decided how far you want to progress, self teach any spare chance you get, on their tools, your tools or whatever takes your fancy and you'll do great ! and dear lord, get yourself a couple bottles of hard liquor for when the group projects start ! did you know people are idiots ? xD
You are so good at this. You are pro lite you deserve more than this
Another topic you could cover similar to this would be modelling objects as a whole or separate pieces, it took me a very long time to realise that not everything in the model has the be same mesh
I had the same issue when I first started working in 3d attempting SubD modelling and wondered why my models were getting so difficult to work with with. Their intro to Maya covers this, I think but it would make a nice standalone video and would probably end up on google search results for beginners.
@Lee Curt huh, I looked for a video like this before making the comment, thanks for pointing me to it
Lastly i made hands by combining the two method. I did use poly modeling for making the base shape, then i used sculpting. While sculpting i kept the mesh so clean that i even could animate it without retopology. I tried to animate sculpted objects before but those tries made messes.. while sculpting i checked the mesh and made some corrections if it was needed. Basically i think my workflow fits this method because i find balance in dancing between things. While sculpting its easier to give life to the object, but poly modelling can control the whole process.
Next to my expressions i have to admit. I can’t imagine sculpting some object like cars, or anything non-organic shapes. But if we want to add some touches, we may have to sculpt.. like wrinkles in a pillow or scars, scratches, etc.
Doesn't blender have sculpting also?
Yes
@@vaporsheep9330 yes but in terms of powerful tools Zbrush still is the winner for now
Black Monolith Entertainment Blender still has very powerful tools, they just aren’t as refined
@@BlackMonolithEntertainment12 i've never tried Zbrush is it better than C4D?
Try sculpt with 40 objects in a scene with total of 100 million polygons and you will know who is the winner
Poly looks perfect for anime like models
you could sculpt without reference in case you are good in anatomy "in matter of characters, animals and creatures but poly modeling without reference is pain
in sculpting you are just focusing on the artistic part but in modeling your brain will separate between the artistic and technical parts
Yes...this. polymodeling is like a fight between your left and right brains...artistically technical
You should have reference when sculpting too.
I start all my organic designs that I finish in zBush in Modo with traditional poly modeling :P I find it quicker and easier and it guarantees I have good topology (which isn't even necessary because I design most things for 3d printing and decimate it afterwards), but it means I can go back in and use the base face for super easy modifications in the future, which I like.
Polynesian man in the beginning. Now that's exactly how i model too.
02:07 Oh, old switchy. I've done that.
I'd love to see what you worked on when you were in the industry. That would make a great video. Like going thought shots you've made, insights on production, etc...
My current workflow is: poly modeling with reference images for inspiration, use sculpting as a polish phase to avoid having to grab individual verticies and move around for chape changes.
Wow, this one video taught me more about 3d modeling than any tutorial ever has.
Thank you for explaining this
Which is better? firstly sculpting the character and then doing polymodeling on top? or the other way around?
I tried poly modelling for the first time today. I cried tears of pain and am scarred forever.
I like this 2 methods, I use poly for animate characters and sculpting for just a single piece, but I'm agree with you in this all aspects that you mentioned
It took me way too long to realize that there were two people talking.
You can also start with poly, then sculpt it. That way you can bake the sculpt onto a displacement map.
For hard surface, polymodeling is the best method. But I've also has success polymodeling a head or a body in Maya to get the topology correct from the get-go, then moving it into ZBrush and adding more refined details
As i understood modeling can achieve low and middle poly, scluting is high poly but u cant make face animation with sculpting but u can do it with modeling. Right?
Explanation was much appreciated!
Dude I can't focus with that head poly model, it's nothing to worry about since I can just not watch it but it's really cool.
You forgot the 3rd ultimate masochist option which is:
1. Get the basic shapes by sculpting a blockout, no detail work.
2. retopo
3. In Blender use multires on the retopo to sculpt in the detail (like pores and wrinkles) and instantly bake it all into a normal/displacement map for the retopo
*Pros:* you can be selective early on with where you want the detail and due to the topology the detail will also align to your exact needs on higher levels. Not sure how to describe it, but it feels like it just sculpts itself, because e.g. the topo will be just right for the wrinkles you wanna do. The retopo will also most closely resemble the sculpt compared to any other approach. Baking textures for overlapping stuff and convex angles will be PERFECT.
*Cons:* if you deviate from level 0 too much, the bake is fucked. If you go back to editing lower levels after having edited higher ones already, you get everything fucked. It also still takes fucking forever, because you basically have to sculpt twice. It's a very top-down approach.
most coherent 3d artist:
Polygon modeling is ultra fast for many of us and much more practical that zbrush as there is no need to retopo. My character workflow always starts out with a primitive. The way you guys are doing it is just super slow. For my workflow, sculpting comes on the tail end along with texturing. It is very practical and very fast. After 25 years I have no need to even create base meshes anymore but I do it to maintain. Diving right in is killing people on retopo because they don't understand polygon manipulation.
Can you add polygons to the sculpture after you finish?
Appreciate the works guys
Flippednormals has been always motivating me thanks for motivation 🙌🙌🙌🙌
Isn't the "sculpted" head in the thumbnail a scan?
My recent workflow for more complicated characters is this (let's assume, we make humans or similar):
First start using a simple model (might just be a cube or sphere, but also a finished human, already created another time).
Then get a basic shape done using dyntopo sculpting.
Add more simple models and join them using modelling (for example hands, feet, a nose, or some other properties specific to a fantasy creature, etc.).
Then also add other details using dyntopo sculpting.
Then turn off dyntopo and sculpt using the existing topology (might be less destructive).
When the shape is good enough, do a retopology using modelling and snapping.
Then disable snapping, hide or delete the original model, and add important details, which were difficult before (like holes of the nose, or the inner of the mouth, or maybe the space between toes). You can also add simple models of other objects you made or found in this phase (for example when you had problems doing a good retopo of the hand).
Then do sculpting for smoothing and detials without dyntopo, when problems arise, you might need to improve topology in some places, so it matches the shape.
Thank you so much this helped a lot!!!! You saved my life
Wich is better to rig? I'm trying sculpting. But didn't tried rig it yet. I'm afraid I'd lose time. I know poly modeling is used with rigging, but I just feel better sculpting
Another great conversation starter guys. Love your attraction titles... like your Retopology video it ends up being what is not "better" but what's best for your own needs at the time.
Recently I've been sticking in Zbrush for all modeling even hard surface. Personally i can pretty much do hard surface modeling just as fast or even faster in zbrush (which is a mainly seen as a sculpting tool). With a mix of zmodeler, panel loops, live boolean, project primitive, etc. its surprisingly good and fast. Although i recently bought some add-ons for Blender for hard surface modeling. I'd like to see how enhanced or efficient the new hard surface tools arem
love your channel
Sculpting is better for organic shapes but poly modeling can help before you start
Poly Modeling is essential for your career or hobby
I was thinking about that topic these days thanks for that video
hello, I am Turkish man and I love design so much because I am so happy when I could achive to creative a things
@Trantor The Troll yeah I am using blender 2.8 adn solidworks because I am mechanical engineer
Well technically when you do retopology of a sculpt you’re polymodeling, neither is superior to the other, they’re meant to be used interchangeably. It’s the method that better suits the workflow, if I’m polymodeling and I want to make broad changes I switch to sculpt mode.
Before digital sculpting, Pixar was laser scanning physically sculpted character models into the computer for Toy Story.
if you sculpt a character head and have to find animate it for facial animation... don't you need the kind of topology that modeling gives to make it move properly? I guess the part I dont get is how does sculpting for animated faces work when sculpting seems to give so many more polygons in strange mesh forms.
I used to model in basic language 40 years back, thats how real men do it 💪💪💪 !!!!!!
I poly model faces all the time, then I unwrap the UV map, subdivide and sculpt the details. I get correct topology and I guarantee that the details I sculpted will have a really good fidelity because I'm sculpting them from a subdivided version of my already correctly-topologized model. The difference may not be *super* noticeable, but I've had less than accurate results by resorting to sculpting from a poorly topologized model and importing the maps to a correctly topologized one.
I learn in the hard way when modeling stay with the less details in the model as posible; since blender and other 3dcg promrams use a mechanic like multires it will helps you a LOT to modeling and tweak you creations fast.
Nice explaination btw, I will try to sculp some things soon.
i tend to work with poly modeling, then refine the shape better with sculpting tools on the poly model. it works for me.
ZBrush came out several years before the Golem model was created for LOTR. In fact, for the interview to do character modelling for LOTR they gave modellers ZBrush to come up with models for Orcs, Balrog etc. The guy who passed the interview told them that he's not used to working with ZBrush and asked if he could have clay instead and as the beginning of this long sentence have already mentioned he passed the interview where the ZBrush guys failed.
I'm only 16 years old and I've learned Zbrush for sculpting in a high Poly resolution, but If I want a low Poly resolution to animate and keep the details what I need to do??
NeloMN1 export low polly with normal map
Look up Blender Retopo and Baking tutorials
thank you for this quick video ive been paralyzed to start because i didnt want to learn 'wrong'
So would it be smart to model first then switch to sculpting to do the detail and finishing? Like using the poly modeling to make your base mesh for lets say a scify creature. Then sculpt all the details in after?
it's best to have both skills, keep getting better don't get in fights of which method is better, instead find your way to model, which ever is best for you, whether it's poly, sculpting, or both
2:39 what did you press to select it like that?
Select one edge then hold alt and select another one
It's edge loop selection. Hold Alt and left click the connection between edges. If it's an edge junction, click slightly toward the target edge loop next to the junction.
So glad I subscribed. 😄 I'm actually trying to flip normals. I'm on my first non-guided practice project, and used a bunch of mirroring. My project is really piecework, with lots of unaligned seams. So, as a result, many of my faces are backwards. I'm trying to flip normals after-the-fact. Not working as well as I wish. Oh well, only a practice project!!
You know there is an option to show if your normals are flipped right? Did easy to fix
It's in Show Overlays to see the normals direction. Then to flip the normal: (edit mode) mesh tab->Normals->Flip. The issue is mismatch alignment between parts and spotty particles (hair). I know where I went wrong. Not a fix, but a do-over! 😂
So I understand that once you have a solid foundation, you won't necessarily sculpt things from scratch. You can use base meshes to get it started. My question is, how feasible is it to use something like DAZ3D or Character Creator from Reallusion to create a fast and easy base mesh, and then export this to Zbrush for refinement, and on to the rest of the pipeline?
what was the shortcut to fill in those polygons? 🤯
Misleading thumbnail, the model of the right in the thumbnail is a 3D scan.
Teresa Shinkansen the thumbnail is supposed to tell you a little bit about the video. In this case, it did. Disliked this comment
@@SunShite dislikes show for nobody else except you btw
@@ThePaperCreater nice observation Sherlock, no wonder every single comment has no dislikes
Brilliant video. Thanks guys!
Is poly moeling the same with box modeling, or with edge modeling? This is not very clear for me
8:09 STONKS!
So would you suggest hard surface helmets to be done in poly modeling?
Polymodeling, then imported to zbrush for any additional smaller details, likely.
That or floating details to normal bake on it.
Depends on complexity. CAD software is cool too.
Fusion360/MoI3D -> retopo in any software. Something like this.
I do cad at work and although it does work well its not quite great for helmets. I did make a sword in it though. I mean it can be done but it's a little complex.
With respect to your conversation with Danny Mac regarding combining the two methods (from 9:08) - is there a link that demonstrates that approach?
In my experience (wich isn´t so much) Organic shapes can be easier made with sculpting, but those are not good for production because the poly count, so there will always be a retopology process. Also, I haven´t ever heard about anyone texturing with modeling (you know, you have to substract the normals information, as much faces as smoother the result) this is better done with sculpting tools, or procedural texturing, you will only use modeling for texturing if you are workking with Hard-surface modeling for videogames (when smoothing corners and keeping a low poly count.
In summary: There´s no reason to think one is better than another, they have different porpouses in production and you have to avoid stick with one or another. You have to attach to what gives you the same result (or better) in shorter time.
Organic shapes are far easier with polys, then just hit Tab (or whatever) to sub-D the mesh.
i am a poly modeller and dont know a single thing about zbrush , although i used it to paint some normals before, but thats it. but since my characters is quite cartoony, its not difficult for poly modelling
What button did you press at 2:07? That's one helluva keyboard shortcut 😉
Alt + M then "At center"
@@larmaggeddon1610 pretty sure that doesn't magically finish modelling an incomplete face ☺️
@@gheedough xd, probably
@@gheedough I think he just applied a subsurface modifier
@@penguino118 nah, they cut out a whole bunch of work and skipped to this point
I'm new to 3D and I'm wondering If I could have a job poly modeling only for video games
very informative glad I found this explanation
I feel like the video title presents a false dichotomy.
For characters with a ton of detail of course I would use sculpting software (not zbrush of course), but for a more cartoony character like Disney or Pixar stuff, I would feel more comfortable using sub-Ds.
Are you recommended a tablet for sculpting?
I'm currently teaching myself Blender. I watch a Video that uses Poly Modeling and Sculpting. Poly Modeling first, sculpting after, repeat.
Should I just ignore Poly Mdoeling at all and simply go for sculpting, or is it still a good idea to learn the topology of the model while poly modeling?
Also would a sculpted Model still be the better way if I want to rig the model afterwards,animate it, etc?
Games = Polymodeling
art = sculpting
I'm trying to make a character. I started with poly modeling for main shapes and then switched to sculpting for detail. Does anyone foresee a problem in my future?
this video was very helpfull to me! i always wanted to do simple toy figures from the 80s... i first tried sketchup... then fusion... some ppl told me use modeling in fusion... some told me to use blender and sculpting! i tried sculpting and this is wayyy better than poly modeling!
That's because you haven't used good poly modeling software. Try out LightWave 3D. If you want good sculpting look at 3D-Coat.
Which would recommend a complete beginner to 3D start out with?
Modeling for precision and the general structure, sculpting for adding the fine details.