Using the Topology Freeform Function - Part 1

Level: Advanced
Recorded in: 3ds Max 2011
Files used: http://areadownloads.autodesk.com/wdm/3dsmax/HTM-MOD_topology.zip
Description: This movie showcases the Topology function found in the Graphite Freeform Tools that enables you to build a low-poly model from a hight-poly counterpart. This can be useful when you purchase or receive a model, and then discover that its geometry is imperfect. You can rebuild this geometry using the Topology function. This first part shows how to set up the topology tool and use it to block out the geometry of your new model.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Autodesk
• 3d
• 3ds
• max
• design
• tutorial
• howto
• how
• to
• topology
• modeling
• geometry
• polygon
• low
• poly
• high
• lo-poly
• hi-poly

[Hazmondo]

I've just started using this featuer in 3ds Max 2012 and I have to say that I think it's the most overlooked and underated feature of Max - you need to advertise it more.  Since the introduction of the Nitrous viewport renderer and its ability to handle large numbers of polygon I really think that using Max for retopology instead of, say, Topogun has become a viable option and it's one of the features that you can say without uncertainty is better than Maya.

[3dsMaxHowTos]

@Hazmondo Here, here !

[3dsMaxHowTos]

Most features in most applications can always be improved, but I would not call this one totally useless since other users have found it to be actually quite useful. It is true though that what works for some doesn't necessarily work for others. Cheers.

[Hazmondo]

@Hazmondo .... and maybe a free brush so you can hold groups of vertices together while using the transformations conform brushes and relax conform brush on other areas... :)

[Hazmondo]

@Hazmondo However I would like to see an option for the relax brush which maintains the boundary edges and for the relax brush to interact better with the Offset value, other than that I think it's a fantastic addition to Max. Congratualtions on the success of the Exalibur project :)

[GraveUypo]

@GraveUypo oh yeah forgot to mention it was impossible to use it with my wacom tablet. there was a huge lag when first laying down lines and if i held the pen for like 1 second without moving, it would delete ALL my lines. thankfully i didn't experience that with a mouse, though.

[GraveUypo]

yeah i tried to remake the polyflow for a character face for facial animation using this method but i just couldn't get it to work right. some polygons just wouldn't appear, and some polygons would apear where they were not suposed to. in the end it was easier to redo it from scratch

i also had some problems with the visibilty of the lines and couldn't figure out how to change the color of the resulting mesh without finishing the process first.

still, might be useful for simpler objects.

[koberko]

This is totally useless feature in 3ds max; to be exact, it will be GREAT feature if it works as it should; not by painting lines, but by creating individual polygons on top of reference surface, like is done i Topogun and Zbrush. This method is to random and too unpredictable to be useful.

[ramicky16]

wow =)

[devilbegins]

nice tutorial sir