Absolute Beginners Retopology and UV unwrapping in 3dsMax

Name: Absolute Beginners Retopology and UV unwrapping in 3dsMax
Rating: 4.9 (63 reviews)

Learn the secrets of retopologizing in 3dsMax

Highest Rated

Created byNIkolay Naydenov

Last updated 10/2020

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

In this course we will make the full character retopology in 3dsMax. We will learn how to export your high poly from Zbrush, put it in to 3dsMax and arrange polygons over it. We will also learn how to make a good, production ready retopo of the realistic human haead and hand. And also make all the UV unwrapping.

Course content

1 section • 26 lectures • 9h 14m total length

Introduction11:17
Explore absolute beginner retopology and uv unwrapping in 3dsMax to build an animation-ready character with clean topology, eye and mouth loops, and an open mouth design.
Preparing the model in Zbrush and exporting meshes for retopology25:11
Prepare the model in ZBrush by deciding which parts to bake, merge head, shoulders, and horns, align pivots, decimate with Decimation Master, then export meshes for retopology in 3ds Max.
Getting familiar with 3dsMax and starting retopology24:03
Get familiar with 3ds Max, import and convert meshes to editable polys, create start planes, and begin retopology by drawing on surfaces, extruding edges, and adjusting offsets.
Retopologizing the horns24:08
Master retopology of horns in 3ds Max by building clean topology, optimizing polygons and triangles, and mastering vertex, edge, and border selection for efficient UV unwrapping.
Retopology of the head and symmetry22:28
Master retopology of the head in 3ds Max by creating edge loops, bridging faces, and building a symmetrical mesh using the symmetry modifier, with basic unwrapping concepts.
Retopo the shoulders pt121:07
Retopologize the shoulders in 3ds Max from scratch by creating balanced edge loops, using symmetry to model both shoulders, and refining topology for low-poly geometry and accurate baking of maps.
Retopo the shoulders pt221:17
Master shoulder retopology in 3ds Max, shaping clean polygon flows with triangles and symmetry, and preparing editable poly geometry for baking in industry workflows.
Retopologizing the cape23:29
This lecture demonstrates retopologizing a cape in 3ds max, shaping clean topology along wrinkles, using vertex placement and the shell modifier for thickness, with attention to baking and animation.
Retopologizing the arm22:06
Retopologize the arm in 3ds Max, balancing low-poly and high-poly considerations. Plan edge loops, silhouettes, and baking for game engines and mobile performance.
Retopologizing the small cloth and traps armor21:16
Retopologize the small cloth and back armor in 3ds Max by building clean, consistent polygons, using symmetry, and preparing for animation with proper topology and shell considerations.
Retopo of the chest armor21:42
Learn retopology of the chest armor in 3dsMax, focusing on bridging edges, detaching parts, and building clean triangular topology with a mirrored one-piece approach.
Retopologizing the legs22:42
Master retopologizing the legs in 3ds Max by building clean edges and bridges, applying symmetry, and preparing for unwrap.
Retopo the knee armor and the sword27:12
Retopologize the knee armor and sword in 3ds Max, focusing on low-poly topology, symmetry, and silhouette, while planning details for the normal map bake.
Starting the UV unwrap25:38
Begin the uv unwrap in 3ds Max by marking seams, using quick peel, and checking the checker texture to ensure clean, accurately mapped geometry for retopology.
UV mapping the shoulders and armor22:34
Learn to create clean UV maps for shoulders and armor in 3ds Max by unwrapping with the uv modifier, adjusting with edge angles, and placing seams for efficient texture baking.
Unwrapping the arms and some Zbrush unwrap20:43
Master arms unwrapping and ZBrush unwrap in 3ds Max, aligning symmetry, cleaning seams, and managing UVs to ensure clean textures and consistent materials.
Finishing the Unwrap of the character30:14
Finish the character unwrap in 3dsMax by refining seams, applying unwrap techniques, and balancing island sizes to minimize distortion for the cape, legs, and horns.
Retopology of a realistic head pt123:59
Master retopology of a realistic head in 3ds Max by building clean loops around the eyes and mouth, using reference images and editable poly workflow for animation-ready topology.
Retopology of the head pt223:13
Develop head retopology by creating clean edge loops around the mouth, lips, and ears, managing polygon flow, avoiding triangles, and using reference image guidance for uv mapping.
Finishing the head retopology26:10
Finishing the head retopology in 3ds Max, the lecture guides symmetry, straight middle lines, and vertex welding while planning polygon budgets for game and cinematic use and prepping UV unwrapping.
Making the head UVs22:07
Learn how to unwrap the head in 3ds Max and fix holes by detaching the inner mouth. Align seams, borders, and polygons to create clean UVs and better texture space.
Using Zbursh to better unwrap the head8:08
Explore zbrush-based head unwrapping by importing, aligning orientation, enabling symmetry, refining seams, and applying the correct material to reveal clean uv layouts and improved textures.
Hand retopology in 3dsMax pt123:15
Master hand retopology in 3ds max by exporting and importing a hand, aligning planes, building finger topology with loops, and refining knuckles for clean, edit-friendly geometry.
Finish the retopo of the hand20:43
Finish the hand retopology by creating precise edge loops and a v-shaped thumb, while keeping a low-poly budget and preparing UVs for unwrapping.
UV unwrapping of the hand15:12
learn to unwrap a hand in 3ds Max with unwrap modifier, set seams along finger edges, unwrap fingers individually, and place them to avoid overlaps, using a 44 by 44 map.
Goodbye4:17
Finish a character with clean topology and UVs in 3ds Max, ready for animation, baking textures, and exporting to substance painter for final rendering.

Requirements

You should want to put your Zbrush models in to a game engine or render them efficiently.

Description

You probably have always wondered, how to make your Zbrush models animation ready and prepare them for texturing? How to make this retopologizing step that everybody is talking about? How to make this jump from couple of million polygons to just a few thousand? All those questions, and more, will be answered in this course.

My name is Niko, and i am a 3D character artist for more than a decade now. I have made numerous characters for numerous games. And for all of them i was using the style of retopologizing and UV mapping i will show you in this course.

Using the retopology and UV unwrap tools that come default with 3ds Max, we will retopologize a simple cartoon character. We will then make it's UVs, so he is ready for baking and texturing in Substance painter (whch we will do separately in the Substance painter course). As a bonus i will show you how to retopologize and unwrap an animation ready realistic head with open mouth and also a realistic hand.

In this course we will learn:

Preparing your mesh in Zbrush for export

Exporting your meshes from Zbrush and import them in 3dsMax

Baiscs of 3dsMax, needed for retopology

How to start the retopology of a character

Retopologizing tricks and hints

Basics of 3dsMax UV unwrap

Hints and tips on efficiant and quality unwraping of a character

Exporting a high poly realistic head from Zbrush and importing in 3dsMax

Retopologizing a realistic head with loops in the right places ready for animation

Making good and useful UV map of a human head

Retopology of a human hand

UV mapping of a human hand

Some interesting random artistic stuff when we are doing something repetitive :)

We will start in Zbrush, where we will spend some time to organize, merge and prepare the high poly meshes for export. Then we will decimate the high poly so we can import it in 3dsMax without too much performance issues. We will see how to export meshes from Zbrush and import them in 3dsMax. Then we will get familiar with the retopology tools and get some basic knowledge about 3d Max.

After that we will start the retopolology from the head and horns, and then going trough every separate pieces we have, like the arms, shoulders, cape and legs. As we go i will tell you how i do retopology and how i approach the problems when retopologizing.

We will then get familiar with the UV unwrapping capabilities embeded in 3dsMax, and we will start unwrapping the character piece by piece and checking our unwrap with a checker texture. When we finish, we will arrange all the pieces in a sqare texture space like a puzzle.

When we are done with that we will export a realistic head from Zbrush, and import it in Max so we can start making it's topology. We will make a topology which is animation friendly and also include the inside of the mouth. Next will be, of course, making the UV unwrapping of the head, in which i will show you how to use Zbrush as a very good unwrapping tool. We will do all this steps again for a realistic hand too.

I made this course for absolute retopology beginners and no previous knowledge of 3dsMax is required. I made this course in 3dsMax, because i always made my retopologies and UV mapping there, i think it is a pretty good software for this purpose, and i am ready to prove it! So see you in the first video of the course!

Who this course is for:

People who want to learn retopology and UV unwrap for games.