Essential Autoretopology Tools for 3D Artists
Autoretopology refers to a process in 3D software that automatically creates a new mesh with a cleaner and more efficient polygon structure from an existing 3D model. While autoretopology software are far from perfect, they can drastically speed up many 3D projects. Our article covers the basics of retopology and shares some of the most popular autoretopology tools!
What is retopology?
Let’s recap the basics before we jump to the main topic of our article. What is retopology, and why should we apply it to our 3D objects?
When you create a complex 3D object, it often has an extremely complex polygonal mesh. This increases the file size, prolongs the rendering time, makes texturing more difficult, and reduces performance.
To tackle these issues, retopology can be a powerful tool in our arsenal. Western Kentucky University defines it as follows:
In the context of 3D modeling, the exact meaning of topology changes a bit. It refers to the arrangement of faces, edges, and vertices of your 3D object. Topology has a crucial impact on the final appearance of your 3D object, animation, rendering, and many other aspects.
"Retopology is the act of recreating an existing surface with more optimal geometry that is a clean and quad-based mesh. It is the process of converting high-resolution models into something much smaller and into simplified versions that can be used for animation."
Retopology has countless benefits for 3D artists, including:
- faster rendering times,
- better animation performance,
- maintaining the finer details of the 3D object,
- easier texturing and
- reduced file size.
Would you like to learn more about face retopology? Check out our article on the subject!
Why is automatic retopology such a powerful method?
There are countless automatic retopology software options, which can be used to generate a new, cleaner mesh from the input surface of your 3D model. Since manual retopology can take hours and hours, automating the process sounds like a tempting offer. But are the automatic retopology software truly reliable?
Aunmar Mohammed, a professional CGI and 3D modeling expert, put some of the most popular autoretopology software to the test in one of his YouTube videos.
"All in all, I'd say that these tools work pretty well, and they've gotten a lot better since the last time I've used them. They don't work that well for hard surface objects, right? So if I would summarize my thoughts, I'd say they work well if you wanted to start and maybe even pull some pieces off, but at the end of the day, you're just going to have to do some hand re-topology. (...) Manually re-topology is not going anywhere; it's going to be part of the process for a good while. We'll see what happens with all these AI and algorithms and machine learning. They are certainly making good improvements as we speak."
We can agree with Mohammed’s conclusion: automatic retopology programs can have their place in the workflow of 3D modeling since they can save an enormous amount of time. However, they cannot fully replace manual retopology and have their limitations. As technology progresses, we may see more advanced automatic retopology apps that can offer even better results.
Some of the best software for retopology
Are you looking for the best software for automatic retopology? While we cannot single out one app as the best for auto retopo, here is a list of trusted and truly powerful programs and add-ons that can enhance your 3D modeling process:
- 3DCoat
- Blender
- Retopoflow 3
- TopoGun 3
- Cozy Blanket
- Silo 3D
- Dust3D
- ZRemesher
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