All language subtitles for 4. Topology & Rigging

In this lecture, we'll be discussing topology, especially for when it comes to rigging.

So we can think carefully about how we set up and build our characters.

If we want to animate them later now before doing the arms and legs of our character, it's worth talking

about topology, especially with regards to rigging.

So first of all, topology is the way the faces are set up and how they relate to another.

So if you've done lots of loop cuts and the extrusions, you have a certain type of topology around

your mesh.

So if we take these three objects here, here and here, they've got different topology.

This one has a single loop cut around the middle.

This one has three loop cuts and this one has some triangles there with three edges this side and only

a single one on the other side.

So these all have their own type of topology.

Rigging is where we add our mesh or our objects to bones, the bones you can see here.

And each of these is called an armature, and each of these armatures have two bones within them when

we're rigging objects and characters.

We attach our objects to the bones.

I'm not going to go into detail of how we do that, but it is important to understand when modelling.

If you want to set up your characters for animation that you have some understanding of this.

If I go into what's called Po's mode with these bones here so we can go up to here and press pose mood

that changes the color of my selected object to blue and I can press compress R2, rotate around the

x axis going along there and it rotates that moving my object with it.

So I'll bring it down to there.

And you can see I've got a slight problem with my mesh.

It's squashing inwards here, and if I keep going further, it actually overlaps itself and we get all

sorts of problems.

I just bring that back slightly.

So are the X to bring it back slightly there.

Let's go to the next one.

So into object mode and I'm changing that with Control tab, selecting the next one control, tap into

Pose mode and choosing that top bone are then X.

And you can see because it's got three loop cuts.

We don't have the same kind of problems, although when we get to about here, we do see some overlap,

but it's nowhere near as drastic as was happening here.

So having three loop cuts like this enables our topology to bend a lot more effectively.

So wherever we have a joint like an elbow or a knee, putting three loop cuts like this is very effective.

Now I've chosen to put in a last one here, so control tab to go into object mode.

Select this and armature here Interpose mode with Control tab and select that bone and press control

and bend it around here because this is kind of in between the two in some way.

It's really good because we haven't got any pinching at all, so our mesh will only pinch when it gets

right down to somewhere.

Like here I'll go back into object mode and choose my object.

We can actually choose an option under the armature modifier, which is how these two linked together,

which is preserve volume.

And it kind of takes away a bit of that pinching.

We can do the same with this one as well preserve volume, and it helps with that pinching a bit.

Whereas this one?

It struggles a bit and doesn't do much, except to extend it out here, so let's come back to this one

interpose mode, and I'll just rotate that back so we can see that apology again to somewhere around

here.

And it's coming to a point here.

And although I said modelling in quads is optimal and is the best way to model, it's actually helpful

to model in triangles in this particular situation.

Now, this is very true for low poly work, where we have hardly any faces, the more faces you have,

the better these deformations are and the less pinching you'll get.

So for low poly work, this is actually optimal.

And it actually reduces the poly count.

Not that that makes too much difference these days, but it can make a difference for virtual reality

and mobile games.

But it also stops that mesh overlap that you can see in here.

However, for beginners, I always suggest doing this one here.

So let's go to object mode, select this armature and just rotate that back slightly because you get

a very good defamation with not much pinching.

And it's nice and simple because you're just doing three loop cuts.

So that's what we'll be working on.

But just be aware there are other ways and sometimes more optimal ways of doing these things, depending

on the situation.

So when we come to do any joints, we'll be doing three loop cuts like you can see here.

So that concludes this lecture.

I'll see you in the next one.