Contents
Is Hard surface Modeling hard?
A good distinction is that hard-surface modeling tends to apply to rigid bodies, meaning bodies that don’t deform (unlike organic bodies that are designed to move and flow). However, if you were modeling a car, the wheels would also be considered hard-surface modeling, even though they’re rubber and thus do deform.
What is topology in 3D modeling?
In 3D modeling, the term topology refers to a 3D model’s edge distribution and structure. Two models that look the same when rendered can have very different topologies. Quad topology makes it much easier to rig and animate.
What’s hard surface?
Hard surface is things like cars, armor, weapons, and architectural elements. As a 3D modeler, it’s common to specialize in hard surface models or organic models. Someone who focuses on things like props and environments and a modeler who focuses on characters, animals, and creatures, etc.
What is 3D hard surface?
Hard surface modelling is usually where people start with 3D art to get used to the workflow of any chosen software and how polygons work together. Flat edges are generally easier to model than a face with many curves and creases (but there are always exceptions).
How to do 3D modeling of hard surfaces?
For a complete tutorial on hard surfaces which includes topics on all the different ways of modeling hard edges and a free hard surface kitbash visit: “Hard Surface 3D Modeling in Polygons” In comparison you can control the mesh with support loops, but it will take more time and will be harder to change.
What’s the best way to mark out a topology?
A great way to do this is by using the grease pencil tool over your reference image. Mark out anywhere that should have clean loops of edges. For example, the wrist, fingers, knuckles, and thumb pad. Marking these will help you avoid redoing work correcting edge loops that flow in the wrong ways.
Which is the best wireframe for hard surface modeling?
A good way to have a clean wireframe is to work your hard surface with ZBrush’s ZModeler Brush (BZM). This way you’ll have a very clean quad topology to work fast and a nice beveled / “chamfered” result with Dynamic Subdiv / Smooth Subdivision set at 4 and CreaseLvl set at 3 (That’s my usual setup for hard surface).
Which is the best topology for Polygon modeling?
For example, the topology above is what can be considered a perfect clean topology, but in that case, it was the wrong topology! because I didn’t need to go into all of that effort to model it, for that particular project, I could have managed with a high-res mesh and used boolean quickly.