Retopo tools in Wings...

[Dimitri]

Three tools I do think would be of great importance for retopo matters in Wings… I do open a new thread for them just for having synopsized the whole thing in a separate place:

a. A ‘connect by shortest distance’ command: you just select two vertices on the surface of an object and connect them with a line which follows the shortest distance between them.

(I am well aware of the objections there are regarding this tool –they are about cases where there is an extrusion on the way between the two vertices etc- but… I do think that it is better having it than not having it at all… It could be a great tool for being able to connect two vertices directly, without having to be dependent on camera views, as it is now with the already existent ‘connect’ tool)

b. A ‘loop bridge’ command: you select two loops on an object and you ‘bridge them, by a desired number of equally distanced lines… as is the case in the already existent ‘bridge’ command, somehow.

c. And, last –but not least- a ‘divide loop’ command: it is described detailedly in some previous thread titled ‘how to do this?’.

As is easily understandable all those are tools that can constitute a very important aid in retopologizing objects in Wings… which does not offer ways of retopo procedures as in other apps that are not so narrowly confined in ‘box modelling’ ( that's to say in apps where you can work with vertices and edges independently).

I do think that those three tools could make an excellent retopo ‘toolbox’ in Wings… That’s my opinion at least… and I felt the need to share it... hoping that it can open a very fertile discussion about the whole topic... : - )

[ggaliens]

I might want to try to improve or polish SHEAF before I tackle too much new.

[Dimitri]

Ok Mark, do your work on it... it is a useful tool, really...

Btw, whenever you find the time give a look to the 17.39 minute point of the video below... it is a tutorial video for retopo modelling in 3DCoat... at this point the tutor uses an extrusion tool which is very near as an approach to the 'loop bridge' tool I do propose.The extrusion goes all along the surface of the object to be retopologized. The user has to make new extrusions in every step so that he/she may follow smoothly the surface curves of the object. It has in fact the same logic as the tool I proposed, although in our case we have a variation of it which can be used in a context of strict 'box modelling':

http://vimeo.com/8041885

[Dimitri]

In the image below there are the results of some retopo experimentation in Wings... in the right image is the shape achieved by the use of booleans while in the second is the same model after some work for retopologizing it. I used the 'slice' and 'cake slice' tools for achieving the results.

If we had even a very simple 'loop divide' command which could cut a loop (or some continuous edges) just in the midst of them we would have a very significant aid for doing much better work regarding such procedures (using the already existent 'connect' tool too, of course).

I think that there are a lot of solutions for retopologizing in Wings... it is worth considering the whole matter.

[ggaliens]

Let me come back to this thread after some time. My head is full of too many ideas right now. I need to put your hard edges item back into new BOOLEANS rework (March 29)

[Dimitri]

'I need to put your hard edges item back into new BOOLEANS rework'

Ok Mark... this is good news. I just am sharing ideas... no need for any hurry. : - )

My aim was opening a thread about retopo matters in the forum, so that there may be a sharing of related ideas there...

[Justanother1]

The Remesh Idea works just fine for most objects. But when you get into Character models that are meant to be animated, then the edge-flow has to built to withstand the movement.
I did some tests with this last year in Wings3D .
http://youtu.be/hZWjDj2yPgQ The Remesh idea works just fine But I also posted These Vids in the Sculptris Forum using Wings3D to build the basemesh and then Blender to Shrinkwrap, which is a far better method. There's more control in just building new geometry, say you plan to add armor or weapons and have it all on the same UV-maps. Plus you can do this with your Sculptris models, Meshmixer models, whatever. But then you gotta use Blender Shrinkwrap .... It would be nice to stay in Wings3D for this step!!

[chimpspanner]

The Remesh Idea works just fine for most objects. But when you get into Character models that are meant to be animated, then the edge-flow has to built to withstand the movement.
I did some tests with this last year in Wings3D .
http://youtu.be/hZWjDj2yPgQ The Remesh idea works just fine But I also posted These Vids in the Sculptris Forum using Wings3D to build the basemesh and then Blender to Shrinkwrap, which is a far better method. There's more control in just building new geometry, say you plan to add armor or weapons and have it all on the same UV-maps. Plus you can do this with your Sculptris models, Meshmixer models, whatever. But then you gotta use Blender Shrinkwrap .... It would be nice to stay in Wings3D for this step!!

Hey! Your video was a little fast moving for me - after you've sliced along all axis and hardened edge, how do you remove the diagonal lines? I got as far as selecting by hard edges but couldn't figure out what you did next. Thanks!

*Edit: nevermind, got it. Thanks for the tip!!

[Justanother1]

Just hit Delete. Then select as Object and Clean-up and Auto-smooth ...

[Dimitri]

Below there is a link showing the implementation of a new mesh tool in Blender (in the two images at the bottom of the page)... it is just the think that I did request a long time ago, here, for Wings: a 'connect by shortest distance command'. Despite its being so simple as to its working way it could be a very powerful modelling and retopo aid.

I remember there happened a whole discussion for it, without any result. It was a so simple thing though.

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2....ex_Connect