Quad's, Tri's and modeling poly-flow suited for deformation

[Anonymous]

Ok, hi, so I've spent the better part of a day now modeling a character in maya, and i came across the following tutorial:

http://www.pig-brain.com/tut02/tut02_02.htm

K, so that guy is saying that in order for knees, elbows, etc to deform correctly while bending, i need to be putting in tri's on the sides of the joint.

Perhaps this is just my n00b-ness shining through, but I thought tri's were bad? Like, crossing the streams in ghostbusters type bad.

i've got a book i've been following on "hyper realistic creature creation". however, i'm going for low poly right now, and that book only covers creating a very high poly character.

If tri's are bad, and this tut is just junk, does anybody have any other suggestions about modeling joints appropriately for deformation?


-reed

maya 2008 sp1 32bit

[Anonymous]

Tris are generally a bad idea in hyper realistic modeling but in low poly counts they are used alot to help geometry bend/deform properly.

First of all it is to my understanding that high poly models are only created for high resolution productions (4K - 5K film down to HD) and the reason that they are so high rez is they not only have to hold up to the huge resolution size but both the outline and extreme close ups have to be perfect. Some of this can be faked (normal maps, texture baking, etc.) but only to a point.

Most smaller "consumer" resolution sizes (640x480 web video, games, Pal, NSTC up to HD) can get away with a much more modest poly count and good normal maps/textures. (Games require a smaller poly count but lets leave that for another time!!!)

To my knowledge models with a high poly count are modeled with a very careful geometry flow and are tediously "smooth skinned" so that all the deformations can look as real as possible. Because tris deform weird and the don't have to worry bout render times too much quads are the safest modeling option. However, low rez poly models utilise the weird deformations of triangles to fake smooth bends and deformations.

I also started my modeling career with a hyper realistic tutorial in front of me. (The Auto Hyper Realistic Modeling DVD to be precise!!)

This DVD crippled my progress for ages. Every model I made was thrown away or "de-triangled" and all the models looked solid green in wireframe due to the immense high resolution I thought was necessary.

None of this was the DVD's fault but just my inexperience.

Those hyper realistic tutorials are aimed at people who have spent years using tris on low rez models and are accustom to clunky half smooth deformations, to move up to the high-end film modeling techniques of geometry flow and correct modeling for muscle defomations etc.

So now that this is turning into a mini novel!!!! I will end my response by saying that the tutorial you linked to your post is great and for more tips/tricks on low poly character modeling I highly recommend the Gnomon - Body/Head Modeling For Games in Maya DVD's. Well worth the money.

Hope some of this has helped.

Cheers

Paul

[Anonymous]

Reall, I think the term 'bad' is subjective here. It all depends on what you're trying to do. As a general rule though, when modeling, I try to keep my mesh to all quads. Sometimes a problem won't show up in modeling, but will further down the line. For example, trying to UV map a 5 sided poly in the UV texture editor is HELL!! I've never tried it on a tri, but I'd assume it's not much more entertaining. Second, how many sides your polys have weighs in on dynamic sims considerably, ultimately because sides are directly linked to the number of vertices you have, and the number of UVs, come to think of it.