Left tool panel in Retopology room

In the 3D Age of Polygons, topology is still a necessary consideration for nearly every phase of modeling and texturing.
3DCoat set of tools makes this necessary task as quick and painless as possible, allowing you to approach topology creation from many different angles accommodating many different methods.
Tied directly to the creation of UV Maps, you can see a preview of your UVs throughout the topology-making process for modification and updating before you commit to a final arrangement.

General Retopo Workflows

When one needs to create or modify topology, it is usually due to one of the following cases:

1. A model already has a topological arrangement that needs to be modified.
2. A model exists which has a topology, but it needs to be changed in shape or form or detail level -by means of sculpting in the Voxel Room- (and these new model features will serve as a “base” to which existing topology must be “snapped”).
3. A sculpture (made in 3DCoat or Merged into Voxel Space) needs to be given practical topology and textures within 3DCoat for export and use in a 3rd party application.

If a sculpture has originated in 3DCoat or has been imported into the Voxel Room and this model will be used for CAD, CNC, or Rapid Prototyping applications it is not usually necessary to produce Manual Topology.
There are direct Export functions available from the File Export menu, which allow for the export of a skin approximation of your sculpture or options for exporting various dense quad meshes or triangulated meshes for those systems which prefer these topological arrangements, and need “actual” detail and displacement, rather than those “simulated” forms which are produced by means of texture maps.
These types of Exports can take place from within the Sculpt Room Tab itself.

The Toolset

1. Overall Purpose
2. Add Geometry
4. Tweak Tools
5. UV Tools
6. Commands

Tutorials

Conform Retopo Mesh to Sculpt: This video demonstrates an update to the “Conform Retopo Mesh” feature in 3DCoat’s Sculpt workspace, which allows the user to see the Retopo Mesh (in the Sculpt Workspace) while making large-scale edits with the Pose, Move, or Transform tool.
It also covers some additional tips for making the Retopo mesh conform after making edits with Sculpting brushes.

Conform Retopo Mesh (to Voxel Object): This video demonstrates the ability to have your Retopo Mesh conform to the Voxel object (simultaneously), when you need to go back and make large-scale edits to your Voxel Model.

Retopo Workspace (Manual Tools): This video begins by providing an overview of the most commonly used Retopo Tools in 3DCoat, starting with the Manual Retopology tools.

Retopo Room Pt.8: Manual Retopo Tools: This video concludes the overview of the Manual Retopology tools in 3D Coat, covering a range of different tools (i.e., Cap, Delete Edges, Slide Edge(loop), Normal Extrude, Bevel, etc.). Including a tip to help retopologize difficult areas like an eye or mouth socket.

RMB Retopo Menu: This video demonstrates the new RMB menu in the Retopo Workspace. It’s context-sensitive and compact to help a user work more efficiently.

Kitbashing for Retopo Work: This video demonstrates a few examples of using the Retopo Models Panel in the Retopo room to save, access, and use mesh quickly presets/primitives for Retopology work.

Retopology Tools: Relax Retopo Mesh: This video covers the different methods and tools for relaxing all or selected parts of a Retopologized mesh.

2 Axis Widget

Quick Tips

Quick Tip: Closing Ends of Retopo Mesh: This video demonstrates some techniques and tools one can utilize to perform a common Retopo task…closing the ends of the meshes, especially appendages, such as fingers, toes, etc.

UV Tips: This video offers tips for working with UVs in 3DCoat. It covers COPY and PASTING UV Shells/Islands to a matching one, updating/unfolding a single shell, and unwrapping a mesh to a current UV set without disturbing its layout.

Retopo Edge Tools and Selection Tips

Quick Tip: Retopo Hard Edge Selections: This video demonstrates a quick way to select hard edges in the Retopo Workspace to use the selection to create UV seams or use the Bevel tool.

Quick Tip: Using RFill as a Bridge Tool: This video shows how to use the RFill tool in 3DCoat, as a Bridge tool (Bridging two open-ended meshes), even though it is designed to Cap ends or openings.

Quick Tip: Troubleshooting UVs in the Retopo Workspace: This video demonstrates some troubleshooting tips for an issue with UVs and mesh layers (Retopo workspace) that have been commonly raised on the 3DCoat forum.

Quick Start: UV Brush Mode: This video demonstrates the usage of the Brush Mode when editing UVs in 3DCoat. It enables the user to reshape, tweak, or relax UV islands/shells in a freeform fashion.

Quick Start: UV Edge Alignment tools: This video demonstrates the usage of the UV Edge Alignment tools in 3DCoat. They enable the user to straighten and space Edgeloops equally in the UV space quickly. This allows UV Islands/shells to be straightened out nicely when needed.

Fixing Retopo Snapping Issues