[Bf-committers] GSoC 2011 Proposal: Retopology Tools

[Jonathan Williamson]

Yeah that is correct. I have attached a rough mockup of how the tool works.
Start with a highres mesh. Notice the part of the mesh that represents a leg like structure. This is where the Guide strokes tool would be used.
Start by drawing the strokes over the legs
The tool detects the mesh under the strokes to be tubular and automatically retopo's it with a designated number of vertices. The number of loops is determined by the number of strokes; 1 stroke = 1 loop.
You can see the final result from an angle to show how it has retopo'ed all the way around the tubular form.


-- 
Jonathan Williamson

Instructor - http://www.blendercookie.com
Personal Trainer - http://www.mavenseed.com
Portfolio - http://www.jw3d.com

On Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 11:52 PM, Alice Li wrote: 
> Thanks Jonathan, I probably should have ran the slice tool by you as well.
> 
> For the slice tool/guide strokes tool, I can see that it's a variation of
> the paint strokes tool but I'm not sure I completely understand the
> functionality. So the mesh that's created is generated around all the model
> as in 360 degrees?
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 12:27 AM, Jonathan Williamson <
> jonathan at montagestudio.org> wrote:
> 
> > Hey Alice,
> > 
> > I actually have a couple more suggestions for you in regards to the tool
> > functionality.
> > 
> > 
> > Pen Tool
> > I feel it should not be restricted to only creating quads. Even as the
> > topology snob that I am, occasionally it is necessary to use triangles. This
> > is particularly true in lowpoly meshes where deformation is not a problem.
> > When creating very lowpoly meshes it's almost essential to use triangles.
> > 
> > Slice Tool
> > The slice tool you have proposed is almost identical to the old knife tool,
> > which while important, I don't feel makes sense to be part of this project.
> > This is mostly because Joe Edgar as already implemented the beginnings of a
> > very good knife tool alongside BMesh. It's my feeling that any retopo tools
> > you develop should be designed to work with the future BMesh. Since Joe has
> > already developed this I feel it would be overkill for this project.
> > 
> > The Slice tool that I was actually referring to in my original suggestion
> > was this one: http://3d-coat.com/uploads/pics/rtp_slices.gif
> > 
> > What it does is allows you to quickly draw several guides across a tubular
> > section of your mesh and automatically generate a encapsulating mesh that
> > snaps to the surface.
> > 
> > This method is very quick and powerful for retopo'ing anything from arms,
> > legs, treebanchs and other tubular forms. Perhaps the tool should be renamed
> > to Guide Strokes.
> > 
> > Other than those couple things everything looks great for the
> > functionality!
> > 
> > --
> > Jonathan Williamson
> > 
> > Instructor - http://www.blendercookie.com
> > Personal Trainer - http://www.mavenseed.com
> > Portfolio - http://www.jw3d.com
> > 
> > On Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Alice Li wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > 
> > > I've been working on my GSoC 2011 proposal for the last few days for
> > adding
> > > new retopology tools. If anyone could give me any kind of feed back
> > before I
> > > submit it I would really appreciate it, is it detailed enough?
> > Feasibility?
> > > Too long? Too short?? etc. A really big thanks to Jonathan Williamson,
> > > Nicholas Bishop and LetterRip for their help these past couple of days.
> > > 
> > > Link: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Lynseed
> > > 
> > > Thanks in advance,
> > > Alice
> > > _______________________________________________
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