The Truth About Topology (Blender Tutorial) 

In short , Topology depends on purpose , clean quad based topology is required if you're working in a big budget vfx production or a movie because the model will go to other specialists who might deform it , texture it and destroy it or break it , whatever , in that case , clean evenly spaced topo is a must. If what you're making is gonna be used in a game , it doesn't have to be clean but it is good if the topology is evenly spaced out , again it all depends on the purpose and how close or far the model is gonna be . That being said every hard surface artist , regardless of their goals should know the basics of modeling and that also includes an astute understanding of subdivision surface modeling , topology flow , types of edge poles and how to shift them and fix them , how to fix n gon and triangles on curved surfaces , edge redirection , control loops and holding edges , mesh density , mesh analysis and debugging/ fixing issues in a mesh , retopology etc etc . Using booleans to prototype ideas is a part of hard surface modeling but it isn't all there is , infact it's not even 5% of the overall skill set .N gons and triangles are not bad to use , but they can be if used at a wrong place

The problem with something so basic and beginner-friendly, not mastering or understanding what topology is, comes from the fact that many current artists have learned by copying work or copying models from tutorials that only cover the practical part, so to speak, they don't touch on the basic theory of why a model has to be done that way. It happens a lot in my niche, Archviz, many artists have good renders because they copy the settings they see in tutorials but they don't know why those settings work.

Came here from your e-mail, and I have to say I get where you are heading at. Very good rundown regarding topology and shading, and extremely important for beginners. The emphasis should always be on "where will this model end up?" and not "you need to use quads".

For sure, the information in this video is really important. I've been learning Blender for a year or two, and since discovering Blender Bros, my workflow has skyrocketed to another level! Thanks, Josh, for sharing your experience and knowledge once again!

Thank you! I also benefitted from your course and was amazed how booleans stopped being a problem and became very crucial to my modelling workflow

Excellent information and proper reinforcement! Cheers as always!!!

Always good to hear from people working in the industry

Josh my question its Where should I start, because my level may be somewhat acceptable in modeling, but if I make a mistake at the starting point, it will lead to a problem

I don't want to be that guy.. but someone needs to highlight that even though you guys have made some great content like design tips, modifier usages for hard surface modeling and other great tips here and there. You guys have also provided misleading / misguided information about things like topology, Sub-D modeling processes and game development workflows or techniques such as baking, texturing and polycount. So would be great to see you guys revisit some of that content and properly address it based on a deeper level of understanding. This video does bring some good facts that not many people talk much about, there fore confusing people who are starting out. One thing to add is that it can also be beneficial to have the entire workflow of curvy objects be just on sub div alone. this way you can have certain luxuries such as using deformers on your object like twist or lattice to enhance or transform areas of your mesh without breaking it. it also makes for nicer transitions between surfaces blending from sharp to smooth.

thanks for this information, I was never told booleans were bad but always got annoyed that i had to clean them afterwards for a low poly workflow, so i stopped using them altogether

damn... ngl I didn't know the shading thing until now and that tip about having your verts be flat was extremely helpful with understanding when to use booleans more.

Thank you much for unique and good information, it helps a lot !

Great explanation!

Sounds like the 2 basic rules of thumb is 'Do not bend polygons & Know your destination.'

OMG, thanks i was thinking about how topology and shading works, i asked people online. I was still confused but finally i got answers.

Thank you, Josh! :)

True words, thanks Josh

Good job ❤

I've been working on and off on a 3D model of the Titanic for a few years now and, while cutting the portholes into the plates, I was under the impression that I needed to use quads so the topology on all the plates looks kinda like the Rising Sun flag. Did I not need to do all that after all?

thanks for the vid simple but informative

Has your editor ever heard the phrase, "Less is more" ?

Interesting video, thanks

This is *_CRAZY GOOD_* info!!

Attn All Artists & Designers: lean into the pro dev work offered by the Blender Bros (Josh, Ryuu). you will learn the why, what, and how for mastering 3D workflow in Blender and Plasticity. no substitute. WTG Josh!

very well said. But I was mind f´ed up by the black triangle that I assume is a piece of your shirt popping up in the spekaer to the left of you. hahahaha.

God of topology

good info

While you make a few good points, the explanation you gave about the shading artifacts on the boolean cylinder is not correct. Because not a single ngon on that mesh is bent, they're all flat, think about it, why would a boolean cutting a quad bend it ? It's impossible.. The reason why those ngons got messed up is because they're concave ngons, the triangulation of concave ngons always goes terribly wrong.

Thanks for 10k subscribe 🥰

If it looks good in the render view and takes less time to render, I don't care about topology 😊

The problem with your method is versatility. For example, I've never seen here a model like the PS5 joypad (so an object that must not deform but essentially a hybrid between organic parts and hard surface). If I scroll through the list of objects you have created, they are all minimal variations of primitives. Cubes, cylinders or spheres with some boolean. If you see the Pzthree or Arijan channel, the variety of objects and shapes is 10 times greater (even remaining in the HS). Even the level of complexity of hard surface objects is 10 times greater. A car has complex mechanical parts, why are those types of objects not present on the channel? Maybe because with your method it is impossible to create them? I would like to see how you create a car or any real object that is not simply a primitive with some arbitrary and "convenient" variation to model. And I mean a real car, not a blackout with 4 wheels around it.

👏👏👏👏

Huzza!!!

most of the times ngons and booleans are bad :/

It is possible to bend a triangle. Any 3 points always define a plane, yeah, but i triangle can be bent easily just like the quad which is always 2 triangles

If you apply for a game studio or hell any 3D job that's not just concepting and your topology is trash you're not getting hired period.

Hi Josh ! FRIKIN USEFULL these video!!!! THANKS a lot bud!!! So, one little consideration: if I'm a 3D resin printer modeler I assume that "ngons/quads" I dont give a f**k ! I consider them only If I'm, for example, a 3D video editing/render and so on. Correct ?