Blender Studio
  • Films
  • Projects
  • Training
  • Characters
  • Tools
  • Blog
  • Join
  • BLENDER.ORG

    • Download

      Get the latest Blender, older versions, or experimental builds.

    • What's New

      Stay up-to-date with the new features in the latest Blender releases.

    LEARNING & RESOURCES

    • Blender Studio

      Access production assets and knowledge from the open movies.

    • Manual

      Documentation on the usage and features in Blender.

    DEVELOPMENT

    • Developers Blog

      Latest development updates, by Blender developers.

    • Documentation

      Guidelines, release notes and development docs.

    • Benchmark

      A platform to collect and share results of the Blender Benchmark.

    • Blender Conference

      The yearly event that brings the community together.

    DONATE

    • Development Fund

      Support core development with a monthly contribution.

    • One-time Donations

      Perform a single donation with more payment options available.

Training Highlights
Stylized Rendering with Brushstrokes
Geometry Nodes from Scratch
Procedural Shading Fundamentals
Stylized Character Workflow

Training types
Course Documentation Production Lesson Workshop

Training categories
Animation Geometry Nodes Lighting Rendering Rigging Shading
Film Highlights
Wing It!
2023
Charge
2022
Sprite Fright
2021
Spring
2019
Project Highlights
Project DogWalk
Interactive
Gold
Showcase
BCON24 Identity
Showcase
Fighting with Grease Pencil
Article
Course
Stylized Character Workflow
Intro
  1. 01

    Introduction

    Free
  2. 02

    Introduction Update

    Free
1: Head Sculpting
  1. 01

    Defining Goals

    Free
  2. 02

    Research

  3. 03

    Blender Setup

  4. 04

    Sculpting a Primitive Head Shape

  5. 05

    Sculpting a complete Planar Head

  6. 06

    Smoothing the Planar Head

  7. 07

    Stylising the Head Sculpt

  8. 08

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rain's Head

    Free
  9. 09

    Timelapse: Vertex Painting

  10. 10

    Timelapse: Sculpting Hair

  11. 11

    Timelapse: Head Design Variations

  12. 12

    Timelapse: Finishing Rain's Head Design

2: Body & Outfit Sculpting
  1. 01

    Creating a Primitive Body

    Free
  2. 02

    Sculpting the Planar Torso

  3. 03

    Sculpting the Planar Arms & Legs

  4. 04

    Sculpting the Planar Hands & Feet

  5. 05

    Smoothing & Stylising the Body

  6. 06

    Creating Clothing Basemeshes

  7. 07

    Update: Optimal Clothing Basemesh

  8. 08

    Modelling additional Basemeshes

  9. 09

    Stretching vs Compression

  10. 10

    Sculpting Wrinkles & Folds

  11. 11

    Polishing the Surfaces

  12. 12

    Finishing the additional Elements

  13. 13

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rains Body

  14. 14

    Timelapse: Rains Autumn Outfit

  15. 15

    Timelapse: Adjusting Proportions and the Outfit

  16. 16

    Timelapse: Rains Summer Outfit

    Free
  17. 17

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rains final Outfit

3: Expression Testing
  1. 01

    Fast & rough Retopology for the Head

  2. 02

    Modelling the inner Head & transferring Details

  3. 03

    Adding the teeth, gums & tongue

  4. 04

    Basic Expression Shapekeys

    Free
  5. 05

    Sculpting an Expression

  6. 06

    Breakdown: Expression Guide Part 1

    Free
  7. 07

    Breakdown: Expression Guide Part 2

  8. 08

    Breakdown: Design Adjustments

  9. 09

    Breakdown: Adding extra Appeal

4: Clean Retopology
  1. 01

    Retopology Introduction

  2. 02

    Creating & Guiding Topology

  3. 03

    Planning the Facial Retopology

    Free
  4. 04

    Retopology Setup

  5. 05

    Facial Retopology - Edge Flow & Articulation

  6. 06

    Update: Strategic 2-Poles

  7. 07

    Facial Retopology - Patches & Poles

  8. 08

    Facial Retopology - Creases & Tweaking

  9. 09

    Timelapse: Head Retopology

  10. 10

    Timelapse: Body Retopology

    Free
  11. 11

    Timelapse: Inner Body & Transfering Volume

  12. 12

    Timelapse: Head Objects & Tweaking

  13. 13

    Timelapse: Hair Retopology

  14. 14

    Timelapse: Shirt & Pants Retopology Pt.1

  15. 15

    Timelapse: Shirt & Pants Retopology Pt.2

  16. 16

    Timelapse: Shoe modeling & additional Tweaking

  17. 17

    Timelapse: Scarf Retopology & Finishing Touches

5: Bonus Chapter: Snow
  1. 01

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Head

    Free
  2. 02

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Body

  3. 03

    Timelapse: Polishing Snow

  4. 04

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Outfit

  5. 05

    Timelapse: Remeshing & Adjusting Snow

  6. 06

    Timelapse: Snow's Expression Tests

  7. 07

    Timelapse: Posing Snow

  8. Live: Face Retopology Free
  9. Live: Head Retopology Free
  10. Live: Hair Retopology Free
  11. Live: Upper Body Retopology Free
  12. Live: Body Retopology Free
  13. Live: Retopo tweaks & outfit Free
  14. Live: Outfit Retopology Free
  15. Live: Retopology Finale Free
  16. Live: Body UV Mapping Free
  17. Live: Outfit UV Mapping Free
  18. Live: UV Mapping Finale Free
  19. Live: Base Colors & Preparations Free
  20. Live: Tiles & Procedural Detail Free
  21. Live: Height Map Painting Free
  22. Live: Detail Extraction & Stitches Free
  23. Live: Textures & Procedural Eyes Free
  24. Live: Procedural Skin & Hair Anisotropy Free
  25. Live: Turntable & Hair Textures Free
  26. Live: Baking & Final Renders Free
Bonus Videos
  1. 01

    Youtube Version: Stylized Character Workflow in Blender 2.81

    Free
  2. 02

    Snow Character Creation Recap

    Free
  3. 03

    Sculpting Fundamentals

    Free
  4. 05

    Preventing/Fixing Boolean Errors

Cheat Sheets
  1. Topology Guides - Killing/Directing Loops
  2. Topology Guides - Poles & Edge Flow Free
  3. Topology Guides - Stretching & Pinching
  4. Topology Guides - Hiding Stretching
  5. Topology Guides - Strategic 2-Poles
  6. Topology Guides - Hard-Modeling Creases
  7. Facial Topology - Edge Flow
  8. Facial Topology - Landmarks
  9. Facial Topology - Articulation Free
  10. Facial Topology - Patches & Poles
  11. Facial Topology - Creases
  12. Facial Topology - Deformations
  13. Retopology Setup Free
  14. Body Topology - Seperate Limbs
  15. Body Topology - Joint Loops
  16. Body Topology - Finishing Touches
Course Lesson .blend files
  1. File 1: Head Sculpting Lessons
  2. File 2: Body Sculpting Lessons
  3. File 3: Topology Examples
  4. File 4: Facial Topology & Planning
Final Renders
  1. Rain - Final Render Free
  2. Rain - Turnaround Free
  3. Rain - Turnaround (Clay) Free
  4. Rain - Turnaround (Wire) Free
  5. 05

    Rain - Turntables

    Free
  6. Snow - Final Render Free
  7. Snow - Turnaround Free
  8. Snow - Turnaround (Clay) Free
  9. Snow - Turnaround (Wire) Free
  10. 10

    Snow - Turntables

    Free
  11. Rain & Snow - Final Render Free
Rain - Character Development
  1. 1 - Head Exploration Free
  2. 1 - Head Polish Free
  3. 2 - Body Iterations Free
  4. 2 - Outfit Variations Free
  5. 05

    3 - Expression Tests

    Free
  6. 4 - Retopology Free
  7. 4 - UV unwrapping Free
  8. 08

    5 - Turntable Renders

    Free
  9. 6 - Pose Exploration Free
  10. 10

    6 - Pose Polishing

    Free
Rain .blend files
  1. Rain - File 1: Head Sculpting
  2. Rain - File 2: Body & Outfit Sculpting
  3. Rain - File 3: Expression Tests
  4. Rain - File 4: Retopology & UV mapping
  5. Rain - File 5: Shading & Texturing
  6. Rain - File 6: Posing
  7. Rain - File 7: Lighting & Composition
Snow .blend files
  1. Snow - File 1: Concept
  2. Snow - File 2: Sculpting
  3. Snow - File 3: Testing
  4. Snow - File 4: Retopology
  5. Snow - File 5: UVs & Shading
  6. Snow - File 6: Rendering & Compositing
Snow - Character Development
  1. 1 - Concept Drawings Free
  2. 2 - Head Sculpting Free
  3. 3 - Full Body Sculpting Free
  4. 4 - Outfit Sculpting Free
  5. 05

    5 - Expression Tests

    Free
  6. 6 - Pose test Free
  7. 7 - Retopo (Face) Free
  8. 08

    8 - Retopo (Head)

    Free
  9. 09

    9 - Hair Retopology

    Free
  10. 10

    10 - Body Retopology

    Free
  11. 11

    11 - Outfit Retopology

    Free
  12. 12

    12 - Turntable Tests

    Free
More Resources
  1. Base Meshes Free
  2. Matcap: Default with Specular Free
  3. Matcap: Gradient Free
  4. Matcap: Ghost Free
Addons
  1. Screencast Keys Free
  2. Magic UV Free

Login to view this content

Join Blender Studio for just €11.50/month and get instant access to all of our training and film assets!

Login Join Blender Studio
Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Author
License CC-BY
Report Problem
4: Clean Retopology

Facial Retopology - Creases & Tweaking

This is the last of 3 videos on retopologizing the face in practice. In this lesson finalise the retopology by adding additional proximity loops to highlight primary & secondary creases and improve support the curvature and deformations of the object. In the end the clean retopology should looks as close as possible to the original sculpt.

Other links:
  • Rain - File 4: Retopology & UV mapping: The file that includes the original retopology of Rain.
  • File 4: Facial Topology & Planning: More examples of the finished facial topology from the end of these lessons.
  • Cheatsheets: A collection of cheat sheets, including the ones from this video.
General Links
  • Short version of the creation of Rain
  • Recap video of the creation of Snow
  • Rain .blend files
  • Snow .blend files
  • Course Resources

Join to leave a comment.

18 comments
Anna Ho
Anna Ho
June 22nd, 2023

Hey Julien, I've finished my character's face and body retopology and have a few questions about moving forward. If I wanted to use hair particles, should that come after the UV mapping, color, etc? Likewise, since I'm not doing rigging, would it be best to add shape keys to this retopology? Finally, I was hoping to add this character to a portfolio, and present it as a fully completed character. Does it need to be rigged as well in order to be able to present this character as complete? SO sorry for all the questions, and thank you so much for the instruction in this course.

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 23rd, 2023

@Anna Ho I can recommend watching the short recap videos for some insight: - https://studio.blender.org/training/stylized-character-workflow/5df42aaf5f68a29e408d6118/ - https://studio.blender.org/training/stylized-character-workflow/snow-creation-recap/

For some answers: Once you have the retopology done you can just start with particle hair. The trick is to duplicate the head mesh as a new object that the hair will spawn from. That way the hair is never affected when anything changes on the rest of the character UV maps, textures, etc. I highly recommend spending some time with the posing and lighting of the character for a good presentation. Either rigging or sculpting works. Saving the pose as a shape key can help a lot, yes.

Osiris
Osiris
Dec. 27th, 2022

Hello and thank you for the tutorial but I have a question I am making a model and I want to retopology: to retopo all the head and body I have to follow the timelapses and adapt or look for myself (please don't) or I can follow Snow's retopology video ( which I do)?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Jan. 2nd, 2023

@Osiris You can follow either of these videos. The timelapses will be more brief, but you will also find some interesting tips in the live streams for Snow if you like.

Mejjay
Mejjay
Jan. 18th, 2022

@Julien Kaspar  How would the steps mentioned in this video differ with a slightly different workflow, e.g., 1) basic sculpt, 2) retopology, 3) add multi-resolution mod to bake basic sculpt's details, 4) increase resolution of multi-res mod as needed to complete a detailed sculpt?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Jan. 18th, 2022

@Mejjay That's a great question! For that workflow you would need to get very evenly sized quads (all sides ideally the same length) and the least amount of poles as possible. That way you can subdivide the mesh and it will have the same resolution everywhere and no visible stretching. That sort of surface is very easy to sculpt on and you would add details by sculpting them on the highest subdivisions.

The retopology I'm showing in these videos is trying to use the fewest amount of quads with all of the important details like creases and hard edges already modeled in. This is very hard to sculpt on when subdividing but it's ok since you won't need a multires modifier to get those details in there anymore.

Mejjay
Mejjay
Jan. 22nd, 2022

@Julien Kaspar That's very helpful. I'll try my hand at both workflows to get a good feel for them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the retopology workflow you're presenting is more advanced, like a step up from when using the multires mod. That isn't to say that getting all even quads and very minimal poles is something to laugh at. It just feels like accounting for primary and secondary creases takes it even further. A true master of the craft, you know?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Jan. 24th, 2022

@Mejjay Thanks! It's true that these tutorials are a bit more advanced. They are not what your would need for sculpting. This is to get the highest possible quality for rigging & animation.

sulemandawood911
sulemandawood911
July 10th, 2021

Hi, I'm kinda confused. Will the shapekeys be somehow transferred to this one or do I have to do them again?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
July 12th, 2021

@sulemandawood911 No and no. This retopology will be used for the final rigging and animation. The one we did before is only for some quick test sculpting and will not hold up for any detailed facial animation. The facial sculpts are meant as a reference for the retopology and animation. They won't be used in the end for anything else.

ktyjust
ktyjust
June 17th, 2021

Thank you, your tutorials are saving me :D! I just wanted to ask you if you'd also remesh a nose piercing and magical stones in the forehead into the face mesh or would you mesh it seperately?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 17th, 2021

@ktyjust You're welcome! I would pretty much always make it a separate mesh.

Thies Grünewald
Thies Grünewald
Feb. 2nd, 2021

First of all, thank you for sharing your knowledge! This was a very helpful and great in depth-tutorial. One more question: After finishing the retopo, i realized that my edgeflow is incorrect, for example one edge goes from the middle of the ear to the tip of the head. Will there be serious problems during animation when the edge flow is not 100% perfect? :O

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Feb. 2nd, 2021

@thies91088 Loops not being closed into themselves happens a lot. As long as the general flow of the edges is ok the animators won't really mind. Having perfect patches and loops is mostly useful for rigging and selecting the patches easily. The cleaner it is the easier the rigging process will be. But even a rough retopology can be rigged in the end.

Thies Grünewald
Thies Grünewald
Feb. 2nd, 2021

@Julien Kaspar : Thank you very much!

Davide Prati
Davide Prati
Nov. 26th, 2020
Spencer Price
Spencer Price
Oct. 14th, 2020

Hey, Julien. Got another question for ya when I use the relaxed brush and snake hook brush in sculpt mode the shrink wrap modifier keeps the mesh tight to the object I'm sculpting on, but when I go back to edit mode all the vertices are off of the sculpt. Am I doing this wrong, and does it even matter if my object and Sculpt mode show the faces the way I like?

Thanks.

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Oct. 14th, 2020

*@Spencer Price* It's important to understand that the modifiers are not actually changing the geometry that you see in edit mode. Only once you apply a modifier does it truly appear in the mesh. In sculpt mode you will generally work with a preview that the shrinkwrap is giving you, just like in object mode.

Films Projects Training Blog Blender Studio for Teams
Pipeline and Tools
  • CloudRig
  • Blender Kitsu
  • Brushstroke Tools Add-on
  • Blender Studio Extensions
Characters
  • Mikassa
  • Whale
  • Ballan Wrasse
  • Snow
Studio
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Remixing Music
Blender Studio

The creators who share.

Artistic freedom starts with Blender The Free and Open Source 3D Creation Suite