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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

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Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Author
License CC-BY
Report Problem
4: Clean Retopology

Timelapse: Inner Body & Transfering Volume

In this timelapse video it's all about applying the shrinkwrap modifier and modeling in missing areas like the inner mouth & extra details. I will also show how to easily preserve the original volumes & shapes of the sculpt.

Other helpful links:
  • Rain - File 4: Retopology & UV mapping: The file that includes the original retopology of Rain.
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.

40 comments
Carlos Meza
Carlos Meza
Oct. 25th, 2023

In the 00:26 say "copy and apply shrink wrap" but copy and apply the subdivision surface...?

Carlos Meza
Carlos Meza
Oct. 25th, 2023

I am lost in this way and it is explained in high velocity the part of "copy and apply the shrink wrap" and I have Blender 3.5.0 and copy option is inactive... :-(

Keshav Chaurasia
Keshav Chaurasia
Feb. 6th, 2023

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jAeHy4RExhz1ZC4OW5w-maSzjt4lbbhi/view?usp=sharing%C2%A0 this is the multires obj which I'm planning to bake onto a normal map.

Angel Mendoza
Angel Mendoza
Sept. 15th, 2022

Hi, the tutorials have been great! I'm stuck now with this part.. I can't get the detail back after the shrinkwrap and the multires base have been applied. It seems to work on the mesh but after appliying a new subdivision modifier it loses some detail again. Could you help me figure out what I'm doing wrong? Here's my recording https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rtDreHrz7nPv34o4vmPG8Wid3tt7h7Xt/view?usp=sharing Thank you!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Sept. 15th, 2022

@Angel Mendoza Sorry if the information was unclear. The workflow I showed is not to preserve the details of the original sculpt. You use "Apply Base" to make sure the retopology will have the same shape and proportions as the original sculpt when subdivided.

If you would not do this, the retopology would smooth and shrink slightly, losing the shape of the original sculpt. To preserve the details you will need to either keep the multires modifier or bake the details into a displacement or normal map. Baking is not a topic I'm going over in this course though.

Angel Mendoza
Angel Mendoza
Sept. 15th, 2022

@Julien Kaspar ohh okay, I get it. Thanks for the quick reply!

coolyan2016
coolyan2016
Sept. 15th, 2021

Hello, question, how come most of the characters on Blender Cloud uses the subdivision modifier instead of the multires? Doesn't the multires preserve the volume better?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Sept. 15th, 2021

@coolyan2016 The subdiv modifier is adding resolution & smoothing the objects. It leads to a higher quality result for the render. The multires modifier does this too but you can sculpt on the subdivisions, creating details and defining the shape further by hand.

coolyan2016
coolyan2016
June 16th, 2021

Hi @Julien Kaspar, is it possible to use the multiresolution modifier as it is without replacing it with a subdivision modifier to rig & animate? Because even though I clicked "apply base" in the multiresolution modifier, there is a loss of detail with using the subdivision modifier. Thank you!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 17th, 2021

@coolyan2016 Yes you can. We use the multiresolution modifier often for props and important environment assets to add detail if we don't have time to properly model and retopologize it. The mesh can still be rigged and animated. It's essentially like having vector-displacement on top of the base mesh. The apply base button is also merely to get the general volumes and shapes from the higher subdivisions back. Not to get all the details.

coolyan2016
coolyan2016
June 17th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar Thank you for your response! Have you and your team used a multiresolution modifier on a main character before? I want to use a multiresolution modifier for my character, so would the multiresolution modifier go after the armature modifier?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 18th, 2021

@coolyan2016 We use the multiresolution modifier on the Alpha creatures on the movie Spring. This allowed us to add more surface detail without having to bake displacement maps. But the multires, just like if you would have displacement maps, they would come after the armature modifier.

coolyan2016
coolyan2016
June 14th, 2021

Hi Julien, I have some questions. I see that in the file, "Rain 4: Retopology & UV mapping", Rain's eyes are closed in the basis shape key. Is this because it is easier to rig a character with closed eyes? What are the (main) reasons for this?  Also, what exactly are shape keys used for? I sort of get the idea that it's beneficial for rigging, but is there more to it? If we make shape key that we really like, is there a way to use it in animation? Thank you! Btw, great series!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 15th, 2021

@coolyan2016 I went a bit back and forth on this. I've worked with riggers who liked to rig characters with their eyes closed by default. In our current movie production we go for open by default. Some suggest that half-open is the best base to rig from. It depends on what the rigger feels most comfortable with. Just in case for Rain I added both open & closed, either as a base to choose form or by having the other as a reference on the shape the rig needs to achieve. But generally the shape you start from is much easier to achieve in the rig.

So it depends on how often you see the character with their eyes closed. In Sprite Fright we barely every see them with their eyes shut (most of the time they are completely open and round) so all the characters have their eyes fully open in the retopo. If we would have shots with eyes closed for longer our rigger might've preferred half open eyes by default.

But nowadays I'd probably not go for completely closed eyes by default anymore.

coolyan2016
coolyan2016
June 15th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar Thank you for the insight! And if you don't mind, do you prefer to texture characters with fully open eyes, half open eyes, or closed eyes? What are the reasons for your choice? Thanks again!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 16th, 2021

@coolyan2016 For texturing your characters it's actually very useful to have a shapekey for closed eyes. Your UVs should also look more like closed eyes so the textures on the eyelids won't end up incredibly stretched. So having that shapekeys to open/close the eyes is very useful.

Ekin Kılıçdere
Ekin Kılıçdere
June 1st, 2021

Hello, now, I'm facing another problem with transferring the subdivided mesh's volume to base mesh with multiresolution modifier. I applied all the modifiers (except subdivision, as much as I understand, using subdivison modifier in retopology process is for having an idea about how will the mesh will look like after we use multires), then added multires, subdivided twice and clicked apply base and nothing happened. https://vimeo.com/557526075 subtitled

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
June 1st, 2021

@Ekin Kılıçdere That's not really it. The subdivision surface modifier will subdivide and smooth the mesh (which results in loss of volume). The lowest subdivision got snapped/shrinkwrapped to the sculpt but subdividing it afterwards will result in ti loosing volume. In a recent live stream for the creation of "Snow" I explained it again. You can check it out here at 02:08:00 into the video.

Ekin Kılıçdere
Ekin Kılıçdere
June 1st, 2021

@Julien Kaspar I understand it now, I made a mistake with applying shrinkwrap modifier before adding multires and subdiving the mesh with it. Thanks for reply Julien, I will try to watch the live streams as well. They seem quite informative as these videos.

Ekin Kılıçdere
Ekin Kılıçdere
May 30th, 2021

Hi Julien, it's me again. I'm facing with a mirror modifier related problem. I faced with this problem before and even you as well in previous videos, and the solution was merging(auto) the vertices in the center. But this time it is harder due to more detailed mesh. https://vimeo.com/556821034 here is the subtitled video.

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 31st, 2021

@Ekin Kılıçdere The mirror modifier will mirror the entire mesh along the origin point of your object. If this issue happens it must mean that your origin point is not in the center of the character but slightly shifted instead.  You might need to fix it manually. An easy way to do this is to go into the sidebar (N) into "Tool" -> Options -> Affect only "Origins". You can then move the origin around and see the effect on the mirror modifier.

Ekin Kılıçdere
Ekin Kılıçdere
May 31st, 2021

@Julien Kaspar Moving the origin worked just fine. Learning new things in blender is really exciting. Thank you Julien.

Show more replies
Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 31st, 2021

@Ekin Kılıçdere What I recommend to prevent this from happening in the first place is to have the character objects in the center of the scene. This way you can always be sure where the center was, where it's supposed to be and where new objects should have their center. Issues like this if they happen also then only take no time to fix.

Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 1st, 2021

@Julien Kaspar thank you for this tutorial. I have learned so much! I'm having some issues because the Apply Base feature in the Multires modifier is not working. There seems to be a bug in blender 2.9. Is there any way to fix this? Thank you!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 3rd, 2021

@Pofipal Thanks! I'm not aware of any bug. Can you elaborate? You can also report it to get help from Blender developers.

Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 3rd, 2021

@Julien Kaspar When I Apply Base and then remove the multires modifier it looks the same as before I added the modifier. There seems to be some sort of bug because some parts of the mesh are being less subdivided for some reason and when I go to sculpt mode it changes colors without my doing. Is there any way to fix this? Thank you!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 4th, 2021

@Pofipal I'm not sure.       "When I Apply Base and then remove the multires modifier it looks the same as before".  Are you sure you applied the shrinkwrap modifier? It won't work otherwise.

"There seems to be some sort of bug because some parts of the mesh are being less subdivided for some reason".  Could be that the wireframe overlay is giving you a wrong impression. Or the level for obejct mdoe and sculpt mode are set to different numbers in the modifier.

"when I go to sculpt mode it changes colors without my doing".  It could be that there are face sets on the object. I didn't explain them much in the course yet but you can just disable them in the overlays if you are not using them anyway.

Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 5th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar I went through all the steps in the video (duplicated the shrinkwrap, added multires, subdivided with mulitres, applied one shrinkwrap, applied base in multires) and it did not change the mesh at all.  For the second problem, I have not been using the wireframe overlay for my retopolizing so I don't think that's the problem. In object mode, the legs and arms are being less subdivided even though they have the same spacing of vertices as the torso and are all connected. I disabled face sets and it fixed the problem in sculpt mode. Thank you for all of your help!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 5th, 2021

@Pofipal I think I can only help more if you can send me links to some screenshots, a video or even the .blend file. Sorry that I can't do more without more information.

Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 6th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar here is a link to a video of adding the multires modifier and how its not working: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DCaI_KjfAkDJeBp8RkDPp6VpErlFdDll/view?usp=sharing Hopefully that makes sense! Thanks so much :)

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 6th, 2021

@Pofipal You need to apply the shrinkwrap modifier before you apply the base. This will then add the details to your sculpt (on the higher subdivisions) and when you use apply base it will fit he base to those higher details.

Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 6th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar Sorry I sent the wrong video! Here's the correct link (I applied the shrinkwrap modifier before applied base and it still didn't work) : https://drive.google.com/file/d/13plhor72oqLk3VFwu-GOR3Raor531Sfh/view?usp=sharing

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
May 6th, 2021

@Pofipal It worked. But you still have another shrinkwrap modifier enabled. Remove it and add a subdivision surface modifier to see your result.

Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 9th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar It worked! Thank you!

[deleted]
[deleted]
May 3rd, 2021
[deleted]
Sofia Pallais-Aks
Sofia Pallais-Aks
May 3rd, 2021

Sorry It's not letting me send photos

Tsihoarana Randimbivololona
Tsihoarana Randimbivololona
Feb. 8th, 2021

What is the purpose forduplicating and applying the skinwrap? And I am a bit confused with the multires with the idea of applying the base and then removing it and putting a sub after that.

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar
Feb. 8th, 2021

@Tsihoarana Randimbivololona It's a trick that I use to preserve the volume of the original sculpt. Once you finished the retopology and apply the shrinkwrap you will notice that the subdivided result will lose some of the original volume. This always happens. In the case of my retopology of Rain the density of the mesh is very high, so the loss of volume is very subtle.

The apply base button on the multires modifier is there to adjust the base mesh so that it matches the subdivided version as much as possible. This also means that it will prevent any loss of volume when subdivided. So we can abuse this option for the retopo workflow as well by shrinkwrapping the sculpted volumes & details back onto the retopo via multires subdivisions and then hit Apply Base to fix the volume loss.  In some cases it can also create a bit more volume than what was there originally but the result is still much better. I hope this makes sense. Tbh this should not be this obscure and instead a clear, understandable feature in the UI.

Tsihoarana Randimbivololona
Tsihoarana Randimbivololona
Feb. 9th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar Thank you so much for your answer. I now completly understand it after trying it on one of my retopology and I do agree it helps a lot. Especially with the loss of volume in some area.

Tsihoarana Randimbivololona
Tsihoarana Randimbivololona
Feb. 8th, 2021

Hello, gerat tutorial. I have questions about retopology, especially with the newer version for blender.

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