Hello, guys! I just finished my model and I want to learn how to do retopology, however, after watching a lot of videos, I had a question, it’s correct that I already posed the model? After all, now I can’t use symmetry during retopology in Maya. And if I do a retopology first, and only then pose a low-poly sculpt, will I have to separately pose a high-poly to bake properly?
I’m a little confused about the sequence and how to do it right. I would be very grateful for help 
And yeah, sorry for such a stupid question i couldn’t find an answer using google)
Hi @Varlamon
There is no absolute rule, but the optimal sequence as I see it in most situations would be:
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Create your mesh in a symmetrical neutral or T-Pose.
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Later in your process after you have established your form to about a medium level of detail and it is mostly stable, convert the mesh to a multi-resolution tool. You will need a mesh in this form for the best results for posing, fine detail sculpting, painting, UV unwrapping, and texture creation and export. Posing especially works best on a mesh with a lower level of resolution.
- In order to do this it ideally requires a mesh with low poly clean, evenly distributed quad topology at the base level, and multiple levels of subdivision for higher levels of detail. If you’ve been working on your mesh at a single level of subdivision as would be common while developing form, you will need to retopologize your mesh with ZRemesher or other to create the new low poly base. Then subdivide it and project the high resolution detail from the original mesh onto the new using one of the various methods for doing so.
This should result in a model in a neutral or TPose with a clean low poly base and multiple levels of subdivision. If your Tool has multiple subtools this will need to be done for each subtool. Now you will be able to make changes at the lowest levels of subdivision, and this will update the form of the higher levels of subdivision while keeping the fine detail intact. This is the best time for fine detail sculpting and painting. ZBrush is optimized to work with meshes in this form , and will keep performance high by displaying a lower level of subdivision if it is available while navigating or transforming the mesh. This makes it much easier to work with meshes at the level of subdivision necessary for the finest detail.
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Paint or detail your model as desired. Your model should still be in a neutral pose at this point for best results. This is the time to complete all symmetrical work if at all possible.
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When ready to pose, use the Transpose functions with soft masking falloff or use ZSphere rigging to pose the base level topology. The posing functions will not work well with a high resolution mesh. If you pose the base subdivision level, when you switch back to the highest level of subdivision the pose will be updated while all the fine detail is still intact. If you have multiple subtools, use Transpose Master to create a new merged low poly version of the model, pose that model, then transfer the changes back to each individual subtool in your original tool. In this way you can pose a model with multiple subtools while still keeping the subtools separate.
Re: Symmetry. The most reliable way to make sure that you have auto-symmetry functions available for the stages of your work when you need it is to have a disciplined process as I described above, and complete those stages in order. Otherwise when you pose your model you will lose access to those functions for your mesh.
An alternative in some situations may be Poseable Symmetry if your mesh is topologically symmetrical from side to side, but this feature has limitations and will not replace the need for a disciplined process.
Good luck!
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