ZBrushCentral

3d print newbie-need to retopo? costume tips? (answered)

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

I’m fairly new to Zbrush and I haven’t ever 3D printed anything before and wanted to clear up a couple of basic things:

  1. I know it’s important to retopo for animation but is it necessary for 3D printing? How important is topology for printing?

  2. When creating clothing for characters is it ok (for the 3D printing) to just Extract and sculpt. Or would it be better to use retopology tools to create the clothes?

Any basic tips or links to tips would be great since I’m finding it hard to get info/tutorials that explain the possible pitfalls with 3D printing.

Many thanks.

#2

topology doesn’t matter at all to a 3d printer.
what matters is mesh integrity and having a manifold mesh so that the printer understands and can print the object correctly.

Some 3d printers don’t like multiple objects, others don’t care.

#3

That’s good to hear. Thanks a lot for the help.

#4

And topology doesn’t really matter. Just decimate and export. If you havnt already done so watch the series of videos on the subject in zclassroom.

#5

Thanks for the help. I’ve only managed to find the Jeff Feligno and the Decimation master videos. He does mention that he retopologises (I think it was in chapter 2) but I’m not quite sure why.

#6

For me there are only two reasons for using retopology if your sculpt is for a print. First if you want to have two tools become one ( I think this is what he does with the hands). Second to give yourself more topology in certain parts.

#7

ok, that makes sense, he did have hands separate from the body’s base mesh. thanks again.