blender-retopology-uv

Retopology & UVs

The execution model is in blender-core.

Retopology

Automatic (scripts/auto_retopo.py -- --objects Sculpt --tris 8000 --method ...) makes <name>_low and leaves the source hidden:

Manual (hero characters, anything that deforms). Set up a new mesh object with a Shrinkwrap modifier (PROJECT, target = sculpt), snapping to FACE_PROJECT + use_snap_project, and the source in a different viewport color/x-ray. Auto retopo isn't good enough for deforming hero meshes, because the edge flow below matters.

Edge flow rules for deforming meshes

• Concentric loops around the eyes and mouth (≥3 rings). The nasolabial loop flows from the nose wing to the mouth corner.
• 3 loops at every bending joint (elbow, knee, finger knuckles), plus a loop on each side to keep volume. The shoulder needs extra loops for raising the arm.
• Keep poles (3/5-edge verts) out of bending areas. Put them on flat, stiff regions (chest, back of skull).
• Distribute quads evenly, with density where deformation and silhouette need it. Use triangles only in hidden, non-deforming spots.
• Character tri budgets in 2026: mobile 5–15k, Roblox body ≤ 10.7k total, console/PC third-person 30–80k, hero/cinematic 100k+. Check the target in blender-game-optimization.

UVs

1. Seams: hide them (under arms, inner legs, back of the head, under parts), follow hard edges, cut cylinders on the back side. Rule for game meshes: every hard edge (>~60°, sharp_edge) must be a UV seam, or the normal map shows artifacts. scripts/uv_pack.py --seams-from-sharp 60 does this.
2. Unwrap: --method seams (Angle Based with marked seams), --method min_stretch (SLIM, 4.3+, least distortion on organics), --method smart (hard-surface/auto, --angle 66).
3. Straighten rectangular islands (Follow Active Quads, live only) so trims and pixel grids line up.
4. Average island scale + pack with margin in pixels: 2k → 8 px, 4k → 16 px, mobile 1k → 4 px. --shape CONCAVE gives the tightest pack (slow headless). The default AABB is instant.
5. Texel density (scripts/texel_density.py --res 2048): keep spread ≤ 1.3 within an asset. Set it with --set <px/m>; if fits_0_1 is false, change res or density.
6. QA: blender-asset-qa reports zero-area UV faces and overlap %.

Texel density targets (px/m; studio baselines, not laws)

Everything in the same scene should share one density. The exception is hero assets, kept within 2x.

Special cases

• Mirrored/stacked UVs save space but break unique bakes. Move the duplicate islands exactly +1 U (outside 0–1) during baking, then move them back. Their normal maps must be mirror-safe (tangent space handles it in engines with MikkTSpace).
• Lightmap UV2 (--lightmap, gives UVMap_Lightmap): no overlaps, every island inside 0–1, generous margin. Unreal/Unity can generate their own; ship one only if the engine pipeline wants it. Keep UV0 active for texturing.
• UDIMs (film/hero): islands in tiles 1001+ (U offset 1 per tile). Texture node image source="TILED". Game engines mostly don't support UDIMs.
• Trim sheets: unwrap the strips, then scale/move the islands onto the trim rows (V positions from the trim layout). Islands may exceed 0–1 in U for tiling.
• Roblox: exactly one UV set, all inside 0–1. Overlaps are allowed.

Gotchas

• 5.0+: UV selection is shared across UV maps (.uv_select_* attributes). Old BMLoopUV.select code fails.
• uv.* operators run in Edit Mode and act on selected faces. Select everything first (scripts handle this).
• Headless uv.pack_islands with CONCAVE/CONVEX + rotation can take 2–25 s even on tiny meshes. Use AABB while iterating.
• Unwrap warning "failed to solve island": the island has no seams (closed shape). Add seams.
• Apply scale before measuring texel density, or the density reads wrong (the scripts use world space and already account for scale).