Then my base mesh was ready for the next step, which consisted of working on the retopology. During this step, I focused more on modeling certain parts and pieces that I cut and refined later in 3ds Max. To have more control when forming my mesh, I was forced to do this manually, and so I returned to the classic method using ZSphere. This video gives a breakdown of my process.
After that, I switched to 3ds Max to form parts of my mesh. The modeling tools in 3ds Max gave me more flexibility and efficiency in the second, more detailed level of the modeling process. My manual preparation of the retopology allowed me to have the correct edges (ring and loop) to facilitate when cutting pieces that I had previously drawn.
Some of the loops used in the retopology process
At the retopology stage, the most-used tools are: Extrude, Chamfer, Split and Smooth. For a clean result though, it is very important to know how to use them in order to control the behavior of the mesh after Smoothing.
Examples of some of the tools used for refining this model
The modeling process
The final video on the modeling process
Unwrap the UVW I
After the modeling had been completed, I then needed to work on the UVW. With UVMaster and UV Unwrap the process of unwrapping becomes child's play, especially as the armor of our cyber ninja is divided into several parts.
Here is a video to show you how I proceed:
Unwrap the UVW II
I reworked part of the torso, and in this video below you'll notice that I split it into several elements in 3ds Max. This allowed me to trace the borders to ensure that the UVMaster plug-in would unwrap them correctly and avoid any uncontrolled unwrapping.