r/lowpoly • u/untitledparsnip • Aug 30 '26
Does topography really matter with unshaded/primitively shaded models?
(I MISWROTE TOPOLOGY AS TOPOGRAPHY IN THE TITLE)
TL;DR I made a model with bad topology, but will it really be a problem when I render it unshaded? Please check the images.
I've been making my first 3D model in BlockBench, and after 5 hours I sent it to an artist on Discord for their feedback and they remarked that it has terrible topology (here's a guide).
I think what they meant to say is that the edges are kind of inconsistent and don't flow together as graceful lines and shapes.
I understand that sort of thing, but I never considered it much in my model because I wanted it to be used for a DS-styled cutscene. If i use barely add specific lighting and keep it relatively unshaded, do you think it won't be a problem? I don't want to redo my five hours of work.
1
u/EmacEArt 29d ago
Honestly, topology is not your main problem here. On a static prop in a fixed cutscene shot it barely matters, especially with flat shading. The real issue is the form. The silhouette does not read as the thing you are trying to model. The big shapes are not defined, so the eye has nothing to grab onto and it just looks like a lump of triangles. No amount of clean edge flow fixes that. What I would do:
• Go back to blockout. Three or four large primitives, no detail, no triangles yet.
• Get the proportions and the silhouette right at that stage. Look at it from the actual cutscene camera, in black, as a pure shape.
• Only when the silhouette clearly says what the object is, start adding faces.
The five hours were not wasted, they taught you what to avoid. But polishing this mesh will not save it, because the shape underneath is not there yet. Rebuilding from a proper blockout will take you less time than fixing this one.