# Retopoflow 4: the core flows

Hands-on lessons for retopologising a sculpt in Blender with the Retopoflow 4 add-on, from the first session to a clean, low game mesh. Every hotkey is taken from the manual.

Retopology means drawing a new, clean, low mesh over a dense sculpt so it can go into a game. Retopoflow 4 is a Blender add-on for doing that by hand, quickly. These lessons cover the flows that matter most, using a toon rock or cliff as the running example, because it is simple enough to finish in one sitting.

Each step has a goal, the clicks and keys, a small exercise, and a list that says when it's good enough. Time targets are a benchmark for yourself, not pressure. Skip around, and stop whenever you like.

**The short version**

1. **Everything that makes geometry needs `Ctrl`.** Hold `Ctrl` and click or drag to create. A plain click or drag selects or tweaks. This is the answer to "I can't create anything" [2] [1].
2. **There's no Retopoflow menu in version 4.** Start a session from Add > Mesh in Object Mode: "Retopology at Cursor" or "Retopology from Active" [3]. Then use the toolbar on the left in Edit Mode.
3. **Settings live in the tool header, the N panel's Tool tab, and the Properties Editor's Tool tab** [4]. There's no Retopoflow tab; look under Tool.
4. **For a rock or cliff, two moves:** draw the skeleton with PolyStrips along the ridges and lips, then fill between the lines with Strokes. Clean up with Relax and Tweak.
5. **`F` fills holes.** Tap `F` to fill the selected boundary. That's how you close the top [5] [6].
6. **Contours and Mirror are for creatures.** Contours is for tubes: limbs, tails, necks. Mirror is Blender's own Mirror modifier with a helper panel [7] [8].
7. **Relax and Tweak work from any tool:** `Shift`+drag is Relax, `Ctrl Shift`+drag is Tweak [9] [10].
8. **Save often.** Since 4.1.5, Retopoflow has its own Edit Mode auto-save, using Blender's auto-save folder and timing. Recover with File > Recover [11].
9. **Not everything needs retopology.** Hats, props and clothes are usually box-modelled at game density from the start.

> Hotkeys and menu places come from the Retopoflow 4.2.2 manual, with each page cited. Plain Blender features the manual doesn't cover (Mark Sharp, Shade Auto Smooth, Weighted Normal, the Statistics overlay, Grid Fill) are marked "Blender"; check them once in your version. Every number that isn't a hotkey or a version (face and triangle counts, percentages, time targets), the advice on what not to retopologise, and the order of the lessons are reasoned starting values, not measurements. Test them against your own work.

## Orientation

**Goal:** Start a session, find the tools and their settings, and know which object is which.

*Figure: Side view of a rock. A dense, lumpy sculpt covered in tiny vertices is labelled source. A clean mesh of eight large vertices, labelled target, drops from above and lands on the sculpt's surface. A dashed hidden rock beside it is labelled ignored.*

**Words**

- **Source object:** the original shape you're copying, usually dense and messy (a sculpt). Any visible mesh that isn't the active object counts as a source [4].
- **Target (retopology object):** the new, clean, low mesh you're drawing. It snaps onto the source's surface.
- You need at least one source, or the tools do nothing.

**Where things live**

- **Start a session:** in Object Mode, Add > Mesh. Two entries sit at the bottom: "Retopology at Cursor" and "Retopology from Active". "From Active" puts the new object at the active object's position and rotation, which is usually what you want. "At Cursor" puts it at the 3D cursor, aligned to the world [1] [3]. In F3 search, the operator is "RF: New target from Active".
- **Tools:** the toolbar on the left of the 3D View, in Edit Mode, on the target: PolyPen, PolyStrips, Strokes, Contours, Patches, Tweak, Relax [2].
- **Tool options:** the bar across the top of the 3D View while a Retopoflow tool is active, plus N > Tool, plus the Properties Editor's Tool tab [4]. The far right of the header has a "General Options" dropdown: overlay colour and offset, vertex size, and how much other objects fade.
- **Pie menu:** `W` while a Retopoflow tool is active switches tools and shows common settings [4].
- **If the new mesh seems to poke through the source:** lower the retopology overlay offset in the header [4] [1].

**Before you draw**

- Hide everything that isn't the thing you're copying. Hidden objects aren't sources.
- Save the file, and save again every few minutes.
- You can narrow the sources in the Snapping menu: a specific object or collection, or only selected objects [4].

**Time target:** novice 10 min, competent 3 min, fluent 1 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] You can start a session without searching for it.
- [ ] You can find the tool list and the tool header without searching.
- [ ] You can say which object is the source and which is the target.

## PolyStrips: the skeleton

**Goal:** Draw the main flow lines of the form (ridges, lips, and the edges where the shadow turns) as strips of quads.

*Figure: A cliff outline. A Ctrl-drag brush lays three strips of quads: the top ridge, then the left lip, then the right lip, each starting from the ridge. Three long strips, not a net, under about 60 faces.*

**Concept**

- PolyStrips draws a strip of quads along a path you drag on the source [12].
- The width is the brush size you see when you hold `Ctrl`. It isn't fitted for you, so choose it on purpose.
- For a toon look, only forms that change the silhouette or move the shadow band need geometry. A rock's skeleton is a few long strips, not a net.
- A strip can start or stop on an existing face and attach to it. You can also draw alongside an existing edge.

**Clicks and keys**

1. Make a target ("Retopology from Active") on your sculpt. Enter Edit Mode if you aren't in it already. Pick PolyStrips.
2. Hold `Ctrl` to see the brush circle. `Shift F`, or `[` and `]`, changes its size.
3. `Ctrl` + left-drag along the top ridge. A strip appears.
4. Straight after drawing, `Ctrl Scroll` changes the number of segments and `Shift Scroll` changes the width. The same sliders are in Blender's Adjust Last Operation panel.
5. Draw a second strip along a lip, starting on the end of the first. It attaches, and takes its width from the face it snaps to.
6. Curve handles are on by default. Drag a control point to bend the strip, or a handle to rotate it. `Alt C` toggles them. Hover over a control point and press `V` to switch between smooth and corner. `Alt` + left-drag on a control point changes the width there [13].
7. To select part of a strip: click one face, then `Ctrl Shift` + click another [12].

**Exercise:** add a Cube, give it a few cuts, and push some vertices around to make a lumpy slab. Use it as a source. Draw one strip along its top edge and one down a side. Then, on a real sculpt, draw three strips only: the top ridge and the two lips.

**Common mistakes**

- Forgetting `Ctrl`: a plain left-drag only selects or tweaks.
- Strips so wide that two of them cover the same area.
- A strip for a bump that doesn't change the outline or the shadow. Skip it.

**Time target:** novice 30 min, competent 10 min, fluent 4 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] Three strips cover the main flow, each following a visible change in form.
- [ ] The strips join cleanly, with no gaps or doubled faces.
- [ ] The Statistics overlay in Edit Mode (Overlays popover > Statistics, Blender) shows fewer than about 60 faces at this stage (a starting value to test).

## Strokes: fill between lines

**Goal:** Turn the gaps between the skeleton strips into clean patches of quads.

*Figure: Two strips with a gap between them. One strip's inner edge is selected, a Ctrl-drag stroke runs along the other, the gap fills with a grid of quads, and Ctrl+Scroll counts the columns down from 5 to 3.*

**Concept**

- The manual calls Strokes "an incredibly versatile tool for quickly sketching out patches of quads and filling holes" [14].
- It reads your selection and your stroke and picks a fill type for you. You don't need to memorise the names.
- Selected edges plus a new stroke extrude into a patch of evenly spaced quads.
- The count method decides how many quads you get: Fixed, Brush, Average (square quads matching the width of the selected edges) or Length.

**Clicks and keys**

1. Pick Strokes. Deselect all. `Ctrl` + left-drag on the source to draw a free line of vertices (an Edge Strip).
2. Keep that line selected. Draw a second stroke, roughly parallel to it, with `Ctrl` + left-drag. The space between fills with a grid of quads (an Equals Strip).
3. After either, `Ctrl Scroll` changes the number of vertices or loops.
4. To bridge two separate pieces: select the edges on one side, start the stroke on a vertex of the selection, and end it on a vertex of the other piece (an I Strip). `Alt Scroll` slides the bridge along the loop.
5. To fill a hole between strips: select one border, then stroke to the opposite border. The sides merge to nearby vertices, so holes close without overlapping.
6. A stroke that ends where it started makes a Loop. In the redo panel, Circle makes it round.
7. Settings worth knowing: Count Method, Extrapolation (Flat or Adapt, for T strips), Smoothing (0 gives straight lines) and Spacing [14].

**Exercise:** on the slab from the last step, fill the top between two PolyStrips. Select one strip's inner edge and stroke along the other. Use `Ctrl Scroll` to find the fewest loops that still follow the form. Then fill every gap between the three strips on your sculpt.

**Common mistakes**

- Drawing the second stroke far from parallel, so the fill twists. Redraw it closer to the first.
- Using Average with no edges selected: it falls back to the brush size.
- Too many loops. Count down with `Ctrl Scroll` until it hurts, then add one back.

**Time target:** novice 40 min, competent 15 min, fluent 6 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] The quads are close to square, with no thin slivers.
- [ ] There are no stray poles you can't explain. (A pole is a vertex with 3 or 5 edges; a few are normal.)
- [ ] Every row of quads follows a change in form, and couldn't be removed without changing the silhouette or the shadow band.

## Relax and Tweak: clean up

**Goal:** Even out the quads and fix lumpy spots without redoing anything.

*Figure: A patch of quads. Tweak (Ctrl Shift drag) pulls two vertices out of place and the distorted quads tint orange. Relax (Shift drag) sweeps across and evens them out. A pinned vertex stays where it was.*

**Concept**

- Both are brushes that only affect the geometry under the brush.
- **Relax** evens out spacing and angles while staying on the source surface. It isn't a plain smooth [9].
- **Tweak** pushes vertices around. The default brush is Nudge; `Alt` toggles loop mode in Nudge [10] [11].
- You can reach both from any other Retopoflow tool without switching.

**Clicks and keys**

1. From any Retopoflow tool, hold `Shift` and left-drag over vertices: Relax.
2. Hold `Ctrl Shift` and left-drag: Tweak.
3. In the Relax or Tweak tool itself, left-drag applies the brush. Select with `Shift` + click, box select with `B`, or lasso with `Ctrl` + right-drag [10].
4. Brush size is `F`, strength `Shift F`, falloff `Ctrl F`.
5. Masking: Boundary (Exclude, Slide, Include) keeps the outer edge from drifting. Selected (Exclude, Only, All) limits the brush to or away from the selection.
6. Pin vertices you like: select them and use Pin Selected in the tool settings (`Shift P`); unpin with `Alt P` [9] [11]. Pins only show in vertex select mode.
7. For a whole selected loop, use the Relax operator (`Shift R`) or Even (`Shift Alt R`) in Edit Mode [6] [11].

**Exercise:** on your sculpt's new mesh, drag a few vertices out of place with Tweak on purpose, then `Shift`-drag Relax over the area and watch the quads recover. Then pin a sharp corner and Relax across it. It shouldn't move.

**Common mistakes**

- Relaxing sharp corners flat. Pin them, or mask Corners.
- Turning up Iterations, when Strength is the setting to try first [9].
- Expecting a plain click to select inside the brush tools.

**Time target:** novice 20 min, competent 8 min, fluent 3 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] Quad sizes change gradually, except where you chose otherwise.
- [ ] Corners and ridges you want sharp didn't soften.

## Caps and fills: closing the top and bottom

**Goal:** Close the open holes at the top and bottom of the mesh.

*Figure: A rock with an open top. With only half the rim selected, F makes nothing. With the whole rim loop selected, F fills the top with quads. The buried bottom is left open.*

**Concept**

- `F` is an auto fill: it tries to fill the selected boundary with quads [6] [5].
- The Patches tool also fills when you press `Enter` or `Ctrl` + click.
- **Check your version:** in Retopoflow 4.2.2 the toolbar's Patches tool is the older "legacy" one, because the newer one is switched off in the code [3]. The manual describes the newer tool, so check its exact settings (Solution, Offset, step width) by eye. `F`, `Enter` and `Ctrl` + click should work in both.

> **Inference:** If the rock sits buried in terrain, nobody sees the bottom: leave it open, or close it with one n-gon. Big flat tops are a fine place for an n-gon too, because a flat n-gon triangulates into the same few triangles anyway. Try quads first and keep the n-gon as the cheap fallback.

**Clicks and keys**

1. Select the edges of the hole. Loop select is `Alt` + click, or double-click on an edge [4].
2. Tap `F`. A filled patch appears.
3. If it looks wrong, open the Adjust Last Operation panel. The Solution and Offset sliders (and `Ctrl Scroll` and `Shift Scroll` while the preview is up) cycle through other fills [5].
4. For holes with sharp corners, toggle which vertices count as corners with `Ctrl` + click on a selected boundary vertex [5].
5. Plain Blender fallback: select the boundary loop, then Edge > Grid Fill. It needs an even number of edges around the loop; if the count is odd, add or remove a vertex first.
6. If a hole won't fill cleanly, `F` with the loop selected makes a single n-gon [5].

**Exercise:** take the slab from earlier with its top and bottom open. Close the top with `F` and leave the bottom open. Then redo the top with Grid Fill and compare the face counts in the Statistics overlay.

**Common mistakes**

- Selecting only part of the boundary loop.
- Fighting for an all-quad bottom that nobody will see.
- Forgetting that Grid Fill needs an even edge count around the loop.

**Time target:** novice 15 min, competent 5 min, fluent 2 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] There are no holes anywhere the camera can see.
- [ ] The top fill has no long, thin triangles.
- [ ] The face count didn't jump by more than about 15 percent (a starting value to test).

## PolyPen: fix corners and single faces

**Goal:** Place or fix vertices one at a time where the other tools get it wrong.

*Figure: PolyPen: a plain click makes nothing; four Ctrl+clicks make a vertex, an edge, a triangle and then a quad.*

**Concept**

- PolyPen gives vertex-by-vertex control, built for low-poly game models [15].
- Insert Method decides what a click makes. Tri / Quad is the precise default: a vertex, then an edge, then a triangle, then a quad.
- It also works as a knife, cutting into existing faces.
- It expects vertex and edge selection, not face selection.

**Clicks and keys**

1. Pick PolyPen. Deselect all. `Ctrl` + click on the source: one vertex.
2. Keep it selected. `Ctrl` + click again: an edge. Again: a triangle. Again: the fourth corner makes it a quad.
3. To bridge two edges with a quad: select one edge, then `Ctrl` + click on the second edge.
4. To cut: deselect all, `Ctrl` + click on an edge, then `Ctrl` + click on another edge of the same piece. Partial loops and quad junctions are toggles in the tool options (Knife Loop Cuts, Knife Junctions).
5. Drag any vertex, without `Ctrl`, to tweak it. Hold `Shift` while dragging to move in small steps [11].
6. Set Insert Method to Quad for one-click quads.

**Exercise:** on the slab, delete one corner quad and rebuild it with PolyPen in Tri / Quad mode.

**Common mistakes**

- Clicking without `Ctrl`: that only selects.
- Insert Method left on Edge or Vertex, so faces never appear.

**Time target:** novice 15 min, competent 5 min, fluent 2 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] The patched corner follows its neighbours' flow.
- [ ] There are no overlapping or doubled vertices. (Mesh Cleanup, in the Curve handles and helper ops step, checks this.)

## Contours: tubes

**Goal:** Wrap loops around cylindrical forms: limbs, tails, necks, horns, poles.

*Figure: A bent tube. A stroke drawn at an angle makes a twisted ring and is rejected. Four strokes drawn square across the tube each make a six-vertex ring, joined by sections with one cut loop between each pair.*

**Concept**

- You draw strokes across the form, perpendicular to its length. Each stroke becomes a ring [7].
- Spans is how many vertices a new ring has. Cuts is how many loops sit between two rings.
- Method: Walk (the best, but slower on dense meshes), SDF or Fast. Start with the default.
- Tweak Loops is on by default: dragging an edge slides a whole loop.

**Clicks and keys**

1. Pick Contours. Deselect all.
2. `Ctrl` + left-drag across the tube near one end. A ring appears.
3. Straight away, `Ctrl Scroll` changes the number of vertices in the ring.
4. With the ring selected, drag a second stroke across the tube further along. It connects with a tube section.
5. `Ctrl Scroll` changes the loops in between. `Shift Scroll` or `Alt T` twists a ring.
6. Click and drag an edge to slide a loop along the form.

**Exercise:** add a Cylinder with a few cuts, bend it with Simple Deform or by moving vertices, and apply it so it's a plain mesh. Use it as a source. Draw 4 rings along it. Try 6 and 8 spans and count the faces.

**Common mistakes**

- Drawing strokes at an angle, which twists the ring.
- Too many spans.

**Time target:** novice 30 min, competent 10 min, fluent 4 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] The rings are perpendicular to the form and evenly spaced.
- [ ] Every ring has the same span count, as low as the silhouette allows (6 to 8 is a fair start for a toon tail).

## Mirror: half a creature

**Goal:** Model one half and get the other half for free.

*Figure: A quad mesh drawn on the left of a dashed symmetry plane. A dashed wire copy unfolds on the right; an ear added on the left appears on the right too. Apply turns the copy into real geometry, with a single row of vertices along the centre.*

**Concept**

- Retopoflow 4 uses Blender's real Mirror modifier; there's no separate symmetry mode [8].
- A Mirror section in the tool settings toggles axes, changes the modifier's properties, or applies it.
- Display modes: None, Applied (shows the mirrored side as real-looking geometry, which is confusing), Wire, Solid.
- Blender's own Edit Mode symmetry isn't supported [8].

**Clicks and keys**

1. Put the target's origin on the symmetry plane (standard Blender practice).
2. Open the Mirror section in the tool settings and turn on the axis, usually X.
3. Pick a display mode. Wire is the least confusing.
4. Draw across the symmetry line. It works in PolyPen, Contours and PolyStrips.
5. If you can't see the mirrored half in Edit Mode, turn on the modifier's On Cage button (the triangle icon) [2] [8].
6. When the half is done, apply the mirror from the same section.

**Exercise:** mirror a half-cylinder and draw a strip across the centre line.

**Common mistakes**

- Working on the "fake" side with Applied display: edits appear backwards [8].
- Forgetting to apply.

**Time target:** novice 15 min, competent 5 min, fluent 2 min.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] The centre seam has no gap and no doubled vertices.
- [ ] The mirror is applied before export.

## Curve handles and helper ops

**Goal:** Know the extras that save time. Learn them last, one per session.

*Figure: The same strip of quads dragged two ways. A plain drag moves three points and leaves a kinked strip with stretched quads. With curve handles (Alt C), dragging a handle tip bends the whole strip into one smooth curve.*

- **Curve handles** (`Alt C`): drag a selection as if it were a curve. On by default in PolyStrips and Strokes [13].
- **Mesh Cleanup:** in the tool settings or the `W` pie. It snaps to the source, merges doubles, fixes normals, fills holes, and can triangulate [6].
- **Even** (`Shift Alt R`) and **Relax** (`Shift R`) as operators for selected loops [11].
- **Twist Loops** (`Alt T`) and **Rotate Topology** (`Alt R`) realign a grid fill [6].
- **Diamond Bevel** (`Ctrl Alt B`): a crease-like junction on selected edges [6] [11].
- **Adjust Loop Count:** resamples a strip's count.

**Exercise:** try one helper per session on a mesh you've already made.

**Time target:** novice 10 min per helper, competent 3 min, fluent under a minute.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] You've tried each helper once.
- [ ] You can say which one you'd reach for to fix a twisted grid fill.

## The whole flow: sculpt to game mesh

**Goal:** See the steps above as one flow, from a sculpt to a mesh you can export.

*Figure: A toon cliff goes from a dense sculpt to a low game mesh in seven stages: a clean target is made over the sculpt, three PolyStrips draw the skeleton, Strokes fill between them, Relax evens the quads, F caps the top, the triangle budget is checked, then Subdivision Surface is dropped and the ridge marked sharp.*

1. **Sculpt the form,** or a blockout. Keep it to big planes.
2. **Make the target:** Add > Mesh > Retopology from Active. Hide everything else. Save.
3. **Skeleton:** a few PolyStrips along the ridges and lips.
4. **Fill:** Strokes between them.
5. **Tidy:** Relax, Tweak and pins.
6. **Caps:** `F` on the top; leave the bottom open if it's buried.
7. **Check the budget** in the Statistics overlay. A 5 m toon rock might start at about 300 to 600 triangles; treat that as a value to test, not a rule. Far over? Remove loops.
8. **Game mesh rules:**
   - No Subdivision Surface modifier on the game mesh. If a result looks soft and soapy, check for this modifier first.
   - Mark Sharp on the edges that should stay crisp, then Shade Auto Smooth (Blender; in 5.x the menu may read "Shade Smooth by Angle").
   - Optional: a Bevel modifier with 1 segment plus Weighted Normal, for a soft highlight along edges (Blender).
9. **Export** the way your engine expects.

**When not to retopologise** (reasoned advice, not from the manual): hats, props and clothes. Box-model them directly at game density. Retopology is for shapes you sculpted first: rocks, cliffs, creatures.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] You can name each stage, and the tool it uses, without looking.
- [ ] You know your own triangle budget for a rock, or how you'll find it out.

## Capstone: one rock from scratch

**Goal:** Retopologise one sculpted rock or cliff, start to finish, using only these lessons.

**Steps:** orientation, skeleton (3 to 5 PolyStrips), Strokes fill, Relax and Tweak, a top cap with `F`, the bottom as you choose, a Statistics check, Mark Sharp, Shade Auto Smooth, and no Subdivision.

**Time target:** novice 2 hours, competent 45 minutes, fluent 20 minutes. On a first-ever try, any of these is a pass.

**Compare:** if you've retopologised this sculpt before, put the old result next to the new one, count the faces, and see what you left out.

**Good enough when**

- [ ] 300 to 600 triangles for a rock about 5 m across (a starting range; adjust it to your game).
- [ ] No Subdivision Surface modifier on the final mesh.
- [ ] The silhouette matches the sculpt from your game camera's main angles.
- [ ] Every loop is there for a reason: it changes the outline or moves the shadow band.
- [ ] No visible holes, and the top cap is clean.
- [ ] The file was saved at least three times along the way.

## Cheat sheet

From the manual; each row names its page.

| Action | Keys | Manual page |
|---|---|---|
| Create geometry (any tool) | `Ctrl` + click or drag | Quick start |
| Select / tweak | click / drag | Retopoflow Mode |
| Pie menu (tools, settings) | `W` | Retopoflow Mode |
| Brush radius / strength / falloff | `F` / `Shift F` / `Ctrl F` | Retopoflow Mode |
| Strokes and PolyStrips brush size | `Shift F` or `[` `]` | Strokes, PolyStrips |
| Quick Relax from any tool | `Shift` + drag | Relax Brush |
| Quick Tweak from any tool | `Ctrl Shift` + drag | Tweak Brush |
| Fill (Patches / auto fill) | `F` (or `Enter`, `Ctrl` + click) | Patches, Helper Ops |
| Segments / width (PolyStrips) | `Ctrl Scroll` / `Shift Scroll` | PolyStrips |
| Count (Strokes) | `Ctrl Scroll` | Strokes |
| Slide an I Strip bridge | `Alt Scroll` | Strokes |
| Contours ring vertices / loops | `Ctrl Scroll` | Contours |
| Twist a ring | `Shift Scroll` or `Alt T` | Contours, Change List |
| Toggle curve handles | `Alt C` | Curve Handles |
| Flip handle type | `V` over a control point | Curve Handles |
| Scale / rotate a control point | `Alt` + drag / `Alt Shift` + drag | Curve Handles |
| Rotate topology | `Alt R` | Helper Ops |
| Relax operator / Even | `Shift R` / `Shift Alt R` | Change List |
| Diamond bevel | `Ctrl Alt B` | Change List |
| Pin / unpin | `Shift P` / `Alt P` | Change List |
| Loop select | `Alt` + click or double-click | Retopoflow Mode |
| Pick shortest path | `Ctrl Shift` + click | Retopoflow Mode |
| Box / lasso select | `B` / `Ctrl` + right-drag | Tweak Brush |
| Fallback selection tool | `Alt W` | Retopoflow Mode |
| Clip region (isolate an area) | `Alt B` | Change List |

## Further watching

Titles and links only; none of these were watched for these lessons, so treat them as leads.

- [Retopology with Retopoflow 4](https://www.cgcookie.com/courses/retopology-with-retopoflow-4), a CG Cookie course by Jonathan Lampel.
- [The Complete Guide to Retopology with Retopoflow 4](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDXD8Sa9zET3Gsw4C8gTFaTL086KLO-xP), a YouTube playlist.
- [Retopoflow 4 - Face Retopology Workflow Demo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLE4kKlx55w).
- [RetopoFlow 4 Is Finally Here! (Walkthrough)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DPOtKDDH9M).

## Sources

1. Retopoflow 4 manual, Quick Start. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/quick_start.html>
2. Retopoflow 4 manual, FAQ. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/faq.html>
3. Retopoflow source code, v4 branch: the Add > Mesh labels in `rfoperators/newtarget.py`, and the legacy Patches switch, `USE_NEW_PATCHES = False`, in `rftool_patches/patches.py`. <https://github.com/CGCookie/retopoflow/tree/v4>
4. Retopoflow 4 manual, Retopoflow Mode (general use, settings, snapping, selection). <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/general.html>
5. Retopoflow 4 manual, Patches. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/patches.html>
6. Retopoflow 4 manual, Helper Ops. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/operators.html>
7. Retopoflow 4 manual, Contours. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/contours.html>
8. Retopoflow 4 manual, Symmetry. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/symmetry.html>
9. Retopoflow 4 manual, Relax Brush. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/relax.html>
10. Retopoflow 4 manual, Tweak Brush. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/tweak.html>
11. Retopoflow 4 manual, Change List (auto-save in 4.1.5, hotkeys added in 4.x). <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/changelist.html>
12. Retopoflow 4 manual, PolyStrips. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/polystrips.html>
13. Retopoflow 4 manual, Curve Handles. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/curve_handles.html>
14. Retopoflow 4 manual, Strokes. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/strokes.html>
15. Retopoflow 4 manual, PolyPen. <https://docs.retopoflow.com/v4/polypen.html>

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Published 2026-10-12. Web page: https://www.mackenziebowes.com/lessons/retopoflow-4