Curve handles and helper ops

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

• Curve handles (Alt C): drag a selection as if it were a curve. On by default in PolyStrips and Strokes [3].
• Mesh Cleanup: in the tool settings or the W pie. It snaps to the source, merges doubles, fixes normals, fills holes, and can triangulate [1].
• Even (Shift Alt R) and Relax (Shift R) as operators for selected loops [2].
• Twist Loops (Alt T) and Rotate Topology (Alt R) realign a grid fill [1].
• Diamond Bevel (Ctrl Alt B): a crease-like junction on selected edges [1] [2].
• 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.

The whole flow: sculpt to game mesh

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

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.

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.