Subdivision Surface
From Tech Artists Wiki
Subdivision surface modeling is a technique that takes a simplified "cage" mesh and subdivides the polygons to make a smoother derivative surface. The shape of the subdivision is directly controlled by the relative distances between vertices in the cage. The cage mesh is hidden from rendering so only the derived subdivision mesh will appear.
[edit] Basemesh
If you are using a sculpting app (Mudbox, Zbrush, etc.) then you will want to create a specific cage or basemesh that is as close as possible to 100% quads. Try to avoid "poles" of 5+ edges running into each other since that can lead to "pinching" in the model when sculpting. Keep the quads a fairly uniform density over the model, and be clever about adding more detail where it will be necessary (eyes, ears, nose, etc.), since otherwise you will end up subdividing your mesh far more than necessary just to get enough polygons to sculpt detail into these areas.
It helps to add a quick UV to the basemesh before sculpting, since this can be used to bake ZBrush polypainting if you choose to do this at some point. This is much easier than trying to UV your basemesh later and trying to morph it or merge it with your sculpt.
[edit] Links
- Sub-Division Primer from Subdivisionmodeling.com
- Digital Sculpture Techniques by Bay Raitt and Greg Minter
- 3D Tutorials from Per Abrahamsen aka Per128
- Hard edge - highpoly from the Polycount Boards
- Modeling hi poly weapons is painful, any tips? from the Polycount Boards
- Mechanical SUB-D tips and tricks from the Polycount Boards
- Technical highpoly workflow tutorial and scripts from the Polycount Boards
