What Is Good Topology? | Mesh Modeling Fundamentals in Blender

Topology is how the components of a mesh combine to make its shape. If we want to create a circle, we could do that by making it with triangles, with quads, with an n-gon. And there's actually an infinite amount of ways that we could connect vertices together to make this shape. The way in which we arrange those components though determines what we can do with that shape. At

the end of the day, a model is always constructed to be used for something. Whether that's a game, an animation, a 3D print, a UI element, or whatever. There are so many use cases for 3D. these days. But what the use case is determines how that mesh should be constructed. For example, in a game asset workflow, you want to get the most amount of detail you can with the

least amount of polygons. In a visual effects workflow, polygon count is less of an issue, and you may be more concerned about its quality when subdivided and how easy it is to make changes to. In 3D printing, you might not care about the polygon count really at all, but you do care a lot that the model is one solid, watertight object. So when talking about topology,

it's important to realize that what might be considered good topology in one workflow or part of a workflow might be considered bad topology in another. And as you continue your modeling journey and start to specialize in a field, you'll learn all about the different requirements for your specific use case and how to tailor your modeling accordingly. Good topology has a lot more to do

with the effectiveness of the end result than how pretty the wireframes are. But that said, there are still a lot of foundational things that are considered good practice all around, and those are what I want to focus on in this video. My overall definition of good topology is when the mesh components efficiently define the intended shape and can be easily manipulated. There's a