Retopology
Retopology is rebuilding a dense sculpt or scan as clean, animation-ready geometry: even quad flow, loops where the model deforms, and a polygon count the engine can carry.
Retopology turns a sculpt into something a game can run. A high-resolution mesh out of a sculpting tool or a photo scan has millions of triangles and no usable edge flow. The retopologised version has a few thousand, with loops following the parts that will move - mouth, shoulders, knees - so the model holds its shape once it is rigged and animated.
The step rarely stands alone. It comes with UV mapping and with baking: normal, ambient occlusion and curvature maps carry the detail of the sculpt onto the light mesh, which only works if both versions line up. Studios expect the work in Maya, Blender, 3ds Max or a dedicated tool, together with an eye for the polygon and texture budget a project is working to.
In job ads it appears as one station in a pipeline rather than a job title of its own: a character or environment generalist is asked for sculpting, retopology, UVs and baking in a single line. Where only retopology is asked for, the task is usually making outsourced or scanned assets fit for production.
Where these positions are: Paris (1 position)
Open positions for Retopology (1)
