I have perused the galleries here and through other venues and so far I am having trouble finding some specific tutorials that depict efficient cohesion of multiple program workflows.

For example, I use 3dsMax, ZBrush and Unity.

For implementing things into Unity, the documentation seems pretty sufficient. However, I am an intermediate modeler and I am having trouble finding information from more experienced modelers on techniques.

While I understand the basics of modeling itself, I am hoping to find techniques that will provide more efficient meshes for rigging, exporting to ZBrush, importing back into 3DsMax after making the high-poly model, etc.

I do know how to back and forth between the programs but I am hoping to really solidify my efficiency down to the "cellular" level. Meaning, what areas of the body to add more geometry in order to have clean rigs, what to watch out for when creating a character and especially what NOT to do to save myself headache later.

Do you folks have any resources regarding this type of information?

A workflow is often a personal or company individual process. Here's a basic workflow:

sculpting(i.e. zbrush):
- creation of hi-poly model
modelling/rigging(3ds/maya):
- retopo of hi-poly model => low poly
- rig modell
- adjust model to fit rig
- unwrap low poly(i.e. 3ds)
- adjust model to avoid stretches etc.
baking(xnormal):
- bake normalmaps etc. from hi to low poly
texturing(photoshop):
- create texture
animation(3ds/maya):
- animate model

This is just a basic workflow. In companies each stage could be handled by different people so the workflow might change to fit in the company structure. For personal project you need to find out yourself if unwrapping before rigging is better than the other way around.

What would make unwrapping better to do before rigging or vice versa?

When you first unwrap your model, placing the mesh with an equal texel densitiy,tightly on a texture and see, after rigging, that the edge flow is not working for some movement (arms,legs), you need to adjust your model (topology) and this could have a major impact on the unwrapping result.

On the other hand, rigging first, defining the edge flow to fit your rig, you could encounter issues when unwrapping, because it could be be better to change the edge flow in some parts to have better seams etc.

I have applied textures and seen in some places how it does, in fact, stretch in some places while others are normal. Is this essentially due to the layout of the UV map or the model shape itself [where the vertices are placed]?

I have applied textures and seen in some places how it does, in fact, stretch in some places while others are normal. Is this essentially due to the layout of the UV map or the model shape itself [where the vertices are placed]?

Best to use a checker-board texture to see such stretches. You should target an equal distribution of texels (="pixel" on texture),thought you can change the density depending on the importance of the texture (feets are less important than the face, so you could place the feets on a 128x128 texture and the face on a 1024x1024 texture).

To avoid stretches you often need to adjust the uv mapping, use other unwrapping methods for certain body parts, adjust them manually or use some scripts/tools to relaxe them. Sometimes you need to modifiy the model for sake of easier unwrapping and to avoid stretches.

The question is, are you unsure of the workflow, or are you still learning ? When you don't have experiences in sculpting,modelling etc. I would recommend to start with just one tool , best a standard modelling tool like blender,maya,3ds, and learn the basic modelling skills for modelling,unwrapping and rigging.

Good luck

I am still learning, but I have the basics down. I am at the point where practice makes proficient.

I will take a look into the methods you mentioned above and see how it comes out. Thanks again.