NKZ RETOPIA · DOCUMENTATION

Everything you need, tool by tool

Install, start, and learn every shortcut. Press D in Edit Mode to open the tool pie at any time.

1Download nkz_retopia-1.0.X.zip — do not unzip it.

2In Blender: Edit › Preferences › Get Extensions › the drop-down arrow (top right) › Install from Disk… and choose the zip.
You can also drag and drop the zip into Blender.

3Enable NKZ Retopia. The panel appears in the 3D View sidebar N › NKZ Retopia tab.

1Select your sculpt — the source.

2Press Start Retopia: a separate retopo mesh is created and you enter Edit Mode.

3Press D to open the tool pie and pick a tool.

4To stop a tool: Q (back to normal selection) or Esc.

5Coming back later? Select the retopo mesh and press Resume Retopia.

BUILD

Draw

• LMB drag: draw a line. Lines can be drawn in any order; when they close a region, a green preview grid appears.
• Ctrl + LMB drag: continue the last line.
• Ctrl / Shift + Wheel: vertical / horizontal segments. Alt + Wheel: quad size.
• Right-click or Enter: apply the grid. LMB or Esc: keep the lines without closing and draw on.
• Ctrl + Z: remove the last line.

BUILD

Precise Draw

• Hover a border edge, click-drag and release: a new quad. The far side snaps green onto a nearby edge.
• Drag from a border corner vertex: closing quad.
• Ctrl + drag a vertex: move it on the surface.
• 4 clicks in empty space: a quad — the green dot closes it.

BUILD

Strip

Draw a stroke: a rigid band of square quads follows it.

Ctrl + Wheel: height  ·  Shift + Wheel: subdivisions  ·  Alt + Wheel: curve

SHAPE

Contours

Drag across a limb to add a ring that wraps the form.

Ctrl + Wheel: segments around  ·  Shift + Wheel: rows along  ·  Shift + drag: always a new tube

SHAPE

Circle / Circle Loop

Click to place, Wheel to size. Circle Loop (panel toggle) makes a ring with an open centre — for eyes, mouths and pipes.

REFINE

Relax

• Relax Brush: paint over the mesh — the vertices being relaxed are highlighted.
• Relax All / Relax Selected: panel buttons.
• Borders: Auto (a stroke starting on a border slides only the border) · Lock · Slide.

EDIT

Knife

LMB drag: add a cut line (as many as you like). Enter / Space / Right-click: cut. Esc: clear the lines.

Display

• Retopology Overlay, Faces and Edges colours, Glow, Solid, Outline, Show Wireframe, In Front.
• Structure Numbers: the segment count of each side of every structure. Side Totals: the total where several structures join. Select edges to read their count.
• Mark as Structure: turns the selected faces into one structure — for areas made with older versions or with Precise Draw / Edge Flow.

Settings

Save / Load / Reset to Defaults. The pie key D can be changed in Preferences › Add-ons › NKZ Retopia.