Where the edges go decides everything.

Edit meshes in a Blender-style Edit Mode. Read quads, triangles, n-gons and poles; keep shapes under Subdivision Surface with holding edges and creases; put edge loops where a joint bends; and build a clean retopology cage on a dense sculpt.

STAGE

3D Viewport Edit Mode

Face types Poles Snap

LMB select · Shift add · Alt edge loop · MMB orbit · Wheel zoom

123Vertex / Edge / FaceGMoveCtrlRLoop CutJConnectXDissolveFFillShiftECreaseCtrlZUndo

SAME KEYS AS BLENDER

Shortcuts you can use here

Keys work while the mouse is over the workspace, just like Blender sends keys to the editor under the pointer.

1 2 3: Vertex, edge or face select mode
LMB · ShiftLMB · AltLMB: Select · add or remove · select an edge loop
A · AltA: Select all · select none
G then X Y Z: Move, locked to an axis. Click or Enter to confirm, Esc or right click to cancel.
CtrlR: Loop Cut: hover an edge, slide with the mouse and click
J · F: Connect two vertices across a face · fill a face from 3 or 4 vertices
X · AltJ: Dissolve vertices or edges · triangles to quads
ShiftE · Ctrl1–3: Edge crease · Subdivision Surface levels (Ctrl0 off)

BACK IN BLENDER

Checking topology in Blender

Blender has all these tools in Edit Mode (Tab). The lab uses small meshes so every change is easy to see.

Select › Select All by Trait › Faces by Sides finds triangles (3, Equal To) or n-gons (4, Greater Than). Viewport Overlays › Statistics counts them.
Connect Vertex Path (J), Dissolve (X) and Tris to Quads (AltJ) turn messy faces into quads.
Loop Cut and Slide (CtrlR) adds holding edges; Edge Crease (ShiftE) keeps edges sharp without new geometry. Ctrl1–3 adds a Subdivision Surface.
For deformation, test the mesh with the armature early: bend every joint to 90° and look for folds and collapse. The Armature modifier has Preserve Volume.
Retopology: Snapping to Face Project (or a Shrinkwrap modifier), Fill (F), Smooth Vertices, and the Poly Build tool.
Keep the final low poly all quads, with poles on flat areas and loops following the forms and the joints.