Basically, when you have a super-dense, hi-poly, highly detailed mesh, you're not going to be able to get it into a game. When you retopologize something, you basically draw new polygons onto the old one by clicking on parts of the hi-poly model. No dragging the verts around to get them in place like standard modeling and such. Click on a spot and a vert is created there. You can create a much less dense mesh.
Baking then calculates and 'bakes' the details of the hi-poly onto the low poly's UV map and makes a nice Normal Map.
So in essence, you can create a 10,000,000 poly mesh (with all sorts of fancy modeled details like veins, scars, wrinkles, etc.) retopo it into a 5,000 poly mesh. Then, bake all the fancy details onto a normal map of the low-poly that will retain all of the lighting/shadowing details of the hi-poly. Google "retopology" and/or "Baking Normal Maps" if you want to see some good examples.
Not sure if that makes sense, but I hope it does.
Quote: "yet my previous question still stands unanswered
hmm... so... sculpting is for environents and static entities?
and modelling well... animated stuff or"
This question?
If so, sculpting is for making hi detail models by allowing the artist to 'draw' the details onto it. Start with a ball of clay, and sculpt it by carving it, slicing it, stamping it, squishing it and molding it with virtual hands like you would with a ball of tangible clay. I use a wacom tablet and it is pressure sensitive. The harder you push, the deeper you cut, etc. Really, I would consider sculpting to be a
type of modeling and it can be used for anything. Environments, static entities, dynamic entities, characters, rocks, lizards, guns, robots, boats, trash, etc, etc. Maybe this answers it?
