Mark and Spikey give excellent insight into the technical nature of poles! Poles are generally an unwanted (yet unavoidable) component of polygonal geometry due to the problems they can cause. The most notable being:
- Visible pinching when using subdivision smoothing (relevant to multires and subdiv modifier).
- Deformation issues when poles are present in high-deforming areas.
The higher the point/edge count in a pole, the worse its effects. 5-pointed stars are typical and we try not to go higher than that. The goal when modeling is to relegate poles to the least problematic areas. Meaning A) the least visible like behind the ear is good to relegate a pole, also hidden under hair or B) areas with the least potential for deformation when posing or animating.
Since we’re using such a high polycount for this project AND it’s not being animated (at least not yet), poles aren’t a terribly consequential issue. Still it’s a good habit to be aware of poles and how to relegate them for minimal consequence. Generally animation is where they cause bigger problems.
Hope that helps!
