Almost… Normals are still important in sculpting. Self collisions can cause problems, especially if you ever decide to 3D print the object. On the other hand, collisions with other objects are less important, particularly if you plan to retopologize. As for shape, you want it to be accurate to the form you are trying to sculpt, but more of an artistic perspective. And poly count — as long as your computer can handle the amount, you’re okay. Though if it does start to drag, a little remeshing can help reduce the poly count while keeping the form.
Retopoly helps give an even mesh that can withstand deformations and reduce poly count.
As for a cut off for low poly… a lot of that depends on what is being modeled and what the purpose of that object is as well as what system you are targeting for low poly. A book on the shelf in the background isn’t going to need to be anywhere as high poly as the main character in a close up. And something being modeled for a desktop computer could possibly go higher poly than for say an old hand held.
On the holding edges, you’d use a loop cut in some way, similar to what Kent showed in the live stream this week or Jonathan Williamson did in the Loop Cut and Slide video. Though that’s not the only way to hold an edge What I mean is sometimes, you want the edge to fade out. so you can start off with the edges far apart and just select which ones you want to move closer together to sharpen an edge.
Hope this helps, Tonya!
