I start in 3ds Max with my blockout, then move on to the high poly. In the high poly phase, I spend most of my time in Max, but sometimes if required I will use other software like Zbrush. My reliance on Zbrush for line work or details on curved surfaces has decreased a lot in the past year, as I can do the same thing more quickly and efficiently in Substance Painter (Once baked). Using Substance Painter for this part of my workflow, means I don’t have to worry about skewing and having a really dense mesh exported from Zbrush.

When working on my high poly pieces I always try to keep my geo as clean and simplistic as possible. I use a script called “Quad Chamfer”, which Joao Sapiro has a great overview. An example of what is possible when using Quad Chamfer and how clean the base mesh is presented below.