> Quote -So, perhaps a more fruitful discussion might then be to give examples of meshes that are particulary good in certain areas...

I tried talking about good meshes in the Dawn thread and got accused of having an agenda. Then it got locked. 

Good topology follows muscle flow. If you want the figure to bend and distort like a real human then the figure needs to have the same muscle groups that a real human has. Those muscle groups are the geometry (topology/geometry, the terms are interchangeable in this regard). 

When building a figure for facial animation, the facial topology follows the muscles of the face so that eyes and mouths move and stretch, open and close, like a believable human's face does. So it makes sense that the same rule applies to the rest of the body. 

Anyone that intends on being a figure artist needs to spend significant time learning anatomy. Along with that, they need to learn how geometry distorts, stretches and collapses and how to use edgeflow to control all that distortion. 

Examples of good topology in previous Poser meshes are the G2 males. Most of the major muscle groups are defined. The poly count is heavier than necessary, but the figures are all quads, which Poser (and most other 3D apps) likes the best. P6 James is another example of good topology and a very lightweight mesh, at right around 22K total. He does have a lot of tris, but his muscles are defined. Another good mesh is Ben. Much less geometry, but he's all quads and because he's relatively lightweight, the missing groups could be added in with some minor edgeflow adjustment.

Female meshes tend not to be as detailed, because you generally don't see a lot of muscle tone in females. This isn't a good thing though because without the geometry that makes up the male mesh, the female mesh will never have the ability to show muscle tone properly, or the flexing and contracting that happen in muscles when limbs are posed and animated. 

In the attached image - just follow the darkest lines that define the muscles. The mesh should follow those lines as closely as possible.

 

~Shane