Few different questions about Modelling

[Cunico 995]

Just out of curiosity, which should I do first? I alwasy do the high poly and than the low poly. I am just not sure how I apply the high poly uv map to the low poly. I've been browsing the web for a couple of hours to no avail. When you bake the model with a low and a high does it automatically know you want to apply the high model to the low? I know how to bake and everything but just not sure about the UV mapping part. How do you match you quads and tris up perfectly so it matches the UV. Also, with a shadow LOD I just have to make sure everything is basically enclosed correct? Thanks for the help.

[PuFu 4600]

you only need the low poly uvw unwrapped. the software knows how to bake the high poly (after setting it up) based on faces' normals and the provided cage / distance around the low poly. no matter of the software used, the workflow is more or less the same.

[Cunico 995]

Oh, okay...so just make the low poly model and than when my High poly is done make the normal map and place onto the low poly? So how would you go about making a high poly and low poly model roughly the same shape? I mean do you make them both seperatley or just copy and past the other and make it more detailed. I been watching youtube viddeos but they really don't discuss how they get one or the other. Obviously they make one, but the other is always just there. My issue is I keep making the high poly and get stuck because I'm not sure how to make the low poly or vice versa. I can alwasy get one or the other.

Below I made these in a day or so and not sure how to go about making the low poly once this is done.

Image 1

http://i.imgur.com/qDCHoj8.jpg (262 kB)

Image 2

http://i.imgur.com/x6kEp2q.jpg

[LCpl Aaron 11]

its easier to model the high poly first and clone it then optimize your mesh for the low poly version then do your normal map cage using your high poly version. the best way to figure out a work flow is to practice it with somthing more simple. I have done larger projects and had to re do part as i went because i didnt have the workflow down as well as i thought i did.