Seeking advisement for pre-modeling prep, animation and rigging.

I have been modeling for the last decade, but it's always been menial models, no high-res work. I've only ever dabbled with Zbrush and Mudbox, never diving into it deeply.

Myself and my friends have done moderate work in Unreal Engine 4 and I enjoy the workflow, but I am wanting to up my quality and begin making normal maps (I've only ever created a normal map for an asteroid in our space prototype, my workflow left a lot to be desired, I'll have questions on this later in the post).

As campy as the following sentence is: I can't understate that this project is my dream, I want it to be the culmination of decades of my art and a decade of what I've learned from modeling. I've got talented programmers chomping at the bit to have assets ready and I've already handed over the initial whiteboxing that they've begun to play with. Any help you provide won't just be an appreciated reply in an online thread but influential in my future.


So after what our small group and myself have learned working in Unreal Engine , I'm ready to push forward with a small mech prototype. After a few iterations of sketches and whiteboxes, I've arrived at a strong concept that is ready for modeling, shown below. Whiteboxing a model out and integrating into UE4 is easy, but I now want to make this a high quality finished model for use.

My inquiries are outlined below:

• What would my workflow be for a mechanical model for Zbrush/Mudbox? Organics make sense, but accurate flat planes in Zbrush/Mudbox don't strike me as distinctly appropriate for the program. Do I model a base mesh in Maya in all-quads? I really have no clue the proper industry workflow and it's been a decade since I was in classes, so the information is beyond out of date.
• I have only ever rigged one character, and it was for purposes of generic posing in 3DS Max. I have found so many resources online for rigging and animation, but none that outline the standards and workflow for rigging/animation for Unreal Engine 4. Any insights into this field would be greatly appreciated, but far less important than my desire for modeling workflow information.
• My primary concern is to avoid early-step mistakes for the beginning of my workflow that would cause me to have to go all the way back to the beginning and start again. Practice is practice and it's great, I'm doing it, but now I need to learn a real workflow and refine and practice this.

I have been a long time lurker on Polycount, been here since the website's inception with Quake 3. I greatly appreciate any insights you have.

Last question: When modeling to high-res sculpt, how do you work around triangles in the base mesh, or is it a strict requirement to work in all quads when prepping for sculpt?