Retopo is a drag. Even with z-remesher, the only way to really get great results is by hand.
Are there any solutions that I might have missed? Cheers.
Nope, by hand is the best. Maya’s new-ish toolkit is good, and I’ve always used Topogun. I actually enjoy it… character retopo that is, especially with relax+smooth select for making nice topo.
For hardsurface the new autoretopo in Maya isnt that bad. But its slow.
For automatic Organic the new zRemesher (Zbrush2019) is doing a good job.
There is also a Houdini version. → Quad Remesher - Auto Retopology - EXOSIDE
SideFX Labs | Exoside QuadRemesher | SideFX
But yes for the final geo you need todo it by hand.