Do you guys worry much about the rigging phase when modeling? Specifically, if you’re in a studio and won’t be doing the rigging yourself,do you worry, when modeling, if, per example, a leg/thigh when rotated past a certain angle will intersect the body? (Not asking in cases of bad anatomy) Or do you just worry about the modeling itself and let the rigging guys deal with it? I’m asking because i end up spending lots of time concerned with how an arm, leg etc will look when walking or whatever range of movements it will do, but is such worry a waste of time since its up to the riggers and animators to decide after how much a joint needs to rotate? If so how does the process work? Do you get the model sent back to you to do corrections asked by the riggers or do they handle the mesh themselves? Thanks 
Do you model with rigging in mind?
when modeling, if, per example, a leg/thigh when rotated past a certain angle will intersect the body?
That’s why there’s blend shapes and such.
And don’t underestimate communication in a studio - if the riggers can’t work with your model, they’ll send it back( if your models are sent back too often, you won’t work long at that place though).
Yeah… you’ll get feedback straight from the riggers with things to fix. Sooner or later those things will become your second nature.
Adding to what’s been said, you should also rig your own characters and export them to a game engine, it’s the best way to learn from your mistakes.
Modeling and rigging are inextricably connected. And there has been lots of research on this. And a lot of information available:
Check out modeling for articulation:
It is a subject worth studying. And if you are in an application where you can model on a rigged character after it has been deformed by bones then this is a good way to learn to edit the mesh and see it deforming right away.
Thanks all for your answers
Thanks for the links. What programs currently allow that, by the way? I always thought modeling weighted vertex/skinned characters was a big no-no because (at least if i remember correctly, it breaks the math?) and you had to re-do it on the parts in question
Actually, sure it can if you remove or add vertexes and it will depend on a program by program basis as to how it can interpolate between the weighted ones and the new ones created as well as space between ones omitted.
Moving points is not an issue.
But what I mean specifically is this. There is no reason not to weigh a mesh and model on it once you get it to the point you are ready to do testing. Use an automatic weighing system like you have in most apps to get you there. Pose the model, adjust vertex positions, add, remove or slide loops. Touch up paint or even re-skin if necessary. It is just a modeling process. Not the final sinning so don’t worry about breaking it.
And I mean this as a way to learn about the process and not necessarily saying it is the way to model all the time. I don’t do this all the time. But I found it very educational as I was trying to perfect my skill in this area. And it is the main advantage of using apps - most of them actually with the exception of LightWave - that allow you to model, skin and paint in the same interface and see pose positions when you are modeling. It is no different than painting on a mesh as you take it through different poses. Same idea.
It is also the concept of doing corrective morphs. You take a character though a pose and then create a blend shape that kicks in on that pose. This requires modeling on the mesh point positions.
Don’t be afraid to break things. Study up on articulation use those poly flow examples and experiment with them in poses.
In my opinion it is the best most interactive and immediate way to learn what deformations are doing and how the modeling can effect them.
From my experience deformation is a combination of 3 things:
Bone axis location
Point position and edge flow
Weighing
They all three work together and you can really not look at them separately.
In Maya for example there is move skinned joints tool which allows you to move the joint and correct deformations accordingly. You can also move points around and then also paint weights.
Work this trio until you have the result in various poses.
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