What is the best ZBrush-to-Maya pipeline for real-time stylized characters?

[Scott47]

I'm a junior 3D artist working on my portfolio, and I'm trying to establish a more efficient workflow for creating stylized human characters for game engines. My current process from sculpting in ZBrush to retopology and baking in Maya feels disjointed and I often lose detail or end up with messy UVs. For artists who specialize in real-time character art, what is your preferred pipeline for maintaining quality while optimizing for animation? How do you handle the transition from high-poly sculpt to clean, game-ready topology, and what are your strategies for planning UV islands and texture baking to minimize seams and artifacts? I'm also unsure about best practices for creating hair cards versus using alpha planes.