Cleaner Topography On 3D Models

MoonCraft3D

I greatly appreciate the hard work that goes into making 3D models. However, I've discovered a few models that have absurdly high polygons.

Please, when producing a 3D product take the time to clean up your topography and reduce your polygon count. This will make your product work better on more computers, and be faster to render.

Remember: A high polygon count doesn't mean quality, it can also mean sloppy.

FSMCDesigns

While I am all for an efficient, but quality mesh, not all modelers use the same techniques or have the same knowledge or skills.

I realize that there are now plugins to cater more to the game dev crowd, but I would still prefer quality render purposed addons as opposed to low poly game centric addons

While I do realize there are some users with lower end PCs, there are plenty of tools that can help with reducing mesh and textures for these users so that the ones with higher end specs don't have to suffer since it's easier and more effective to reduce than to increase in most cases. Simply adding subd to a mesh doesn't automatically make it an HD mesh. If the base "cage" isn't done right, the mesh can break or warp badly.

Actually a high poly count can mean quality if that is what is needed. Actually DS handls mesh pretty well, it's the textures it usually has issues with.

MoonCraft3D

There is a widespread misconception that high polygon means high quality. That is not always the case. It boils down to the needs of the individual models. Ive gone through a number of models and found some really -in my opinion- sloppy topography. I have a very high-end computer, even so I don't want to waste processing power on sloppy 3d models. I am -not- going to specifically call out individual artists or products, as the point is to encourage not shame or create a negative perception.

This goes beyond game design and dev.

As for tools for slower computers, yes there are ample options. Most of which cost money. Clean topography is an industry-wide practice.

Silent Winter

Use as many polys as you need for the mesh you're making and no more. There are times when an extra edge-loop is needed to avoid shading artefacts and the like, but largely I'll re-topo to reduce the excess.

Having said that - the bulk of the strain on rendering from my (and, I suspect, most) models will be the texture maps and/or reflectivity / metallicity causing many many light bounces. Only where necessary, but sometimes it IS necessary to get the best look.

PerttiA

Silent Winter said:

Use as many polys as you need for the mesh you're making and no more. There are times when an extra edge-loop is needed to avoid shading artefacts and the like, but largely I'll re-topo to reduce the excess.

Having said that - the bulk of the strain on rendering from my (and, I suspect, most) models will be the texture maps and/or reflectivity / metallicity causing many many light bounces. Only where necessary, but sometimes it IS necessary to get the best look.

Yes, if the topic is about using models in DS with "lower" spec (read: "average Joe") computers, the (unnecessarily) high resolution textures and multiple (unnecessary) maps have way bigger effect than vertex count

WendyLuvsCatz

ironically one of the highest poly sets I have,the Red Crow Inn, renders easily on my low end computer, precisely because the textures are optimised

and Strangefate and Rougey provide levels of resolution for them

a lot of users actually want this high detail

I must admit heavy use of Decimator on the walls in particular has very little visible effect so it could be optimized topography wise considerably

and I do so to export to iClone

Decimator a handy tool

nonesuch00

The polygon counts for the untextured models that I've paid attention too are neglibly low total polygon budget compared to the various textures and especially textures meant to increase polygon details like bump, normal, & displacement. Some polygon counts are designed to go way up with the subD level chosen too but that's why they have the low subD levels available to choose; so you can lower polygon counts.

MimicMolly

Yes, but the main problem, at least for me, is the texture maps and UV mapping. Your system slows down the more texture maps are loaded onto the scene. And some texturing programs love to generate diffuse, bumps, normals, etc. for each material zone.

WendyLuvsCatz

DAZ studio can easily render my Mandelbulber 3D and Incendia fractal exports too

not much else can

I just cannot UV map them easily because they are too big, attempting to do so even in Zbrush fails

I can use Octane render UVW projection mapping but iray has no option for that

which is why highpoly details are actually better than normal etc maps

3WC

This might be a bit nit-picky, but don't you mean topology?

"Topography is a branch of geography concerned with the natural and constructed features on the surface of land, such as mountains, lakes, roads, and buildings. Topology is a branch of mathematics concerned with the distortion of shapes."

Sevrin

3WC said:

This might be a bit nit-picky, but don't you mean topology?

"Topography is a branch of geography concerned with the natural and constructed features on the surface of land, such as mountains, lakes, roads, and buildings. Topology is a branch of mathematics concerned with the distortion of shapes."

Topography model

WendyLuvsCatz

Sevrin said:

3WC said:

This might be a bit nit-picky, but don't you mean topology?

"Topography is a branch of geography concerned with the natural and constructed features on the surface of land, such as mountains, lakes, roads, and buildings. Topology is a branch of mathematics concerned with the distortion of shapes."

Topography model

making a mountain out of a mole

MoonCraft3D

The texture topic is another one I have slotted to write about.

Sevrin

MoonCraft3D said:

The texture topic is another one I have slotted to write about.

No need.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/443017/pas-please-hold-off-on-the-8k-textures#latest

WendyLuvsCatz

there are a lot of things happening in DAZ studio under the hood that contribute to bloat and I still cannot suss them all out.

I found this today with Celebrations for Baroque Grandeur iray that kept crashing my video driver

the original is fine, it is something in the iray version that overwhelms my card

Richard Haseltine

WendyLuvsCatz said:

there are a lot of things happening in DAZ studio under the hood that contribute to bloat and I still cannot suss them all out.

I found this today with Celebrations for Baroque Grandeur iray that kept crashing my video driver

the original is fine, it is something in the iray version that overwhelms my card

Higher SubD level to support displacement? Additional maps for the Iray-specific properties?

WendyLuvsCatz

Richard Haseltine said:

WendyLuvsCatz said:

there are a lot of things happening in DAZ studio under the hood that contribute to bloat and I still cannot suss them all out.

I found this today with Celebrations for Baroque Grandeur iray that kept crashing my video driver

the original is fine, it is something in the iray version that overwhelms my card

Higher SubD level to support displacement? Additional maps for the Iray-specific properties?

I finally got it to render ( I was doing an 8K 360 pano for backgrounds) by swapping the HDR I was using for a 360 background jpg for the windows and a tiny lighting HDR dome visability unticked

my HDR was pushing it over the edge

if it is too big though it normally just doesn't render if drop to CPU disabled

the driver and subsequent D|S crashing was the concern