A line is a geometric shape made up of 2 points.
A polygon is a geometric shape made up of 3 to infinity points.
A triangle is a polygon with 3 points
A quad is a polygon with 4 points
An ngon usually refers to a polygon with more than 4 points.
vert count is actually the most accurate for engines
This is true.. Always look at vert count.. Most of the time the vert count in-game will be 3x the tris of what you see in maya or max. Since most game-engines uses tris.
This is true.. Always look at vert count.. Most of the time the vert count in-game will be 3x the tris of what you see in maya or max. Since most game-engines uses tris.
say what?
1 tri = 3 verts
2 tris = 4 verts
3 tris = 5 verts
mathematically speaking, your vert cound is n+2 where n = tri count. you would then need to add additional verts for hard edges caused by UV seams.
Uv seams, hard edges/smoothing groups, and multiple material ids all raise your "real" vert count, which is generally more important than triangle count, because you can have a higher triangle count model with better used real vert count than a lower triangle model with poorly optimized verts.
If you only have one matid, and your hard edges are along your uv seams, you can just go with your UV vert count to figure this number out. Otherwise there are some nice scripts for max and maya to count it, though I can't remember them off hand
mathematically speaking, your vert cound is n+2 where n = tri count. you would then need to add additional verts for hard edges caused by UV seams.
Actually, that's an interesting area and your vert count can be lower than that.
That number (n+2) represents your ideal index count but not your vertex count. Indices are the order in which your vertices are drawn. There are usually more indices than vertices, but index count isn't quite as important as vert count, because each vert needs to be transformed only once, not each time it's indexed.
^ The word "polygon" derives from the Greek πολύς (polús) "much", "many" and γωνία (gōnía) "corner", "angle", or γόνυ (gónu) "knee". So any closed shape that has many angles is a polygon. Ergo the name tri angleeeee, pentagon, hexagon, octagon...
Actually, that's an interesting area and your vert count can be lower than that.
That number (n+2) represents your ideal index count but not your vertex count. Indices are the order in which your vertices are drawn. There are usually more indices than vertices, but index count isn't quite as important as vert count, because each vert needs to be transformed only once, not each time it's indexed.
most game engines dont share vert data. Thats why when making games you always count verts and not polys.
This is true.. Always look at vert count.. Most of the time the vert count in-game will be 3x the tris of what you see in maya or max. Since most game-engines uses tris.
That's true if every triangle is hard edged but you almost never want that.
a few things that increase your vert count of an object in game:
UV seams
Smoothing Groups
2nd UV channels
Mutiple Material IDs within the UV shell
Lightmap channels
Draw Calls (will this object be reflected?)
Some complex shaders can increase them as well
I never budget anything in tris anymore... or even in the 3D package..... anything else but in-engine verts is a LIE!
most game engines dont share vert data. Thats why when making games you always count verts and not polys.
Yeah they do (?)
It's been standard practice for a very long time to use triangle strips to do mesh drawing (triangle strips reuse verts) and for a long time it's been standard practice to use index lists (index lists let you further reuse verts by using them in 4 or more triangles within the same strip).
I can give you more info or show some images if you want the nuts and bolts of it.
Replies
A polygon is a geometric shape made up of 3 to infinity points.
A triangle is a polygon with 3 points
A quad is a polygon with 4 points
An ngon usually refers to a polygon with more than 4 points.
This is true.. Always look at vert count.. Most of the time the vert count in-game will be 3x the tris of what you see in maya or max. Since most game-engines uses tris.
say what?
1 tri = 3 verts
2 tris = 4 verts
3 tris = 5 verts
mathematically speaking, your vert cound is n+2 where n = tri count. you would then need to add additional verts for hard edges caused by UV seams.
Pretty much.
Uv seams, hard edges/smoothing groups, and multiple material ids all raise your "real" vert count, which is generally more important than triangle count, because you can have a higher triangle count model with better used real vert count than a lower triangle model with poorly optimized verts.
If you only have one matid, and your hard edges are along your uv seams, you can just go with your UV vert count to figure this number out. Otherwise there are some nice scripts for max and maya to count it, though I can't remember them off hand
Actually, that's an interesting area and your vert count can be lower than that.
That number (n+2) represents your ideal index count but not your vertex count. Indices are the order in which your vertices are drawn. There are usually more indices than vertices, but index count isn't quite as important as vert count, because each vert needs to be transformed only once, not each time it's indexed.
This.
most game engines dont share vert data. Thats why when making games you always count verts and not polys.
UV seams
Smoothing Groups
2nd UV channels
Mutiple Material IDs within the UV shell
Lightmap channels
Draw Calls (will this object be reflected?)
Some complex shaders can increase them as well
I never budget anything in tris anymore... or even in the 3D package..... anything else but in-engine verts is a LIE!
Yeah they do (?)
It's been standard practice for a very long time to use triangle strips to do mesh drawing (triangle strips reuse verts) and for a long time it's been standard practice to use index lists (index lists let you further reuse verts by using them in 4 or more triangles within the same strip).
I can give you more info or show some images if you want the nuts and bolts of it.
That's a pentagon. (Penta == five)
please come and explain that to the maya 2009 cleanup tool