polys=tris?

valuemeal

Idk folks, sometimes when I import a mesh into maya as an obj the polys=tris
if this is a super secret cheat code to reach the tri count with more polys
let me know. Or is something a miss with this one?

In anycase, is something like this valid?

cryrid

Triangles are polygons. Quads are polygons. Faces with 2841 edges are polygons. 'Polygon' is a bit of a vague word, like saying the word 'coin'. Use triangles if you want to specific, or verts if you really want to be precise.

Nosslak

Are you saying that sometimes models that you import are triangulated? If you're importing it from a game it will be triangulated because the renderer can't interpret quads.In most other cases a mesh with mostly quads will be better, as it is easier to work with.

When you talk about polycounts in a game you are always talking about triangles, as that's what will get sent to the game engine. All polygons (tris, quads and n-gons) consist of 1 or more triangles anyway.

valuemeal

I am asking more so if that will save polys it always seems as though models that should have a high polycount when folks display them have a low poly count.

I am trying to retopo a fellow and I am currently in a pickle, and trying to save polys over here you know?

passerby

poly!=tris

a polygon can have more than 3 sides, a triangle has only 3, and it is what polygons are cut into so the gpu can render them, since gpus only render tris.

Fingus

One quad is two triangles, a five sided polygon is three, and so on. You won't save any polygons because it's all triangles in the end. Sometimes people display their polycount in quads which can be misleading as you said. I find it's better to say "this model is 2000 tris" rather than polygons to avoid confusion.

passerby

also verts are a better indicator, since depending on uv seams, and smoothing splits, it is possible to have 2 meshes with the same amount of tris, with drastically different vertex counts

m4dcow

passerby wrote: »

also verts are a better indicator, since depending on uv seams, and smoothing splits, it is possible to have 2 meshes with the same amount of tris, with drastically different vertex counts

Problem is no DCC apps display a proper vertex count.

cptSwing

There's this from the Wiki (though I haven't tested it)

http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/files/HaywoodTools-UberVertCount.mcr

Ace-Angel

cptSwing wrote: »

There's this from the Wiki (though I haven't tested it)

http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/files/HaywoodTools-UberVertCount.mcr

Max only, and it works indeed (not sure if a Maya version exits).

The problem is, no one wants to read information in verts since that's not the standard.

Yes, it is more correct performance wise, especially for animation reasons, but something that is big in number will tend to scare many peeps.

So I have a model that is 1K pure Quads = 2K Tri's = 4K Vertices (this outside of cuts, seams, etc), that's already a huge number, and one that isn't very easily digestible for your average artist. That number can also all the way to 5K easily.

And yes, engine will convert all your quads to their tri equivalent, and yes, it's better to call out your model on how many tri's they have at that point.

Bek

Ace-Angel wrote: »

Yes, it is more correct performance wise, especially for animation reasons, but something that is big in number will tend to scare many peeps.

When I asked about this awhile ago, Perna shared a method that 3ps uses, where they divide the number of real verts by the number of triangles to give an easy to understand value of a model's efficiency. Here's a link to the post if you're interested: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1678627&postcount=8

There's a model toolkit made by a guy called Dr. John Wordsworth for modders of the indie game Legend of Grimrock, which can import OBJ's and tell you the real vert count and tri count. Pretty handy if you're curious to know how efficient your mesh is. Here's where you can download it: http://www.johnwordsworth.com/grimrock-model-toolkit/

Would obviously be more convenient if your 3d package could tell you the # of real verts, but meh. Once you understand how to use splits efficiently you probably won't need to be checking your models efficiency all the time.

passerby

it is pretty, easy to get the rendering vert count from the Maya API, and the HUD already displays both the poly and tri count.

Ace-Angel

Bek wrote: »

When I asked about this awhile ago, Perna shared a method that 3ps uses, where they divide the number of real verts by the number of triangles to give an easy to understand value of a model's efficiency. Here's a link to the post if you're interested: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1678627&postcount=8

There's a model toolkit made by a guy called Dr. John Wordsworth for modders of the indie game Legend of Grimrock, which can import OBJ's and tell you the real vert count and tri count. Pretty handy if you're curious to know how efficient your mesh is. Here's where you can download it: http://www.johnwordsworth.com/grimrock-model-toolkit/

Would obviously be more convenient if your 3d package could tell you the # of real verts, but meh. Once you understand how to use splits efficiently you probably won't need to be checking your models efficiency all the time.

Nice! That Perna guys, his something, isn't he?

I would love if someone could super-size-boost Eric's script so that it does the math for you automatically with the real Vert/Tri formula, oh lordy, that would be insane and so much more confidence boosting.

passerby

really for performance, half the time it isn't your vert count dragging you down, so maybe just but thinbgs in engine, and pay attention to everything and see what is dragging you down, drawCalls, fill rate, geometry, texture calls, lack of memory etc.

Ace-Angel

Oh, no question about that, I was saying it more along the line to 'clean' workflow if it makes sense, kind like a ballpark to look at and aim if you have a model and want to show off in your folio EI.