Decimation master and Udk

VisceralD

So I guess the question that I have the most is when is the right time to decimate a model if you intent to put it in to UDK. I mean decimated models look great for the polycount. However for characters this is not an option because the bending of joints on rigged characters looks terrible. Also getting a good unwrap on a decimated objects is difficult. So I ask when is the appropriate situation, and correct implementation of decimated characters in UDK.

zicoV

Usually decimation master is used to reduce the polycount so that you can bring your high poly mesh into your 3d modelling app and make a low poly model on top and use the high poly as a guide. That's how I use it anyways.

Maybe look into using zremesher with guides to generated the base for your low poly.

Cibo

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73285&page=2

He used Decimation Master for the stone floor. In my personal experience the edge flow is often horrible without tweaking.

VisceralD

Ok I did a few experiments with decimated models in Udk and I think I got some answers. AS far as the look is concerned unfortunately decimated models do often have artifacts and random imperfections in the models. So these imperfections are often not something you would see in let’s say clean metal surfaces or skin. Also it’s best not to use it on particularly large objects because you will notice imperfections in the UV map. It’s best to use it with objects human sized or smaller. Great uses for it would be such things as


Rocks, trees, and war beaten armor. All of these things actually look better with random imperfections. Do you guys agree?

NegevPro

I haven't been doing art in a while as I've been focusing on programming, but I believe you can use a combination of decimation master and zremesher to get a much lower tri count in addition to having cleaner topology. I can't recall the exact steps I used to get it done but it should be possible so just play around with the two. Just make sure to save backups often as doing this crashed zbrush a lot for me.

VisceralD

Yeah I think you can pull it off by masking what you don't need