Do Meshes need to be Merged or just Combined?

Thomas Doig

Note - Possibly Maya specific terminology.

Hey guys,

been scratching my head for a while trying to figure out if I need to merge or combine before exporting a model to an engine.

I have been modeling a car, and I'm unsure if I should make it all the same mesh with merged vertices, or just the same mesh through combining. Some parts just don't seem right, to go to all the trouble to merge. Combining seems like a simple solution. what is industry standard if there is such a thing?

I have attached an image to help with my question, A or B.
Thanks.

LMP

Combined meshes will work, but it depends on the situation. Merged meshes will have cleaner lighting with less harsh transitions between the two parts.
For example, combined meshes (no connected geometry) will work perfectly in situations where the 2 parts (or more) are individual objects if you were to disassemble the whole. A character for example should be a single contiguous mesh, but clothing on the character could be separated and just simply combined.

I should say, on a vehicle, if the parts are separate in real life it would be ok to have them unmerged in 3d, however, performance concerns based on the target platform could result in a more singular mesh.

Thomas Doig

Hey LMP,

Thanks for the help, that does kinda answer the question, would you have any advice on this when it comes to a portfolio.

I'm not sure if I could get away with the unmerged or if I should make sure to merge them. Surely the employer could see past simple things like this? Or would it make them question an artist topology ability etc?

Bek

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117017

Thomas Doig

Awesome! thanks Bek