Quick modeling question about intersecting and airtight meshes.

Hayden Zammit

Quick modeling question for you guys.

I'm just wondering what's more efficient out of the two models in the below image. one on the right is intersecting and is 14 tris lower.

I've been looking at the World of Warcraft models in a model viewer, and some models the artist tried to merge as many verts as possible, whereas others didn't seem to care and used a lot of intersecting geo. I get that intersecting isn't entirely bad and does provide lower poly counts.

So yeah, just wondering what people's takes is on this: what you prefer and why.

Eric Chadwick

Sticky: [Technical Talk] - FAQ: Game art optimisation (do polygon counts really matter?)

tl;dr
Depends on the situation. Doesn't really matter.

Intersections can cause problems with z-fighting, shadow-casting, lightmapping, etc.
Manifold meshes can cause long thin triangles, can take longer to create, etc.
Depends! Test in your situation!

Stockwell

It all depends really to me: how is the asset used? How does the player interact with it? How far away from the player is it? Does it animate?

I see no problem with either technique, there are pros and cons to both. Personally I prefer to model my some stuff with method A, and other stuff with method b, but really it all comes down to the functionality of the art in game.

If it is just for a portfolio piece, I would say use what makes the most sense to what your working on.

EDIT: Really, i think the biggest con to option B, is that it would not bake down, perfectly. And I love me some really clean bakes, so I would choose option A, for a piece like that!

Pedro Amorim

In this case, it's the same ammount of triangles on both meshes.

Hayden Zammit

EDIT: Really, i think the biggest con to option B, is that it would not bake down, perfectly. And I love me some really clean bakes, so I would choose option A, for a piece like that!

Yeah, totally. I'd go with A as well for normal maps; however, this stuff I'm working on now doesn't use normal maps.

In this case, it's the same ammount of triangles on both meshes.

The one on the right is 14 tris lower.

cryrid

Hayden Zammit wrote: »

The one on the right is 14 tris lower.

I'm only seeing a difference of about 6 triangles, if I'm seeing things right. But while the one on the right has fewer triangles, it quite possibly has more vertices in the end as it must have more UV splits.

Pedro Amorim

my brain is dumb, yeah, the right one cones out in the middle.

But still, for such a simple object does it really matter? I mean, i don't know what the hipoly is suposed to look like, but even 6 sides seems low >D

Hayden Zammit

Read Eric's post.

Other than that, since your meshes are extremely low poly, I assume you're working with some very limited mobile phone specs, so you should just consult the guidelines for that platform.

These are for a Unity game. I wouldn't say our specs are super low.

I read through the thread Eric posted. Got some good stuff out of that. I'm probably just over-thinking things. I know the extra triangles won't make much difference. I was just curious is all.

Thanks guys.

Hayden Zammit

You're not really over-thinking it. You're just generalizing. You need to pay attention to these things, you you also need to realize that they change depending on context.

You say you use Unity. That doesn't mean much. Unity is just a technology. Your platform is a lot more relevant.

So, you should absolutely be figuring these things out, but figure them out for your specific needs, and drop any idea that there are universal standards.

Yep, got ya.

I think for this game its fine either way.

Shadownami92

In that case I think the airtight mesh would be better since you should have an easier time unwrapping and have an easier to read texture.

iconoplast

perna wrote: »

You say you use Unity. That doesn't mean much. Unity is just a technology. Your platform is a lot more relevant.

In general, I read statements such as "I use Unity" in that context to mean either "I'm targeting multiple platforms," or "We don't have all of the platforms finalized yet."

EarthQuake

If you're going to put a hard edge there, and not use a baked normal map, it doesn't make much difference, I mean besides the obvious pain in the ass it will be to texture it.

If you're going to and bake a normal map for it, you're going to have noticeable aliasing along that edge, that you would otherwise not have.

Hayden Zammit

If you're going to put a hard edge there, and not use a baked normal map, it doesn't make much difference, I mean besides the obvious pain in the ass it will be to texture it.

Yeah, I definitely would approach it differently if it were normal mapped. I'm not texturing these props. The texture artist is using 3Dcoat, and its not causing any inconvenience.