Hi guys, I'm creating a modular piece, so I want to know if this baluster should be made directly on the entire model, or should I make it separately and then duplicate it in the Engine?
It depends on a lot of factors. How many times does it need to be duplicated across the scene?
When I'm planning modular pieces, I try to plan for the largest piece it can be a part of, but still be useful. The larger the pieces, the less # of objects there are in the scene, which generally improves performance.
So for example, I might have one long balustrade segment, which has four columns in it (like you show above). Then I can duplicate that to make a long passage. I might have another piece which is just as long as from one column to the next, so I can make angled turns in the passageway. I might have another piece which is a curved section. But it all depends on what the scene needs.
Thanks for the reply! I just want to know if I should make the "column" a part of the entire balustrade, so that it can be reused later on another part of the scene or a different balustrade (for example). The main purpose to do this is that I dont need worrying about overlapping UVs when baking maps.
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When I'm planning modular pieces, I try to plan for the largest piece it can be a part of, but still be useful. The larger the pieces, the less # of objects there are in the scene, which generally improves performance.
So for example, I might have one long balustrade segment, which has four columns in it (like you show above). Then I can duplicate that to make a long passage. I might have another piece which is just as long as from one column to the next, so I can make angled turns in the passageway. I might have another piece which is a curved section. But it all depends on what the scene needs.
We have many good resources here. In particular check out Kevin Johnstone's RAR file. But the rest of the page has awesome info as well.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Modular_environments
I just want to know if I should make the "column" a part of the entire balustrade, so that it can be reused later on another part of the scene or a different balustrade (for example).
The main purpose to do this is that I dont need worrying about overlapping UVs when baking maps.