What kind of vert / triangle count are employers looking for in game ready props?
polycounter lvl 5
I'm moving from the 3D printing space to the games industry and have no problem baking the high to low, but I'm having a hard time finding out what "current gen" polycounts actually are.
I know it varies between games and objects, etc. but if anyone who knows could attempt to answer it to the best of their ability, I would be grateful.
Replies
Take a look at the assets inside Unreal projects. That depends a lot on the artstyle, kind of game and the target platform. There is no golden rule.
this surprisingly hasn't come into play with the work i've done in house as much as one might expect, i've seen it a lot more with freelance work, but generally i think those instructions are more often boilerplate, or thorough, in order to mitigate hiccups.
i will say that specific number, whatever it is, when it does show its way into an asset description, will come from a programmer that's crunched numbers based on the engine, the design (player count, enemy count, camera distance, etc), and targeted hardware. so, it will vary.
i think there is benefit in practicing hitting a polycount and in someway displaying your ability to do so to an employer with your hiring portfolio. probably the best way to practice and display this ability is with creating some LODs manually. but otherwise, i'd say, construct your geometry in ways that are both intelligent and non-wasteful, just so that the model looks and deforms the way it's supposed to.
[quote] i'd say, construct your geometry in ways that are both intelligent and non-wasteful, just so that the model looks and deforms the way it's supposed to.
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I agree with that but you can do that only if you have knowlege of the boundaries and a good understanding how games work. Junior Artists do the craziest things without rules.
JuniorArtists do the craziest things without rules. ;)As above with LODs, showing an ability to create realistic game art with the minimum of assets will always be welcomed and a good skill to have. And when frame rate is low you'll be doing it anyway :)
@oglu, absolutely.
@Klunk, my lips are sealed. ;)
Wasn't "allowed is what works" the golden rule? :)
You can always start with assets as a reference that are similar to your project. They can be found in the common asset stores as Oglu pointed out. The game prototype will tell you the go's and no go's then. So, my advice is, ask your programmer. He will tell you if the graphics are too heavy or not detailed enough :)
Besides that, use as few geometry as possible, and as much as needed. And keep in mind that it's not necessarily the poly count anymore that is the real resource hog, but the shaders and different map tpyes. Dependant of the target platform of course.
Kind regards
Tiles
I always appreciate when models have consistent use of geometry more than anything. You can tell when a model has clean geometry, a consistent minimum quad size, enough geometry for curved and rounded areas, if they are leaving some loops to help control shading they are doing it in a consistent manner, cleanly terminating loops where they aren't needed, etc.
Doesn't really matter if it's too many or too little tris for that asset, there's some context where more or less makes sense.