polygon reduction

Ruz

I have had pretty good success using the multi res modifier in max, but need to do a bit of manual cleaning up on top of that to make the topology look 'pretty'.
Are there any any better methods. out there

MoP

I have "Collapse" set to the C key. It's pretty much all I use for manual optimisation.
Usually I use MultiRes or Optimise to see which areas of my meshes the software "thinks" would look the same with less polys, then go in and manually clean up those areas, to preserve mesh integrity (for deformation, etc.).

I can't think of any other way of getting "good" results.

Ruz

I tried it manually at first using target weld and collapse verts.
looked a bit crap as I strayed a bit too much from the shape, so I figured multi res would a least preserve some of the meshes integrity.if only it treated both sides of a character mesh equally. it always is slightly uneven
so , another long day tomorrow. cheers for the reply MOP

Steve Schulze

You could delete half your character, multi-res it, then mirror it...

Ryno

In Editable Poly, be sure to use the Remove function. This will not blow away the UVs like target welding or Collapsing. Backspace is the hotkey.

sledgy

Along Ryno's lines don't forget you can check 'Preserve UVs' if you need to move em around without having to futz with em.

MoP

Ryno: Collapsing edges in Editable Poly keeps UV's fine, unless they're on a UV border edge.

Ruz

Thanks for the tips guys, I always pick up stuff here that I wasn't aware of.

We are using max 6 at the moment, so we haven't got the fancy max 7 extras yet unfortunately.
But anyhow I managed ok after much head scratching. Building the lods is the 'easy' bit, but making sure the textures stay aligned throughout the set is the hard part.
There is bound to be some 'popping' but I think I did it ok.
I had to skin the characters/lods afterwards and do all sort of other headache inducing stuff this week.
learned quit a bit though and the value of maxscript

Steve Green

If you're doing a lot of LODs you could look at MeshArmyKnife

http://www.phoenixgrafik.de/coding/MeshAK.zip

this allows you to target weld while preserving UVs.

also there are a couple of scripts for dissolving edges (and removing the verts left behind) which also preserve UVs where possible.

http://www.flamefx.com/

- Steve

Ruz

thanks steve.very helpful

Chunkey

When using the remove tool on verts, it's wise to remove the edges surrounding it or just have 2 visible edges attached to it i.e. if it's on a uv seam- when you remove it, there should be no probs with uvs moving around, unless that vert was part of a corner or curve

been using it a lot lately, works a treat

AstroZombie

[ QUOTE ]
We are using max 6 at the moment, so we haven't got the fancy max 7 extras yet unfortunately

[/ QUOTE ]

Max has had Editable Poly and the "remove" tools since version 5.

Ruz

ta for that Chunkey
Astro Zombie -I know that max has had editable poly since version 5 , but was n't aware of the 'remove' feature.
I have shyed away from edit poly . I am addicted to unhiding/hiding edges to make pretty quads

Ruz

shiit , that remove feature is really nice. could have saved myself a whole load of trouble

Kevin Albers

It's not really the same as optimizing, but re-building topology in Silo using the topology brush is a great way to build elegant lo-poly models from higher res models.