counting poly

Jister

if i get a poly limit, how do i count it?
a poly is at least a quad isn't it? so should i count polygons or triangles?
i wanna get this right once and for all. whats the industries standard on this?


thanks
J.

|MM|

A triangle is definitely a poly ( by definition)

Is there a standard? I don't think so, some count verts some count polies,
some triangles specifically.

What pisses me the most though is that usually when they use smoothing groups,
they don't count the verts they create and this can be a real game changer.

Jister

so but then i can choose? ;-) if they just say the poly limit is 5000 for example. i can count quads? because that's half the tris...
there should be a standard, doesn't make sense other wise :-(

|MM|

A quad is always made of two tris.

Edit: Ideally "they" should set the limit in verts.

CheeseOnToast

The "standard" is in fact triangles. When you're given a poly limit, always assume it means triangles unless specifically stated otherwise.

As MM mentions, actual vert count is really more important. You can have a model that appears to be only 500 tris, but by the time you've added a second UV set, hard normals, material splits etc. the count may end up much higher.

Ace-Angel

Vert Count for the win, but honestly, you will be getting all of your numbers in triangles.

Butthair

From my experience, if it's some form of environment asset then it's assumed to be triangles.

When I talk to character modellers, they tend to say quads a lot more, and they mean quads too as characters are largely quad focused.

If anything, you should be able to ask and clarify. This would show that you're communicating and ensuring that both of you have duplicated the same idea in your heads.

cryrid

so should i count polygons or triangles?

Polygons could be many things. It could be a triangle (3 edges), a quad (4 edges)... a polygon could have 139 edges if you wanted to. Phrasing the question like that is like asing "should you count Dogs or German Shepherds?".

Never choose. If they tell you they want the model to be 500 polygons and they meant 500 triangles, giving them a model made out of 2-5x the actual triangle count would just be a bad idea.

Mark Dygert