Model Optimization - Game Character Development with Maya - page 276

Chapter 5. Model Optimization
CD Files
Kila_Complete.mb
Kila_Optimized.mb
Until now, we have spent our time developing a good, clean model without worrying too
muchaboutthepolygoncount.That'sabouttochange—inthischapter,wewillberemoving
a lot of the details you have sculpted into Kila so far. Try not to think of this step as des-
troying all your hard work, however. What you've accomplished so far is to create a char-
acter that is complete and has all the embellishment it needs to have. With all these details
in place, we can now make informed decisions about the places from which we can remove
those details. That's what optimization is all about.
Youwillfindasyougainmoreexperienceinmodelinggamecharactersthattheoptimization
stage will gradually become less important, because you will learn to analyze the topology
automatically, from the moment you begin building. For the novice artist, this chapter tells
you exactly what you need to be looking for as you optimize your character.
With every model, you will find areas where polygons have been placed but are not needed.
Essentially, we want the model to have as few polygons as possible. Our polygon limit for
thisproject, established in Chapter 1 , is4500,andwedon'twanttousemorethanthat num-
ber. Indeed, after optimization we may very well end up well under our budget, which is
good. If not, we will start to look at areas that we can sacrifice in order to bring the polygon
count down.
Deciding What to Remove
It's important to decide carefully about where to remove polygons from the geometry. Re-
move the wrong ones, and the shape of our character will change dramatically. It could also
result in bad deformation in the game.
The first two sorts of polygons you should consider for removal are unnecessary polygons
and polygons that form shallow angles.
Yourmodeliscurrentlymadeupofhundredsofpolygons,andalmostallofthemareneeded.
You may think that a polygon's actual presence means it is necessary to a model, but this is
not the case.
So how do you determine which polygons will be unused? An unnecessary polygon is one
that does not add to the shape of the mesh, nor does it aid in its deformation.