Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Optimization Methods
In this chapter I don't explain in detail how I am removing polygons. Feel free to
use one of the following methods, which you have already seen used in the topic
so far:
Simply select the edge and go to Edit Polygons > Collapse. This will collapse
the edge, bringing together the two vertices it shared in.
You can weld vertices by going to Edit Polygons > Merge Vertices. This meth-
od gives results similar to collapsing the edges, bringing together the selected
vertices. In some cases you will want to retain one of the vertices' positions; to
do this, snap the others to it by holding down V while moving the vertex, re-
membering to weld them afterwards.
In some instances you can simply select the edges and press Delete; this will
remove the edges but the vertices will remain in the geometry. You will then
have to select and delete those, too.
Arm Optimization
Let'sbeginbylookingatKila'sarms.(We'llleavethehandsfornow,justconcentratingon
the arm itself.)
Before you start, make sure to press Z/Cmd+Z to undo the triangulation you used to get a
polygon count. Or you can reload the file called Kila_Complete.mb.
With the model now back in quads, the polygon count will be lower, around 3342. Don't
let this fool you—Maya's quads can be made from a number of triangles, not just two, so
this number is not an accurate reflection of the number of triangles in the scene. We want
this amount to be around 2600. When in doubt, it's always best to do a quick triangulation
to check the actual count.
1.
Looking from the front, you can see three sections of polygons that can be re-
moved because they affect the shape of the arm only slightly. These areas are high-
lighted in
Figure 5.5
. The best way to remove these polygons is to collapse the
edges, so go ahead and do that now.
