Optimization models for games

There are a lot of ways to optimize 3D models for games, and this applies to any 3D software. I currently use Blender, these practices are very universal. Normally the approach I take is to manually retopologize the models into a lower poly version, then I would bake my high poly model onto my low poly model to retain the quality without having all of the polys.

When you're getting into retopologizing, you'll find that there are many methods to do this and techniques. Some people will use free hand tools that allow you to draw edges to form faces above your high poly model and create the new topology on the surface, while others will create vertices, extrude out edges, ect Keep in mind how your topology is set up because of animation.

There are best practices for things like faces, ect Some software packages have auto tools that do this for you, and I frankly will only use this on stuff that I don't have to animate, or it's an object that I can get away regardless of how the topology is setup. When you do it manually you have more control. No matter what tool or method you use, your main objective is to lower your poly count to x range, and retain good topology to assist with better animation and UV unwrapping.

JTippetts provided me with it in a earlier post. At first you would think this Instant-mesh tool should be slower because it makes higher polygon meshes, yet it does so with even triangles; that is actually a lot better than the small triangles that pro optimizer and other tools provide. In terms of performance it is on par with the tools Zbrush provides better than pro optimizer in performance.

It's better than even some paid software. There is a limit to what auto tools like this can do. There is a lot to topology that computers just can't solve at the moment. So having a artist make a manual low topology is often the best choice for quality, however it is very slow. Other ways to improve performance is to limit split vertices like UV maps, smooth groups and sharp edge. Over use of these line markers can result in a mesh that is two times as large. Thanks for your response.

I have been working my through reducing the polygon count of 3d models and I feel as if I have made good progress.

Its now a case of knowing how to bake the high poly model onto the low poly model. I have changed the triangles to quads and managed to reduce the faces. Btw, this algorithm has been integrated into Luxology Modo, which is also very good and quick for manual retopo.

You are: Home » Tutorials » Blender. Previously we learned how Blenders interfaces is divided into working 'zones' , how to navigate and move around the interface and then how to make a model and apply UVW maps as we progressed through each section of the tutorial series to make a simple chair.

For the next and final section, we'll be looking in to one of the most essential, but least discussed, 'skills' of making 3D content - how to optimise it for use in a game or interactive environment 3D chat, game, virtual world and so on.

If you've jumped ahead to this final section of the Blender Basics tutorial then it's assumed you know how to use Blender and where all the buttons and shortcuts are. If you don't it's recommended that you read through the entire tutorial to get to grips with Blender before tackling this part of the process. When making anything for use in a game there is one 'golden rule' that you must keep in mind at all times; if you learn one thing from this entire tutorial series you would do well for it to be this simple rule;.

Take a look at the following image below showing a simple block shape typical of a 'wall' prefab. Both objects appear to be the exact same model; same height, same width and same breath.

The difference isn't revealed however, until the objects are looked at Edit mode and their respective mesh densities shown; the object on the left is made up of significantly fewer faces than the one on the right, which has several additional sub-divisions across it's structure.

Looking at the object in Edit mode reveals a significant difference in how the mesh objects are constructed with the object in the right being composed of many more faces and polygons than its counterpart on the left. Wire-frame view of the above showing the extent to which the extra polygons of the right hand mesh go all the way around the object.

For games, especially those run online over the internet, this would make the right hand version ' inefficient '; it may not seem that way when looked at as a single object in isolation, but put into a scene or room built from or containing several similarly inefficient objects and all those extra faces - hundreds, thousands or tens of thousand in a large scene or room - soon add up to your computer using a lot of memory, CPU and graphics resources rendering elements that aren't necessary, resources that could be better spent on something else - extra AI for instance, slightly better frame-rate or smoother experience and so on.

The upshot of this is that your models should be properly optimised; use as few polygons and textures as possible, keep images correctly proportioned using the "power of two" rule and minimally sized. This simple, single 'principle' - "less is more" - matters a great deal when making content or developing games; executing an idea will count for naught if the results don't run well as they should as a result of un-optimised content over-taxing rendering technology.

Open the chair you've been making throughout this tutorial series into Blender and enter Edit mode, " Select All " " A " faces of the object so you can see the UVW map that's currently applied to the mesh; you should have something similar to the image below. The chair built throughout this Blender Basics tutorial showing faces selected to display the UVW map applied to the mesh. Looking at the chair at this point it may not be immediately apparent that the mesh can be 'cleaned' up further than it already has been so it uses fewer polygons, making it more efficient as an object.

The image below highlights these some areas where optimisation can be done safely without ruining the model - green lines indicate edge loops that can be safely removed; blue , where edges or vertices can be collapsed; pale blue are optional but would mean the chair using the least number of polygons. The first type of elements you want to look at removing or collapsing are faces, edges or vertices in the middle of a given area, these are items that can be edited without causing any major disruption to the structure of the object itself - a point to bear in mind before doing anything however, whatever is done now will 'break' the UVW map so it will need to be reapplied once optimisation is done.

A useful tool to use here is " Loop Select ". With an edge-loop selected the next step is to collapse it into its nearest neighbour, this is done using the " Edge Slide " tool.

Click " Edge Slide " to active the tool, a green marker will appear usually along the last edge to be selected indicating the direction the edge-loop will slide, simply move the mouse to then slide the loop along the corresponding edge and LMB click to 'set' the final position. Once the loop across the seat is done, repeat the process for the edge-loop that runs from the front and up the back of the seat down the centre the loop highlighted in pink above , this also needs collapsing as, like the seat, it doesn't 'add' anything structurally to the object the chair still functions as a chair without them.

This process of collapsing unnecessary edges and edge loops needs to continue. It is challenging to keep a hand on the pulse since prices are dynamic and change every day.

But dynamic pricing software may significantly ease the task. Buyers are willing to pay the same price for similar products. The same rule applies to the price range max — a convenience price, min — a promo price.

The leader's most frequently encountered price is the benchmark from which to build the optimal price. In the chart, there is either the top-seller in the category or the same product of different retailers. Data for this price optimization technique: the minimum, maximum and median price by product by period typically, a week or a month by seller.

Promotion pressure or volume per deal has significantly increased in recent years. It is impossible to determine the strategy to use at the beginning: whether to activate or deactivate deep discounts, or offer low prices every day.

Retailers should analyze the share of the volume sold per deal across the total category and among the top-sellers to evaluate promo pressure that would be optimal for the category. Scatterplot of the top SKU. The Y-axis is for regular sales or tracked sales. A scatterplot visualizing sales items and volume per deal will highlight the products that have optimal promo pressure, and those that are overselling with a discount.

Data necessary for such a model: the minimum, maximum and median price by product by period typically, a week or a month by seller. Price optimization is at the root of the force needed for profit generation in retail.

The backbone of retail pricing analytics is science, which is used to price items correctly without the need to discount them. Want to know a secret? Maciej Kraus, partner at Movens Capital and Stanford guest lecturer in pricing says that price optimization is the right tool for retailers to find balance between two major goals — increasing their profits right here right now and investing in their long-term growth — and succeed today and tomorrow.

Price optimization is the right tool for retailers to find balance between two major goals — increasing their profits right here right now and investing in their long-term growth. Picture this! With the proper analysis of the manner in which consumers spend, businesses are able to make the most revenue in each situation. Looking at how an item did based on its previous time on the market is no longer useful since there are a number of factors that influence it today.

A few of them include:. Solutions for retail price optimizations provide opportunities to concentrate on various goals, whether it be margin or the amount of sales conversions, etc.

In fact, the Chief executive officer at Michael Kors Holding LTD claims that buyers no longer care about the price as much as they do the item itself. This is backed up by the fact that both their Mercer handbags and smartwatches were all sold at their initial price, thus making them as profitable as they can be.

Therefore, both consistency and cohesion are guaranteed for the pricing strategy which helps with the management of the entire category development. Solutions for retail price optimizations help automate the entire optimization process. This helps remove the need for any manual work, thus reducing the possibility of any human-made errors from occurring.

With the data that businesses can receive today, they can adjust their prices automatically whenever a change may occur, across all channels. Do you wonder why Amazon is the giant that it is today? In fact, they adjust the prices millions of times a day , and they do so with a compelling price optimization software. Past mistakes came from inconsistencies with the units used or the pricing for similar, yet different items due to features such as size or color.

As a result, businesses can depend on the data to always be correct and relevant. Data is both gathered as well as processed in order to make your prices competitive and then the information analyzed from your own business is used to figure out the cost. You can learn more about these strategies here. The data received is qualitative and returned very quickly. Through data analysis, the raw information is turned into quality data that is actually used through any, for example, discrepancies that may have occurred.

Their user-friendly interface then allows for easy decision making through valuable visuals. After the data analysis, a retailer can begin to make their strategies and goals. For each segment, they start item segmentation to figure out how willing consumers are to pay in order to adjust prices. Their platform helps predict the result of any pricing choices they make, and can even try them out beforehand to figure out which route would be the most optimal.

Then the platform automates the decision process and also creates the method for changes to occur automatically based on any changes in the market. It also sends out notifications when any such shift occurs.