Author Topic: Need help - how to poly reduce this?  (Read 1734 times)

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Offline aldo_14

  • Gunnery Control
  • 213
Need help - how to poly reduce this?
Basically, I have LOD0 done (bar the thrusters)
 
But I don't know how to reduce the poly count without having to redraw the maps for each LOD.

I had wanted to have LOD0 the triangulated hull, LOD1 the untriangulated (1/2 polycount) version and LOD2 the really reduced model with a basic generic tile (long distance away).

The thing is, how do I import the UV settings to the untriangulated model? Otherwise it won't texture properly, and I can't seem to use Lithium for the uV if it's not triangulated.

 

Offline Setekh

  • Jar of Clay
  • 215
    • Hard Light Productions
Need help - how to poly reduce this?
I don't know how personally, maybe someone with 3DS (Shrike? Styxx?) can help - but until then, *bump*, hopefully someone will see this.  
- Eddie Kent Woo, Setekh, Steak (of Steaks), AWACS. Seriously, just pick one.
HARD LIGHT PRODUCTIONS, now V3.0. Bringing Modders Together since January 2001.
THE HARD LIGHT ARRAY. Always makes you say wow.

 

Offline Lithium

  • 20
Need help - how to poly reduce this?
I think you have to remap the UV for all models with different LODs.

The reason why you can't simply take the LOD0 UV and use it for the
LOD1 or LOD2 UV, is because there is typically one UV coordinate per
vertex.  

So, the LOD0 model has too many UVs for your LOD1 or LOD2 models.  
How would it know which UVs to use, and which UVs not to use?  
It doesn't know.

The purpose of importing/exporting UVs is to transfer UVs to a model
that has the same number of vertices as the one that created the UVs.

Trying to import/export UVs to a model with a different number of
vertices will either fail, or mess up the UV map.

However, everything changes if you are modelling in a program like
3dsmax.    Since the model is inside max, you can reduce the poly count,
and still retain the UV info for each vertex.  This is because both
the vertices and UV are being reduced at the same time, so no associations
are broken.

HTH


[This message has been edited by Lithium (edited 07-08-2001).]