trying to animate highpoly mesh about 1 million polygons even slower when I try to apply physics like softbodies is there a way around this?seems like I really got to lower the polygons in order to run smooth.
-
2$\begingroup$ Are you aware of the technique of generating a normalmap from a highpoly model and applying it to a lowpoly version of the same model? $\endgroup$– Leo ErvinJun 18, 2016 at 10:43
-
$\begingroup$ Looks like you'll have to retopologize your model to make the topology less dense and then bake normals from the high poly model to the low poly one. Search for RETOPOLOGY and BAKING NORMALS tags. $\endgroup$– Paul GonetJun 18, 2016 at 12:25
1 Answer
You may retopologize your model and then bake normals from the high poly model to the low poly one. This will save all the details but the geometry won't be as dense, so it will be more animation friendly.
First you have to retopologize your high poly model (take a look at these answers: How to easily make mesh retopology? and How to convert from high poly to low poly).
There are two models pictured below. The high poly one with a very dense geometry on the left and low poly one with a simple retopologized geometry on the right. With your retopologized model you'll be able to bake the details from the high poly model to the low poly one.
Here's how to do it. First unwrap your low poly mesh and create a new texture with the desired parameters.
Next select (with the RMB) the high poly model, then select the low poly one.
Go to Render data header and under Bake panel change the mode to Normals, check the Selected to Active checkbox, then press the Bake button. After Blender finishes baking save the image to your computer.
Now give your low poly model a material, go to Texture header, open your previously saved image and set the settings as pictured below.
To see the normal map in action change the viewport shading type to Rendered and set the GLSL option in the Shading panel of Properties Shelf (N).
-
$\begingroup$ I showed the normal map baking in Blender Render engine. If you want to do it in Cycles engine please check out this topic: blender.stackexchange.com/questions/55680/… $\endgroup$ Jun 18, 2016 at 22:15
-
$\begingroup$ now I have a better understanding thank you for taking the time and explaining it. $\endgroup$– smaxJun 19, 2016 at 0:46