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Question by DaveA · Jul 30, 2010 at 06:27 PM · blenderpolygon-count

How to determine polygon budget strategy?

I'm wondering what you think is the best strategy when building & importing models.

Let's say I have a large scene, but it's constructed just of boxes (from Blender). Let's assume all use the same material, no texture. Now, what are the considerations for how this thing is made:

a) if I use individual boxes for each part (separate meshes), the file size will be big. b) if I use references to one box mesh, the file size will be smaller, all parts will just be transforms really.

Are there any performance improvements with either? I imagine it would very much depend on the platform. Let's say iPhone.

Any tips for exporting from Blender regarding it making copies vs references? I'm not convinced that my 'duplicate linked' objects are saving me anything at all by the time they get into Unity.

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avatar image e-bonneville · Jul 30, 2010 at 06:30 PM 0
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Well, from what I hear, having all the boxes as one mesh is far better, especially when working with the iPhone, as it reduces the number of draw calls dramatically. You can even give each box in the mesh a bone, and they will act like they are separate, although they aren't.

avatar image qJake · Jul 30, 2010 at 06:41 PM 0
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If it's not too much trouble, just do it both ways, and then look at the Profiler, and the in-game stats as well (in the "Game" window). Whichever performs better is your answer.

avatar image DaveA · Jul 30, 2010 at 11:17 PM 0
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You know, I forgot about that Profiler. It's worth a shot.

avatar image DaveA · Jul 30, 2010 at 11:44 PM 0
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I made 1000 boxes using 'Duplicate Linked' so in theory, they share one mesh among 1000 instances. So it would seem in Blender anyway. Exporting to Collada, it makes 1000 separate copies! So that Collada exporter needs some work for sure (it also crashed when I tried to save 1000 separate mesh copies, another story). The 'linked' Blender file was about 1/3 size of copies. FBX exported identical sizes, assu$$anonymous$$g they are just as dumb as Collada. I'm gearing up to write my own damn exporter. And importer.

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Answer by e-bonneville · Jul 31, 2010 at 01:08 AM

Having all the boxes as one mesh is far better, especially when working with the iPhone, as it reduces the number of draw calls dramatically. If you need the boxes to act dynamically, you can even give each box in the mesh a bone, and they will act like they are separate, although they aren't.

You don't have to write a custom export/importer to import 1000 boxes in a mesh. Instead, just make all 1000 boxes, import them into Unity, and use Mesh.CombineMeshes to finish off the job. Have a look at this post and this one on the subject. It seems to be quite a popular topic.

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avatar image DaveA · Aug 02, 2010 at 09:32 PM 0
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That's really good info, thanks for that and the links. I can see the benefit in combining multiple meshes that use the same material. But that still results in a many-vertex mesh, no? If the blender exporter, and the unity importer, would 'know' that the submesh is one box, that would be idea. But if the object is constructed of many boxes, will $$anonymous$$esh.Combine$$anonymous$$eshes be smart enough to recognize that fact, and result in one box with many transforms? Seem a bit much to ask of it, but would be cool if it did.

avatar image DaveA · Aug 02, 2010 at 09:33 PM 0
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(idea => ideal)

avatar image e-bonneville · Aug 02, 2010 at 10:28 PM 0
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I'm not sure, I've never tried it. I'm just repeating what I've heard elsewhere. But I don't think it does, just because one mesh can't have more than one transform in Unity.

avatar image DaveA · Aug 03, 2010 at 12:34 AM 0
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What I'm hoping to do is have that one box be like a prefab, and instance it 1000 times. That should be pretty efficient right? Problem is getting it in that state. The exporter/importer path isn't helping. I'm working on an X3D importer, perhaps time to finish that up.

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