Hi Michael and All

Thank you for the opportunity to use your program - I have been evaluating MoI using the 30days trial (save) version, firstly to get to grips with 3D modelling, secondly to find out if it is a tool that is going to be useful in my workflow. MoI has proven to be a very light but very nifty little program (I have come across a few bugs but nothing that I am sure is not being fixed).

Whilst the software is overall very user-friendly, I have come across something that may be the difference between a make or break deal - but I am hoping it is an issue that I have misunderstood and is in fact solvable. I have attached a sequence of 8 images for a tester project (a decorative ceiling light) that will help to illustrate my question regarding export / import.

Steps :

1) I exported (save-as) the model as an obj using the default settings (images 2 - 3) - Preview Poly Count at this point is 140392.
(note: I have tried the 'Quads and Triangles' as well as 'N-gons' output because I need to have the option of editing the model in 3ds Max.... ps. this time the Poly Count was 193543 using default save-as settings)
2) I imported the obj model in 3ds Max using the default setting again (images 4 - 5). The Poly Count between the two programs is significantly different (images 6 - 8) - 296652

Questions:

1) What are the save-as settings in MoI to ensure the best-compromise for a low-poly hi-res model? (This will no doubt be different between every model created, so offering an overall method or any pointers will be very appreciated)
2) Why is the model imported in 3ds Max over twice the Poly Count of the MoI obj? Even if it were double-faced the figure would be 280784. What settings am I missing out in MoI save-as and / or 3ds Max OBJ IMPORTER dialogue windows, to ensure the model Poly Count and integrity remains the same?

I thank you in advance....can't wait for a response!

Z

Hi zuzu,

1) Well I'm trying to get the best result with the less possible polys too, what I often do is
- lowering the 'Angle' until I'm please with the outline shape ... I often work between 3 and 6. (sometimes 2 for printing output render)
- then I play with the 'avoid smaller than' parameter, to remove as much poly as possible ... I often close-up fillets to check how it reduces high density area.
The value depends of course of your model size.

2) Max allways counts the number of triangles in the polygon count report, so a 'n-gone' that count for 1 poly in MoI can be a collection a many triangles.
You can temporary use the 'triangle only' mode the check the exact 'max' polygon count before exporting.


BTW good news, looks like max 2010 has finally a valid .obj importer, I didn't had the time to do a lot of tests, but vertex normals looks perfect so far :)

Hi Zuzu, thanks for trying out MoI!

I think that PaQ has got the right answers to your questions already, I'll just summarize as well.

> 1) What are the save-as settings in MoI to ensure the best-compromise
> for a low-poly hi-res model? (This will no doubt be different between
> every model created, so offering an overall method or any pointers will
> be very appreciated)

Low poly + hi-res are kind of opposing goals so it can be difficult to balance them very well.

I think your best bet is what PaQ mentioned - use a tight angle setting, and then also use the "Avoid smaller than" parameter to lessen the density in smaller spots.

The way "Avoid smaller than" works is that you put in a distance there, and polygons that are smaller than that size will "downshift" to use a much rougher angle tolerance. So say for example you put in the value 0.1 in there - that will cause little surfaces that are smaller than 0.1 units in size (for example like a small knob in your model or something like that) to get a coarser mesh on them, which you won't tend to notice in the final rendering unless you are trying to zoom in close to something.

Another thing is if you want to use different settings for different objects, you can select an object and then write out only that object by using File / Export rather than "Save As" (Save As writes everything, Export only writes the selected objects).


> 2) Why is the model imported in 3ds Max over twice the Poly Count of the MoI obj?

Like PaQ mentioned - it sounds like Max is not counting 1 n-gon = 1 polygon, instead it is counting all the display triangles that it has diced an n-gon or quad up into.

So to get an exact match you would need to export from MoI as Output:Triangles only.

Is there some kind of specific target number of polygons that you are trying to stay under for some reason?

 

It looks like with the newest release of Max, the OBJ importer is working a lot better now. Also for MoI v2 I've added in an FBX export which can also be useful for exporting from MoI specifically into Max, if you are using an older version of Max where the OBJ import did not work as well.

- Michael

MoI V2 is far better than V1 in many ways and you will be hard pressed to mention "Bug". You would not be disappointed if you purchased MoI now and used the V2 beta. FYI.

Hi Michael,

There are still vertex normal problems with the .fbx export when using some external renderer inside max, like maxwell for example.
That's said it's not MoI fault, as everything is rendering perfectly with the scanline engine or mental ray.

Hi again


Thanks to Michael, PaQ and Burrman for your feedback and helpful advice... I will have to get back on the program and test the settings as advised.... I will send an update on the progress in the next few days!

Thanks again Michael; in response to your question, the Poly Count is an important factor because a lot of the assets are mostly part of larger worked-up scenes, a lot of the time there are even multiple models of a few different objects at any one time (amongst others) so we can not afford to accumulate intense Poly volume and risk colossal render times or even crashes. That's why I'm looking for a clever modelling program that will be efficient in our work-flow.... if all goes well then of course MoI will be a very likely contestant to win..... I'll keep you posted!

Thanks!
Z