Animating with Blender

Level of Detail

The ideal level of mesh detail in your character models will be whatever it takes to not show polygonal edges on curves in your render.

In Figure 5.10, you can clearly see the polygonal nature of the character. However, the same model with a subsurfacing modifier properly applied shows a smooth edge (Figures 5.11–5.12). When working with an animation, it is often better to create models with relatively low base polygon counts and use subsurfacing to smooth them. The ability to quickly and easily change subsurfacing levels and to disable it altogether will save immeasurable time during both animation and rendering.

Figure 5.10. The mom model rendered without subsurfacing

Figure 5.11. Rendered with subsurfacing

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