Animating with Blender

Polygon Count

In the level of detail section of this chapter, we talked about keeping the polygon count to a minimum and using both the subsurf modifier and normal mapping to produce high quality renders while allowing flexibility in the work flow.

The maximum number of polygons that your particular system will be able to work with while animating is impossible to predict. To help you figure it out, we have included a file called, “animation_poly_testing.blend” on the disc that comes with this book. When you open the file in Blender, you will see the screen in Figure 5.40. The file includes a simple mesh and a control armature. In its raw state, the mesh only has 92 vertices, and no computer made in the last 5 years should have trouble deforming ...