2LA43D: Week 3: Polygon Modeling

Hey there. Did I say last week was tough? I guess I spoke too soon..haha. This is what I felt like after a week with Max Dayan, our polygon modeling instructor. I was really glad to be learning from such a talented, knowledgable person and share info, HE DID. Non-stop, 24/7 this guy lives, breathes and sleeps 3d modeling. I don't think he sleeps, actually. He's really funny too, which made it a bit less painful. Great teacher. Max was lead modeler at Gentle Giant studios and has worked for Rhythm and Hues as well. Check out his blog if you get a chance.

So what the hell is Polygon modeling, you ask? Well, I bet you didn't but I'm gonna tell you anyway: ) Polygon modeling is the workhorse of 3d. Yes, NURBS are sexy and alluring, but polygons are taking out the trash, cooking the meal, getting it done. Its the building block of 3d and even NURBS become polygons at render time. If I asked you if the 2 objects in the image below are the same, what would you say?

Actually they are exactly the same. With the proper smoothing of course : ) That's why polygon modeling is such a great method because you can have the sleek, sexy smoothness of NURBS, but with much easier editing and less hassle. See those blue lines on the left dice? The closer those lines are, the sharper line or crease will result as seen on the smoothed version on the right. The smoothing algorythym will try to place a curved surface between any 3 adjacent lines, so spread em out and get a soft curved surface. Tighten them up and get a hard edge. If you get that, you can model cars, faces, Shrek...its all same.

Ok, enough geek talk. Just wanted to give some background since I find it so interesting and for all of you gamers out there, you should at least know what you are looking at for 30 hours a day, right? Older video games had really low-polygon characters, that looked really blocky and sharp. The ones today are a bit more 'high-poly' and smoothed better. Anyone recognize that name? : )

Here are a few of the project we worked on this week that further illustrate the above.