The level of detail in my models, always trying to make them really detailed and fancy like.  Never thinking they are quite detailed or fancy enough.  But what level of detail are people in the Poserverse really after?

Do they want uber detailed models that take time to render, or maybe modern game level detail that render in a flash (well somethign like that)?

I know for foreground stuff it probably wants to be real detailed, specially on humans and clothes, but what about other stuff?

What do ya rekon?

John

I'm not sure that this is going to help you, but here goes...

I personally would like models that match the level of detail available in the current generation of characters. Even with the Gen 4 characters, it still looks a bit odd to composit them over a photograph. I want the environment to match the detail of the character.
 
That said, I can't (won't) wait all day for something to render. I bought a VERY detailed city set from a very well respected modeler a year or so ago, and have yet to actually be able to use it. The reason is, it takes my 64 bit Quard Core 6400+ AMD processor FOUR HOURS to render anything that has that city in it! And that is without IDL!

My point is, the model is unbelievable in the level of detail, but the render time renders (pardon the pun) it unusable. For my purposes Dreamland's City Block 1 is about the right compromise. Great attention to detail, but it renders like a dream!

Any help?

Quote - I'm not sure that this is going to help you, but here goes...

I personally would like models that match the level of detail available in the current generation of characters. Even with the Gen 4 characters, it still looks a bit odd to composit them over a photograph. I want the environment to match the detail of the character.
 
That said, I can't (won't) wait all day for something to render. I bought a VERY detailed city set from a very well respected modeler a year or so ago, and have yet to actually be able to use it. The reason is, it takes my 64 bit Quard Core 6400+ AMD processor FOUR HOURS to render anything that has that city in it! And that is without IDL!

My point is, the model is unbelievable in the level of detail, but the render time renders (pardon the pun) it unusable. For my purposes Dreamland's City Block 1 is about the right compromise. Great attention to detail, but it renders like a dream!

Any help?

thanks for that matey.

Tis an interesting balancing act for sure :)  I think with buildings n stuff a game asset approach would do ok.  I shall give it some more thoought.

John

You've touched on the basic problem.  It would be nice to have low-poly items for
background, but at the distance where a low-poly model would look good, a photo
looks better.

I'm always amazed when I have ppl look at a model I'm working on and say 'It's so detailed..!'

Normally I've not started detailing at that point...!

Well, there's no one answer. I'd say do as much as you can with displacement/normal maps and polygon light models obviously. Try to judge the scenario that "most" people will be using. A few would want to get right down in the city streets in Basicwiz's example but most would probably be doing wider shots. From what I've read about CG in films, theu use multiple models, depending on the detail requirements of the shot.

I don't think I've seen anyone do it for Poser stuff but with a good polygon reduction app, you could have a higher rez model for closeups and generate a low resolution version with a couple of clicks. That's ideal for a car let's say where you want to use it in the background and in closeups as well. You can reduce memory hogging textures as well but that's something that users are more reasonably able to do for themselves. I don't know if you can use geometry switching on an entire model but even having a separate pp2/cr2 would be acceptable. I tell you Prime Minister, ship multi-res and the world will beat a path to your door - or maybe not - but if they do, I want a cut.
 

I tend to still be trying to balance on details from the actual object vs. details from a really good material. In that balance, it's probably a good way to optimize to get what you want.

     I try to model with efficient use of polygons, aiming for a fairly good level of detail at a modest polygon count.  Intricate detailing can often be added with displacement at a much lower render burden than using geometry.
     Since P8/PP2010 introduced IDL, I now tend to avoid lots of transmapping, especially several overlapping layers of transparent polygons.  For example, my recent trees use mesh leaves instead of transmapped squares for the foliage.  The poly count is higher, but P8/PP2010 render the mesh foliage version much faster.

For big sets like TinkerBell's Drive-In Cafe', I invest denser polygon count to the restaurant itself, then make the surrounding neighborhood buildings lo-poly.

Detail should be done by texture and displacement, not geometry.
dph

Quote - Detail should be done by texture and displacement, not geometry.
dph

Bingo!

I don't mind some detail in models but when it gets to the fanatical level I've seen on some car models (yes, those again) then it gets ridiculous.

Less detailed sci-fi stuff would appeal to me, as I can't see spaceship/dock corridors with so much garbage in them that would block them up in a firefight.. ie: all those fancy cables and pipes overhead and such.  And sci-fi cities shouldn't all be trash-can cities.  I would think some of them would learn that living is a one-time thing and to make it reasonable for all their citizens, instead of dirty and mean.  

Thanks for all the thoughts people :) definately food for thought.

John

Quote - Detail should be done by texture and displacement, not geometry.
dph

I disagree, only when used in a game engine where you have limited resources to work with. For rendering, efficient modeling should be considered, but all detail, shadows, highlights, etc should come from the render engine and the model and not part of the textures. I have been using unbiased rendering engines more lately and they show all the flaws in textures, things that you can get away with when using biased rendering.

Quote - I don't mind some detail in models but when it gets to the fanatical level I've seen on some car models (yes, those again) then it gets ridiculous.

You mean I shouldn't model each and every rivet on an airplane? :o Drat!

Quote - > Quote - I don't mind some detail in models but when it gets to the fanatical level I've seen on some car models (yes, those again) then it gets ridiculous.

You mean I shouldn't model each and every rivet on an airplane? :o Drat!

Yep, something like that.  :)