So, I get this idea for an animation, and I start on it (I'm the Emperor of All for starting these things; finishing, OTH...) and I make a list of the props and characters I'll need. One of the things I need is an acorn.

Okay, an oak seed. Nut of the Quercus fisiformus, or related species. Squirrel food, or so the cartoons would have us believe. Seems pretty simple, and I don't anticipate any trouble modeling it. But then, I think, "Maybe I can find one already made, and save some time." So, I go looking in all the usual places.

I found several, no problem there. But one of them... wow.

This acorn is beautiful. It's very nicely modeled, and it's available in all kinds of formats, including OBJ, so you could use it in just about anything. But then, I noticed...

It costs 75 dollars (USD). Whoa.

And then, I noticed...

It has 52,242 polygons.

As I said, it's a very nice acorn. I want to make absolutely clear that I have no problem with the quality of the acorn, or the asking price. Heck, for all I know it's related to the famous "Ice Age" acorns (lovely little shorts-within-the-movie, those). More power to the modelers of the world that offer this kind of quality craftsmanship at what I can only call Cadillac prices.

It was just so... well, different from what I was looking for (a cheap-or-free, low-poly, probably-not-even-UV-mapped acorn-like blob) that I just laughed out loud.

And when it's funny, I like to share.

The 52K acorn must contain the entire tree, ready to grow and bloom,
just as a real acorn does!

Anyone who would put so much effort into one little acorn really has too much time on their hands IMHO.

Quote - Anyone who would put so much effort into one little acorn really has too much time on their hands IMHO.

Or one hell of a budget!!!! :) -Les

Quote - The 52K acorn must contain the entire tree, ready to grow and bloom,
just as a real acorn does!

Now, that's one impressive morph target. :biggrin:

Quote - Anyone who would put so much effort into one little acorn really has too much time on their hands IMHO.

Wish he could sell the time instead of the acorn... that's something I could really use.

Quote - Or one hell of a budget!!!! :) -Les

Y'know, I thought the thing had a little bit of a Matrix-y look to it...

:lol:

I'm genuinely curious about this: what would be the advantage of so much
detail on such a small item?  Even when you have millions of dollars and
the best custom-made software, wouldn't you still want to keep the mesh
as light as possible to save a few seconds on each frame?

Quote - I'm genuinely curious about this: what would be the advantage of so much
detail on such a small item?  Even when you have millions of dollars and
the best custom-made software, wouldn't you still want to keep the mesh
as light as possible to save a few seconds on each frame?

I'd think so, but there wasn't any accompanying description that I could find. For the intellectually curious (and bearing in mind that this is not a commercial endorsement of any kind) the item in question can be viewed here.

I ended up modeling one on my lunch break here at work, and I only used 336 polygons. I'm thinking it'll be a lot easier on my animation software.

Good heavens, that super-detailed acorn is awful.  Bet your 336-facet
acorn looks 10x better.

Free one here in case anyone else needs one :-)

http://mystic-nights.com/freebies/search.php?show_result=1&page=2 

Well, I don't know about that, but I'm certain it will animate a lot faster. That's the mesh, up there.

Quote - Free one here in case anyone else needs one :-)

http://mystic-nights.com/freebies/search.php?show_result=1&page=2 

 
Huh... I didn't get any results when I searched mystic nights... I'll have to go back and take another look.

Attached Link: http://mystic-nights.com/freebies/search.php?show_result=1&page=2

I am not sure how  awful that  75$ acorn looks - it seems to  me it was just done with a very bland shader for the promo pic.
But you know, in regards to the too  much time on their hands thing , we never can  tell WHY somebody made something . for all  we know this aritst made this for some project for some scientific video company or something and they wanted to  be able to be extremely detailed about the material preoperties of the acorn seed in  the presentation or whatever, so  they asked for extreme detail- who knows. and maybe it is sitting here for sale as a what the heck maybe someon else wants to buy it  thing.
And you know it's funny, but I was actually looking for a 75$ acorn.  Actually I am making an oak tree so i just bought   3000 of them. !!!!
;-)

:-O

It's called 'you've got 12 hours to complete the $25,000 project, you're running behind and you need an acorn.' AKA 'I've got you by the nuts.'