We have several poly-reduction, LOD, and baking needs that would be performed on existing cinematic assets as well as CAD source data for prep into Unity.
We recently tested the evaluation install of Simplygon, and it does an amazing job, really covers all the bases for us. Unfortunately the cost is just way above our current budget restrictions.
So my question is regarding alternatives that may perform some, if not all similar functions. The baking isnrt such a huge concern as I can perform that in current apps, but poly optimization/repair/lod geneation would be great if we can get something less restrictive.
I have looked at Polygon Cruncher a bit, and think that may fit the bill…any comments on experiences with it?
Any suggestions or comments for alternate products / workflows?
Thanks a ton in advance, this is an awesome community. Hope to contribute more in the future.
As a more cost effective and less restrictive polygon decimation solution, you may try our VizUp Desktop 3D optimizer or brand new VizUp SDK (if you don’t mind some coding).
Evaluation versions are available at www.vizup.com. You could also join our beta-program to get an early access to the latest versions. Drop me an email or visit our web-site.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for your support and kind words about Balancer.
I would like to update you that there is a nice video showing how
to simplify animated models (with bones) using Balancer and
restore the rigging information with free DAZ Studio Pro 4:
And, the Unity plugin with the Balancer’s technology is coming
really soon. Everything works great. The author is completing
the plugin site. Stay tuned. Here is the community thread:
One more thing:
Sorry, I have not updated the community with the latest release
of Balancer 2.0, which features robust and easy to use
accurate pixel-based tolerance simplification.
Now you can easily obtain desired visual quality
just in one click, without thoroughly inspecting
simplified models at different triangle count.
You specify error tolerance in pixels (say 2 pixels)
and your viewport (say 1024 by 1024), and in one click
you get a simplified model, which satisfies your quality
requirement. From any viewing direction, the resulting
model’s silhouette won’t differ by more than 2 pixels.
Here is a decimation with 2 pixel error tolerance
for 480 x 480 viewport:
Free versions for both Windows and Mac OS X are here as usual:
I’ve used Balancer and I have to say it is amazing. I made LODs by hand on four games and optimized polygons on thousands of LODs for lighting. Balancer does as good a job as I could do 99.9% of the time and does it instantly. I felt a little bit sick the first time I used it because I thought of all the weeks I spent on each project doing LODs.
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. The cost for using Simplygon is not currently decided.
There will be multiple types of licensing Simplygon, like per-model and per-month, and we will probably also have a special indie-deal for Unity users.
Regarding which is preferable, Simplygon of course! No but really, we try to make the best decimator in the world, and the Proxy LOD is unique to Simplygon.
No but really, we try to make the best decimator in the world, and the Proxy LOD is unique to Simplygon.