Foot Optimization | Game Character Development with Maya

The optimization you can do on Kila's feet is fairly straightforward.

To start, delete any polygons that are hidden by her jeans (Figure 5.22), these will never be seen in the game so they don't need to exist.

Figure 5.22. Delete any faces from the shoes that are hidden by her jeans.

Because the tops of her shoes are relatively flat, we can remove the middle section of polygons. As illustrated in Figure 5.23, select the edges that span the middle and collapse them. Make sure you collapse them all the way around the foot.

Figure 5.23. The tops of her shoes are flat, so remove the central section of polygons.

Before we finish with the feet, notice that three quads at her heel, also hidden by the jeans, could be removed; see the top of Figure 5.24. After removing these three quads, weld down the point on the remaining quad to create a triangle, and smooth the area.

Figure 5.24. Get rid of the three quads at the back of her feet.

TIP

If you want to be able to see through the jeans but keep the shoes solid, as I have in Figure 5.24, right-click the geometry you want to see through and select Actions > Template. To return it to normal, right-click again and select Actions > Untemplate.

Before we continue to her hair and face, take one final look around Kila's main body. You should now have a good idea of what to look for, so chances are you can find a few more polygons to remove. A few areas I found were in her collarbone and the backs of her shoulders. You can see these areas highlighted in Figures 5.25 and 5.26.

Figure 5.25. Check her collarbone area for opportunities for reduction.

Figure 5.26. Behind the shoulder, you can remove a polygon or two.

NOTE

It is very important to have the right amount and placement of geometry around the shoulder for good deformation. We will examine this in Chapter 6.

We are not at the stage where we need to sacrifice any major details yet. Our current polygon count is 2992 (remember, this is in quads)we are only 392 away from reaching the target of about 2600.

We can leave the main body behind now, and get busy with the head area.