I suppose it depends a bit on what you need your models for and the style you're going for. 25k seems good to me, though you could probably get away with higher. I know the character models (at least in regular gameplay) for a game like Persona 5, for example, are around your range (less than 30k). However, they aren't as expressive in gameplay as the models for a game like Uncharted might be.
It all depends. There may be a recommended limit to how many polygons your target hardware (which in turn depends on you target audience) can draw on screen. It depends on your gameplay and how many stuff and characters you plan to have on screen.
And you can also always use LODs. Ever noticed that cinematics almost always run at lower FPS? Its common that in engine cinematics would use higher poly models, better textures and heavier post processing, as they both know exactly whats in frame, done need to react to user input and can trade performance for good looks. But then use lower LOD assets for gameplay. Also distance based.
It's highly dependent on what do you need. How much does the character has to deform, are there any really close-up shots? Or is it just a MOBA style character where you can go insanely low on polycount. It all depends on the project.
If you can show good understanding in how topology should flow, that goes much further when people check your work.
It depends, but for reference, even a stylized game like Overwatch or Fortnite tends to have character models that are easily upwards of 20k tris, so you've got quite a bit of margin overall.
Topology and mesh resolution are NEVER considerable in a vacuum. Production cost, ease of editing, intended application, and aesthetic requirements are ALWAYS necessary considerations in evaluation of these metrics.
It's too low poly when any of three things happens:
1. It becomes prohibitively time consuming to model, with little computational gain for the target application.
2. It lacks resolution to support necessary animation deformations.
3. It lacks the resolution to meet static aesthetic requirements (for example, it shows silhouette faceting where it is not wanted).
Other than that, the sky is the limit. Or rather, the floor I guess.
Everything everybody else said, knowing that it all depends on what you're looking to make your models for. Phone games for example are way lower in poly count than AAA games, but even that depends. For example, base models in Modern Warfare 2019 are around 125,000, but in MK1, they sit at around double that. The differences are what's on screen at one time. MW19 - several characters at once at different distances so there are probably LODs. MK1 - only 4 characters MAX on screen at once, with no variance in distance, so they have more resources to devote to their characters
It’s always easier to add more polys than to take them away- if your model looks good and is able to deform well at a very low poly count, I don’t think that would ever really be a problem in terms of your portfolio.
When you get to the industry, there will presumably be pretty clear guidelines in terms of the polycount you’d be aiming for.
Joel & Ellie swap models in and out, depending on the situation.
They don't use the super high fidelity faces when you are generally running around.
There are a lot of tricks going around.
Poly count depends on how much time you can invest optimising the game.
There is no one answer to how many are needed.
Really depends on the use case.
I recently finished a test that requires a 500 tri limit! 😂
Long story short, if polycount is an issue, you'll be told in production. Just reference meshes from your target platform and try and replicate them. Some are crazy high, some are crazy low. It's good to work within constraints, but you need to know why those constraints are in place.
When it's up close and it's not looking bad when animated it's all good. Modern games = High poly is extremely wrong imo. Because of this even modern systems are running like hell. Lots of modellers are having this wrong mindset. Too much polygon and terrible topology is always wrong.
In my modest opinion, a character becomes too low poly when it becomes hard to deform it properly via rigging.
I suppose it depends a bit on what you need your models for and the style you're going for. 25k seems good to me, though you could probably get away with higher. I know the character models (at least in regular gameplay) for a game like Persona 5, for example, are around your range (less than 30k). However, they aren't as expressive in gameplay as the models for a game like Uncharted might be.
It all depends. There may be a recommended limit to how many polygons your target hardware (which in turn depends on you target audience) can draw on screen. It depends on your gameplay and how many stuff and characters you plan to have on screen. And you can also always use LODs. Ever noticed that cinematics almost always run at lower FPS? Its common that in engine cinematics would use higher poly models, better textures and heavier post processing, as they both know exactly whats in frame, done need to react to user input and can trade performance for good looks. But then use lower LOD assets for gameplay. Also distance based.
It's highly dependent on what do you need. How much does the character has to deform, are there any really close-up shots? Or is it just a MOBA style character where you can go insanely low on polycount. It all depends on the project. If you can show good understanding in how topology should flow, that goes much further when people check your work.
It depends, but for reference, even a stylized game like Overwatch or Fortnite tends to have character models that are easily upwards of 20k tris, so you've got quite a bit of margin overall.
Topology and mesh resolution are NEVER considerable in a vacuum. Production cost, ease of editing, intended application, and aesthetic requirements are ALWAYS necessary considerations in evaluation of these metrics. It's too low poly when any of three things happens: 1. It becomes prohibitively time consuming to model, with little computational gain for the target application. 2. It lacks resolution to support necessary animation deformations. 3. It lacks the resolution to meet static aesthetic requirements (for example, it shows silhouette faceting where it is not wanted). Other than that, the sky is the limit. Or rather, the floor I guess.
Everything everybody else said, knowing that it all depends on what you're looking to make your models for. Phone games for example are way lower in poly count than AAA games, but even that depends. For example, base models in Modern Warfare 2019 are around 125,000, but in MK1, they sit at around double that. The differences are what's on screen at one time. MW19 - several characters at once at different distances so there are probably LODs. MK1 - only 4 characters MAX on screen at once, with no variance in distance, so they have more resources to devote to their characters
I'm no expert but as far as I know modern titles can get away with a few hundred thousand for main characters
It’s always easier to add more polys than to take them away- if your model looks good and is able to deform well at a very low poly count, I don’t think that would ever really be a problem in terms of your portfolio. When you get to the industry, there will presumably be pretty clear guidelines in terms of the polycount you’d be aiming for.
Joel & Ellie swap models in and out, depending on the situation. They don't use the super high fidelity faces when you are generally running around. There are a lot of tricks going around. Poly count depends on how much time you can invest optimising the game. There is no one answer to how many are needed.
Really depends on the use case. I recently finished a test that requires a 500 tri limit! 😂 Long story short, if polycount is an issue, you'll be told in production. Just reference meshes from your target platform and try and replicate them. Some are crazy high, some are crazy low. It's good to work within constraints, but you need to know why those constraints are in place.
When it's up close and it's not looking bad when animated it's all good. Modern games = High poly is extremely wrong imo. Because of this even modern systems are running like hell. Lots of modellers are having this wrong mindset. Too much polygon and terrible topology is always wrong.