Hello,

I am exporting a model from Poser 7 that has 374,000 plus triangles. I am exporting into a .dae file, and then importing it into xsi mod tool which limts the amount of triangles by like 7,000 seeing as how the source engine demands that it be around 7k triangles in game.

I have tried using polygon reduction on the model once imported in xsi, but it just ruins the model. Do i get rid of the bones before exporting out of poser 7? Will that help?

Is there a LOD python script that can be run to reduce the triangle count without destroying the model? I know there is any way to do this, because I have seen Poser 7 models in the source engine and in a mod. I have no idea how he did it though....

any idea??

I have tried using polygon reduction on the model once imported in xsi, but it just ruins the model.

Firstly, the poly reduction tool in XSI is one of the best around.  If it’s ‘ruining’ the model, you’re more than likely doing something wrong.  I don’t understand how a python script would help.

Do i get rid of the bones before exporting out of poser 7? Will that help?

Why don’t you try and see?

Polygon Reduction is good at what it does, but it isn’t a miracle worker. It will try to get rid of unndeed polys while maintaining the form, but there is only so much it can do (might also depend on the topology of the existing model). So if you just throw a model at it and tell it to get rid of 70% of the triangles, chances are some areas are going to get reduced more than others and the result wont be so hot when it comes to deformation. It’s great for LODs, but not for creating a base model from a high poly mesh.

Instead you might want to try creating a brand new model with your own desired edgeloops.












There are other methods of doing this described elsewhere on the forums (using shrinkwrap for example).
And you might as well get rid of poser’s bones as well. Less data to export/import, and Valve provides their own rig/guide to make things easier for getting character models into their engine.

[quote=r10k;21754]Firstly, the poly reduction tool in XSI is one of the best around. If it’s ‘ruining’ the model, you’re more than likely doing something wrong. I don’t understand how a python script would help.



Why don’t you try and see?

Right, I wasn’t saying anything “negative” about the feature. Did you read the part about it being the free version xsi mod tool 7.5? I thought prehaps it might have been toned down since it was a free tool. The goal anyway is for me to get the model down to 7k triangles anway. But, I have seen poser models ported into the source game engine. I know if for a fact. I am just not sure how he did it.

It’s just the model in poser is 372,000 triangles, and in poser there is no way to reduce the count before exporting it. Here is a picture of the model in poser 7.

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372k down to 7k is a huuuuuuuuge amount of reduction. That’s less than 2% of the original size.

Polygon reduction alone probably won’t get you there and still give you anything useful, although looking at the model I don’t see why the poly count needs to be that high in the first.

Is there a full geometry under the clothes? If so, start by deleting any polys that are completely covered. Also, check the explorer to see whether there is any other hidden junk that you can delete.

That might give you a better starting point for poly reduction, although you’ll need to mind the settings to get the best possible results.

[quote=grahamef;21770]372k down to 7k is a huuuuuuuuge amount of reduction. That’s less than 2% of the original size.

Polygon reduction alone probably won’t get you there and still give you anything useful, although looking at the model I don’t see why the poly count needs to be that high in the first.

Is there a full geometry under the clothes? If so, start by deleting any polys that are completely covered. Also, check the explorer to see whether there is any other hidden junk that you can delete.

That might give you a better starting point for poly reduction, although you’ll need to mind the settings to get the best possible results.

Well, the model comes straight out of Poser 7. Someone made her that way…
It’s looks good in poser when you do physics simulations, or walking, but the thing is i am trying to get the model into Hammer, “Hl2 mapping tool” i’m sure you know, but i am just not seeing how it’s possible without some expensive tool.


But, the reason I am trying to do this is there is this one mod where I know for a fact, that this guy has been able to get these models into source. I am trying to find a contact email for him, but I have not been able to. The source engine will only take 7k tri models period. The thing is this; When I view them in the model view it says these models have “45967” Polygons!...How do these run in SOURCE??

Plus, as far as my modeling skill with “edge looping” which is an adavanced modeling in my opinion, I just cannot even get close to what I am seeing in this mod…

Isn’t there a way to “Bake” high polys or “map” them some how to keep the level of detail but looseing the triangles???

[quote=thenewseth;21771]Isn’t there a way to “Bake” high polys or “map” them some how to keep the level of detail but looseing the triangles???

The Ultimapper tool will take the geometry of a hi-res object and generate displacement maps, etc., for a lo-res object. But you need a lo-res object first, and that’s what you don’t have yet.

Maybe you could try Cryrid’s suggestions on something less ambitious to build your skills.

That’s what I was trying to remember “displacement maps”. Hmmm...well..well, the low res object could be another model of the same scale but less poly’s right?
Thanks for the tools suggestion, I will look into that..

Right, I wasn’t saying anything “negative” about the feature.

No worries then.

Did you read the part about it being the free version xsi mod tool 7.5? I thought prehaps it might have been toned down since it was a free tool.

Yep, I read your post :) And no, the poly reduction tool is the same.

...but i am just not seeing how it’s possible without some expensive tool.

You are using an expensive tool ;)

But, the reason I am trying to do this is there is this one mod where I know for a fact, that this guy has been able to get these models into source.

Are you sure it’s a Poser 7 character at full res?  Poser characters (or Daz, etc) often come with lower resolution versions.

EDIT: One other thing- have you tried exporting out of Poser 7 each individual part of your character, and then tried reducing?

Ok for starters you cannot take a huge reduction without cost as others have noted.

You will need to reduce the model down to a reasonable size and then manually take out areas that will not affect apperance and animation deformation.

once you have your new lower poly mesh you then need to use Gator to transfer any texture/UV information.

This may take several tries and there are certainly more than one way of getting there.

One approach would be to disconnect the mesh from any weights (Like the envelope) and focus on just the mesh alone at this point.
1. Reduce the model by 50% and check for any issues.
Option a. Take this model and redo the topology using tools and there are tuts on this.
Option b. Manually tweak the verts and edges to do your reduction and keep the flow of the topology for animation going. (By flow I mean the edge loop flow)
2. Optional If you still need to reduce then repeat step 1 and choose either a or b option.

Once you have it down to what you need then its time to reconnect it
You will need to use Gator for transfering the weights for the envelope. If you do not have Gator then you will need to do this by hand.

Any poser model I have seen that was converted had to go through a process.
You simply cannot edit geometry with weighting on it without disconnecting the weight maps with the default tools. The mod tool has even less tools.

Good luck.

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