Some dudes: I think you are wrong, allow me to explain your job to you using my basic grasp.
Me:
Lemme just bust some of your weird little bubbles here...
1. Yes, I know polygon reduction tools exist.
2. Amazingly, I know what "character artistsin games" are doing because *whispers a secret* I am one.
3. Games are not all AAA running on high end machines.
4. More polys doesn't equal visual fidelity.
5. Maybe you are a misogynist.
6. Yes, I have actually made VR projects and know what I am doing.
7. Making stuff well gives you control, speed in workflow and uses cheaper machines.
8. Don't ever apply for a job where I work because I don't wanna be cleaning up your shit.
9. Some things are subjective, and some things vary based on engine and project needs.
For example, VR needs to keep a set framerate so you don't hurl. You are rendering twice- one for each eye, and having depth perception means a lot of old tricks don't work.
And, lets say those tweezers are the main focus of the game, and the sets are simple- you can go nuts. If they are one of a dozen items close to your viewer, you have to start being smarter.
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Optimisation isn't just for games- though we have the most extreme cases. Well optimises models and shader/texture combos help all the way along the pipeline for film and TV too.
Skinning, uv mapping and animation all go by much more quickly and smoothly if you have good topo and fast materials.
Being able to email files, quickly archive projects and send assets to an offsite render farm are all a plus.
The smaller the memory footprint of your scenes, the less likely you are to crash during a render.
And optimisation goes beyond cleanup- it also means baking all your bones, blend shapes, muscle, hair, cloth and physics sims to a point cloud for rendering, and lighting tricks.
Okay #gameart folks, I was donated these two tweezers from a VR project to demonstrate some cleanup and good topo.
Big thanks to the contributor, who gets the model back cleaned up as a thanks. :)
Are ya ready for this?
Okay, so here is the topology, and, as you can see, this is far from ideal. Both artists here are from film, so they are just learning the ropes for games- and again, they donated these so give your thanks
Okay, so lets start with the brief. These are for VR.
Now VR means you can get the tool very, very close to your face. It also means normal maps are not going to create much of an illusion of detail.
#Gamedevtip
Add 'tutorial videos' as a daily food group. I consume anywhere between 3 to 20 tutorial videos a day, often saving and going back over them quickly to lock things in.
Taking time out of your day to learn stuff from other disciplines is a great idea, as it allows you to build a common language with other members, and give insights into the challenges they face.
As a game developer you must work the learning muscles constantly, because everything is changing, and new techniques and tools appear every day.
Taking time to learn them means a huge time savings down the track. It isn't wasted time.