So… Is it subsurf or smoothing in blender?
Yeah, probably. Never used blender specifically myself, but subdiv.surface is another common name for them.
Bascially, it’s the stuff, that makes your low-poly model to a high-poly. But obviously, you need to design the low-poly version to accommodate such subdivisions.
In games they often make a high-poly model to generate high quality normal maps which they then bake onto a low poly game-ready model. In 3ds Max you can make high poly models with turbosmooth or meshsmooth, in order for it to work properly you have to modify the geometry with extra ‘support’ edges to maintain the overall shape. Using this kind of smoothing will make your model look extremely smooth with nice round corners - the polycount can easily reach into the millions depending on how many itterations you use so a faster PC is useful.
Maybe this will clear things up, the center part has no turbosmoothing on the left, but it does on the right. The grey piece has turbosmoothing enabled on both sides, notice the huge increase in poly’s.
Ooh… So it’s like subsurf or multires in blender. I get it. Thanks!
Find a tutorial and try it out, it’s awesome (kind of addicted to it)
I finished setting up my computer, once I’ve got 3ds Max I’ll continue on my previous model (the dual turret minigun)
ughhh dont do it your models will lose defention and become more blob-like.
Subdivided models can never be used in-game, because they are likely to contain more polygons than all models in Half-Life 2 combined. But for film making etc. a model with turbosmooth will always look better than the low poly junk we use in games. :3
are you implying CONVERTING with a algorithm from low poly looks better than just building it high-poly from the get-go?
I never said anything related to movie production/video games, but you would get fired real quick if you did that shit.
Also, sharp edges exist in the world.
The weighted storage cubes are supposed to have hard edges. Don’t smooth them.
Subdivision is useful to get super high quality edges without the fear of losing the ability to edit your model (if you bombard it with chamfers you can no longer edit the original geometry properly so in a sense it fucks up the topology).
When using turbosmoothing you can keep your original topology, then add extra edge loops/rings so that the turbosmooth won’t ‘overdo’ your model with too much curves. You can remove these loops/rings at any time so you don’t have to waste hours converting it to a game-ready model. This way tight edges will still look tight but not with perfect 90 degree corners which looks ugly.
To the left you have a normal model, in the middle a model with turbosmooth applied, to the right a model with turbosmooth applied + loop/ring edges to maintain the original shape:
To the left you have a normal model, in the middle a model with turbosmooth applied (no support edges so it turns into a sphere), to the right a model with turbosmooth applied + loop/ring edges to maintain the original shape:
As you can see, turbosmoothing will look better, and you can change the structure of your model at any time which you cannot do properly when you’ve chamfered the whole thing.
edit:
I already mentioned multiple times that subdivided models are never used in games, they are used to generate high quality normal maps which will be baked ontop of the UV unwrap of a low poly game-ready model.
hey nice text dump but you didn’t really answer any of my questions and kinda missed the point.
and I STILL didn’t say anything relating to video games.
So yes, converting with an algorithm looks better than making it yourself plus when you use turbosmoothing you don’t change the original models topology.
If you meant something else then please rephrase the question.
Nice work Ibanez, it’s coming along nicely :3
It’s not just being better or worse. If properly done, it is about exactly the same level of detail AND a lot more flexibility, easy to modify, uvw map, a lot faster to process in editor view, even faster and easier to create to start with.
3D modelling isn’t just about polygons, it’s about well designed object topology. Creating a super-cool looking high poly model that you can’t use for squat will just get you fired even faster.
Also, you can in fact create perfectly sharp edges still with properly configured meshsmooth modifiers, at least in 3DS Max, that is. If one takes the time, don’t even need extra edges, just paint all the smoothing weights and/or smoothing groups.
That, and you can even map the smooth modifier, combine with displace, lots of nice things. It even looks better with rigged objects, that get awkward deformations, which a smooth mod can easily fix.
Oh, and most importantly, it can be done. Creating a highly detailed high poly model from the ground up with ~ million triangles is virtually impossible.
Even if you insist on creating a raw high polygon model, there is no excuse for not applying a couple iterations of meshsmooth on it for purely rendering purposes.
But all this jazz doesn’t really have anything to do with that poor little cube.
That’s pretty much what I said in that long post. 
I know but… meh, thought if first it wouldn’t maybe a second will get the point through. 
Tough short answer is simply: yes.
Enough of your stupid modeling faggotry.
Coloured the drawing in photoshop (after developing rheumatism, god I would kill for a tablet).
pure sex