: Low Poly - Add detail from objects polys or by another object? When creating a low poly object and am about to add detail to it ie. a wooden shield which should receive some kind of extruded

@XinRu324

There are many ways to add some details

But lets consider your dilemma. The choice depends on your purpose. I'm not an expert, but my conclusions are:

Separate object

Advantages


is easier to animate, it has its own axes etc, etc
easier to implement, you don't have to break existing low poly edge flow, you can just attach it
it may be even floating in front of object, and if you render it with low dimension there might not be visible difference (check this)


Disadvantages


in case you want to render something when your camera is quite close to an object there could be some undesirable artefacts. Finally it depends on the tool this model will be used by (game engine, just renderer or something else)


Embedded geometry

Advantages


precise control over the edge flow
no artefacts in case everything is properly done


Disadvantages


you model are highly likely to turn into high poly. How many polygons can you afford?


Normal map or bump

Create two objects (low and high poly) instead of one and then prepare normal map (just search through the internet how to do that, there are a lot of tutorials)

Advantages


no redundant geometry at all! be truly low poly!
quite good looking on the final render, ideal for games


Disadvantages


requires more time to prepare, knowledge of editors such as Photoshop, knowledge of texturing and might be something else


And something else


this is not real geometry, it will be visible only on the final render. Shaders will create lights and shadows in such way that imitates presence of geometry. What is it, advantage or not? You can decide according to what you are trying to achieve


Displacement modifier

Well, in case it is not necessary to keep you object in low poly you can tesselate desired polygons as many times as you need and then apply Displacement map. In that case you get extruded polygons in 5 minutes time without any modelling

Advantages


extremely fast to implement and achieve some results, almost no modelling at all


Disadvantages


forget about low poly
requires prepared mask for displacement


And something else


some game engines are clever enough to process displacement maps on fly, and also DirectX11 has tessalation features. Your models will be low poly, so to say, delegate your job to someone else


So, what to choose is entirely up to you!

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