Low Poly Vs High Poly Modeling: Which One You Should Use — CGIA3D

4 min readMar 22, 2022

Low poly modeling is more demanding than high poly but both are necessary but you need to figure out which one is for you and why.

I will compare both modeling techniques that help you to decide which one you should learn this year.

Let’s start.

1. The Difference

In both techniques, there is only one difference and that is Polycount. Low polycount means low poly, Higher polycount means high poly.

Polycount also depends on industries and projects.

For example, Gaming industries use a very low polycount of 1k to 15k whereas advertising, AR/VR industries use more polycount between 15k to 40k.

The same things happen on projects.

On the other hand, there is no polygon limit on high poly techniques and it is used in various industries such as VFX, Architecture, etc.

2. The Uses

Both styles are used in various industries. Low poly needs fewer resources and it renders faster.

So it is used for Game Engine, Visualisation, Demo purposes, and more. Mostly it’s used in gaming industries.

On the other hand, High poly needs more CPU power, but it provides extremely realistic results.

So it’s used for Advertising, Marketing, VFX work, etc.

3. Workflow

Most artists waste time finding the perfect workflow to create better art in less time. But the fact is, you can’t create better art in less time.

Here is a recommended workflow that you can use.

Low Poly Workflow:-

Blocking-> HighPoly->Retopology->UV Mapping->Texturing->Render
Low poly->HighPoly->UV Mapping->Texturing->Render.

High poly workflow:-

Base Mesh creation-> Sculpting-> Rendering
Sculpting from Scrath-> Rendering

4. Low Poly Tips and Techniques

Most junior artists start with high polygon modeling because it’s easy. If you are a character artist or sculpture, it’s essential for you.

But for Hard Surface artists, retopology is time-consuming and irritating. So if you are a hard surface modeler, use the below workflow and save time for retopology.

I know some artists, who are great at high polygon modeling but they are failed to create low poly versions.

Time Saving Tips:-

Think which part should be modeled, and which part made by texturing apha
Think, which part should be seen in camera and which not
Use Sculpting and PBR Texturing software
Create hole with alpha
Make optimized UV Map with proper texel density

5. Reduce Polygon

You can easily reduce polygon from any high poly model with various tools.

I use the Autodesk Maya Reduce polygon tool, please note for 3d character models you need to retopology manually.

Open your high-resolution mesh
Go to mesh and click on reduce tool
A reduced tool dialog box will open
Now you can reduce your polygon with percentage, Vertex Limit, or Triangle limit.
A always go with percentage.
It can reduce your polygon from million to thousands.

6. Basic Low Poly Model Creation

You can create this type of 3d model easily with practice. In this tutorial, I make a very simple 3d model for you.

I have already modeled many models of this style, If you want to learn more about it, you can read this gun modeling tutorial or you can visit our YouTube Channel to see amazing low poly tutorials.

In these video tutorials, you learn about both 3d modeling techniques.

7. Which One You Should Choose

Actually, it depends on you. I already tell enough reason to decide. I will give you an answer in short.

If you want to go in VFX, 3D Printing, or Sculpting type industries, learn high poly.

If you want to go into the Gaming, AR/VR, Advertising industries, learn Low poly.

You can also learn both 3d modeling techniques if you want to be a better 3d artist.

8. Motivation and Learning

Most junior artists feel depressed and need motivation and inspiration from another talented artists.

I have already shared a popular 3d character artist list that will motivate you with amazing art.

You can learn both styles from various free and premium resources. Free Resource like YouTube has amazing tutorials to learn low and high poly modeling.

If you need more advanced training, you can use some premium resources like Flipped Normals, Gumroad, The Gnomon Workshop, etc.

9. Now, It’s Over to You

I share the difference, tips, workflow, and techniques about low poly and high poly modeling.

If you have any questions, suggestions,s or feedback regarding this topic, you can ask in the comment section. I will help you.

Originally published at https://cgia3d.com on March 22, 2022.