| Actually, you do not have to use a base object | | | | Perhaps the most useful thing at this point is to |
| to create an effect of the ground under your | | | | look at some examples of objects optimized with |
| buildings. Virtual reality applications provides a | | | | this modifier at different levels of severity. Let us |
| Ground Color option for the Background helper, | | | | see what happens to a 3D mesh with successive |
| which enables you to set the color of the view | | | | increases in the Face Threshold setting. |
| port below the horizon. | | | | One 3D mesh is not optimized and has 554 faces. |
| Another option is to hide the faces you do not | | | | The second 3D mesh has the Face Threshold set |
| want instead of deleting them. Because the | | | | to 8 and has 538 faces. The third 3D mesh has |
| exporter does not export hidden faces, those | | | | the Face Threshold set to 12 and has 420 faces. |
| faces will not be part of the eventual download | | | | The fourth 3D mesh has the Face Threshold set |
| file size. MAX still counts the hidden faces, | | | | to 18 and has 342 faces. |
| however, and you will not have a completely | | | | From experiments like this, you may conclude |
| accurate face count during the modeling process. | | | | that you can turn up the Face Threshold to 12 |
| Whether you delete or hide faces is up to you. | | | | and still get acceptable results for objects that |
| You may find it more convenient to delete them | | | | stay in the middle distance, but that a setting of |
| if your model is intended solely to be viewed in a | | | | 18 distorts the mesh too much. |
| special browser. You are doubtless already familiar | | | | Generally, the more complex the mesh, the more |
| with the optimize modifier; it is hardly necessary | | | | dramatic the savings you get by using the |
| to point out its advantages for creating | | | | optimize modifier. You need to experiment to find |
| low-face-count models for the virtual worlds. | | | | what works best for your scene. |