Polycount

How it is used

Also written poly count. 3D artists work within a polycount budget for each character or prop, and talk about high-poly and low-poly models. Low-poly is also the name of an art style with visible flat faces.

Example sentences

1. Keep the polycount under 20,000 triangles for each main character.

2. The polycount of the city scene is fine; the real problem is the number of draw calls.

Common collocations

• polycount budget
• high polycount
• reduce the polycount
• low-poly model

Related terms

• level of detailA technique that swaps a model for simpler versions as it gets farther from the camera, so distant objects use fewer polygons and the game runs faster.
• draw callA command the CPU sends to the graphics card to draw a group of polygons with one material. Too many draw calls per frame can slow a game down.
• optimizationWork that makes a game run faster and use less memory, battery or bandwidth, for example by simplifying models, reducing draw calls or rewriting slow code.
• textureA 2D image wrapped around a 3D model to give it color and surface detail, such as wood grain, skin or rust. Extra textures can control shine, bumps and roughness.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• polycount · Game Development

More terms: Architecture, Design Patterns and Graphics

• framework
• dependency
• tech stack
• architecture
• design pattern
• trade-off
• scalable
• microservices
• monolith
• modular
• abstraction
• separation of concerns