How to make optimized 3D Models for games

Nowaday, players want their games to be good looking, with great graphics and good performance. To achieve this you NEED to optimize your models ! By optimizing we mean to carefully make your model as light as possible without losing details. There are few stage where we can optimize our model, like in the retopology, the texturing and even in the rigging process ! In this article we will deep focus on how to optimize the retopology.

What is your model for ?

First you should ask yourself a question : What is my 3D model for ? The answer to this question should determine the type of optimization your model need.

If you're making a model for a mobile game the type of optimization is not the same as a realistic game-ready model for a AAA games.