Editing Vehicle Creation (section)

=====Auto Reduction=====

There are two ways to automatically reduce the poly count.  One is easy to use but gives pretty bad results - Mesh->Poly Reducer from the scripts window.  I used this on some of the earlier models, but I try to keep it as a last resort now, because the results tend to be ugly.
The nicer way is the decimate modifier.  Because it's a modifier you don't lose data, so you can add modifiers to each object separately until you get the poly count you want, then apply them all.  The only problem with decimate is that it only works on manifold objects - that is, simple closed surfaces with no holes in.  You can use ctrl-alt-shift-M to select non-manifold vertices, which helps a bit, but it's still a pain.  The results are good though.  You'll probably have to join all your objects together to do this, so save first.

[[file:Blender_Screen5.jpg]]
''Manual cleanup gets us to 3500 faces.  I got bored removing the windows, but decimate should do a pretty good job''

[[file:Blender_Screen6.jpg]]
''Decimate modifier does the rest''

If you have a more complex model, you could try decimating the individual pieces, which should let you adjust where you want more detail.  I just finished a model where 1/3 of all the faces were in the wing mirrors, which is not ideal.