Hey,
I want to get into low poly modeling. My question is, how do you handle lighting and smoothing groups. Do you smoothg everything, to get rid of the fragmented poly look? - I have seen some great models that are really low poly, and the lighting seems completely smooth.
I use 3ds max, and their method for assigning hard/soft vertex normals is called “smoothing groups.”
When your model is exported to a game format, every vertex along a hard edge that’s defined by smoothing groups will be split into two vertices, because each vertex can only have a single normal assigned to it. In 3ds max this duplication is hidden from the user, but is performed nonetheless. You only see a single vertex there, but it is in fact two vertices.
So, I prefer to actually create a small bevel there instead, and set the whole model to use a single smoothing group. If I create a tight little bevel, the shading will be the same, but I can in fact widen that bevel a little and get better control over the shading (and silhouette too). But this has the same vertex cost as a smoothing group.
Hope that helps.
Some more good games modeling info in the sticky threads in the WIP/Critiques: Game Art Design section.
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