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When optimization gets practical

Customer stories, technical guides, and deep dives into 3D content optimization pipelines.

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Scripting

A simple reduction script in Blender

This blog will give you a simple starting point into scripting with Simplygon's Python API in Blender.

Scripting

Visibility culling through generated cameras in Max

This (Python) example demonstrates how to use the Visibility Culling feature to remove geometry that is not visible from a specific set of cameras. The cameras are automatically generated by Simplygon based on a user-specified visibility volume / geometry.

Scripting

Scripting a Python batch processor with distribution and progress observing

A crucial part of an automatic pipeline is the ability to distribute processes. With that you can complete large batches of assets much faster than if you're running them on a single machine. Distribution is a first class citizen of the Simplygon API, and in this post we will explore how to build a simple distribution over Simplygon Grid using Python.

Scripting

Comparing material casting and aggregation

In Simplygon, you have two different options when it comes to transferring materials from source to optimized geometry. You can either cast the materials pixel for pixel, or merge the materials using the existing UVs. This makes for some interesting choices that we will explore in this post.

Scripting

Culling geometry with camera volumes in Python script

In cases where you know from which angles an asset will be viewed, you can use that information to optimize the assets accordingly. For example, side scene geometry in the level that's only going to be seen from the playing field. Rather the building assets custom for that case, you could just use what you got and optimize it through cameras scattered in the player area. You can instruct Simplygon to cull anything fully occluded, but the visibility information can also be guide the reducer and the material caster to keep more where the geometry is most visible.

Scripting

Simple remeshing scripting in 3ds Max 2021

This blog post will show you how to write a simple remeshing python script in 3ds Max 2021, using the new Physical Material system.

Scripting

Working with Simplygon objects in Python

The Simplygon Python and C# APIs are wrappers around the core C++ library that contains all the algorithms and tools. This means that the ways of working with the API is inherited from the C++ library. Both in Python and C# there are some things that might seem odd at first, and this post will shed some light on these things.

Scripting

Creating a physics mesh with Simplygon

When creating physics meshes, it's typically a good idea to optimize the original heavily, to make calculations cheaper. You would also want to keep material information in the optimized object, in order to spawn appropriate effects, play correct sounds etc. Combining the vertex color caster and remeshing is a great starting point to achieve super-simple geometry that checks the boxes for good physics meshes.

Scripting

Running cascaded pipelines in script

Many scripted Simplygon workflows starts with a pipeline that is exported from one of our integrations. In this post will give you a very straight forward step by step on how to create a scripted optimization with cascaded pipelines.

Scripting

Batching assets using headless Maya

Simplygon has a native plug-in within Maya that can handle exporting and importing assets. This is not only useful when you are working within the Maya UI, but can also come in handy if you want to batch process many assets and use the built-in functionality in Maya. In this post we will sho how you can set up a simple batch script that runs headless in Maya.

Scripting

Visibility sphere

Using a visibility sphere can be a great way to save some polygons on assets that are not going to visible from all angles. In this article we will go through how you can use the SetCustomSphereCameraPath function in Simplygon to take away unnecessary polygons.

Scripting

Volumetric culling

If you, like most others, are using kit bashing workflows when you are designing your levels volumetric culling can be really useful. This method will help you get rid of internal geometry, without affecting the exterior, nor require you to generate new materials. Apply it to assets that are built up from several small pieces and you will get rid of a lot of internal geometry, that's just hogging performance. In this post we will look deeper into this method.