Archviz: Optimized Props for Event Planning
These models were created for an online virtual event-planning interface, where the user could design the layout for a wedding, corporate event, convention, etc, by placing props into a venue of their choice. With the advent of COVID this service became even more popular, and clients could visualize how their event would look without having to go on-site, poring through dozens of color choices for tablecloths, centerpieces, and the like.
Because of the limitations of the interface and the fact that there could be dozens of these props in the scene, the models had to be heavily optimized and LOD'ed. Hence why they are simplified in terms of contour and texture size in order to give the client an optimized and chug-free experience.
It would have been nice to be able to make this chandelier have a translucent, refractive material, but the limitations of the interface demanded that we simplify the materials where we could.
It's always a daunting task as an artist to analyze a real-life prop and determine where you can make polygon reductions. Designing for the web and mobile reminds me of the old days of gaming in this way.
Since the interface had many lighting limitations and did not have real-time ambient occlusion, lots of the assets would need to have the AO baked in and exaggerated a bit so that the details wouldn't get washed out at a distance.
The polygon limit for a scene was pretty tight, as an event could include dozens of tables, hundreds of chairs, centerpieces, table settings, lighting, etc. Each model had 3 LOD levels as well, with the limit on the lowest level being very restrictive.