reducing number of vertices

Hi to all modders
Has anyone an idea how to reduce the number of vertices in a 3D-file. I'd like to convert a very nice car but it crashes the game because it is modelled so acurate that the number of vertices is above the limit of GP4. I did a night long research on this topic but was not successful... Is there an available tool or a function in one of the tools we already use?

Well I used 3DSimED3.1 to extract models from AC, exported in gmt format, and 3D Photo Browser+Polygon Cruncher to reduce them for using in GP4, surely you lose quality/details but since I haven´t learned how to model from scratch yet, is ok for me.

You have got several possibilities to reduce the number of vertices.
A GP4 car file can't exceed 65534 faces/ vertices

I often reached the limits this year with the F1 2018 because of the aerodynamic parts / details + halo + etc....

The aim is to reduce the number of faces and/or vertices but also to keep the quality.

So here are some methods:

1- With Zmodeler 1.07b: Into vertices mode. One red dot may content 2 or multiple vertices. Click on Creat/ Objects/ Uniteselect to To uniteselct each red dots with 2 or more vertices. Patience is required but this is the best method. Once uniteselected, if you see that the normals are modified, you can recalculate the normals automatically (Surface/ Normals/ Calculate) or to do it manually with Projection or rotation...

2- With Zmodeler 2: One of the method I used recently with the weld function if the number of vertices is not too much important. Yuou can save a few thousands vertices somehow.
import your .z3d model into Zmodeler 2. Important: Only select object by object.
- Select your object. Then Vertices mode.
- Then clck on Modify/ Submesh/ Weld and use these values for multy-target mode: Precision: 0.0001 ; Smooth: 30.0 ; UV Limit: 0.0001
- Click on your object into vertices mode.
Even if you don't see it into your main window, number of vertices will be reduced and the quality will be kept.
Do it for each object of your 3d model and only object by object

3- Advanced method with polygon cruncher and 3DSimEd, If your model has got a high number of poly/ vertices:
1- Export your 3D model from zmodeler into .3ds format.
2- Open your 3ds file into Polygon cruncher . Into the options windows, Keep the textures,exclude UV's, Exclude also edges and corners. Reduce it so that you can see that the quality of your model is similar to the original one (no matter at this stage if the number of poly or vertices are still over the gp4 limits)
3- Once done, export your model to 3ds forlmat.
4- Import your model into 3DSimed. Click on Edit tab and into the menu select Purge /vertices, then Purge/ faces and Purge objects
5- Export your model into .mts format (Export/ F1CC)
6- Import your model into Zmodeler (import/ first select F1 2002.mts and then select your objects)

If you try to convert a 3D model, maybe the method with 3DSimEd and polygon cruncher will be the more effective and after, you can also use the method with Zmodeler2 to reduce a little bit more the number of vertices if necessary

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2018 01:48PM by Excalibur.

Merci beaucoup, Excalibur I'll try it out soon...

Great , complete and clear explanation Arnaud , stunning. Thanks a lot



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2018 09:20PM by rracunis.

So I tried it out and it worked only partial: I wonder how you solved the problem, that the textures don't fit anymore... Can I shrink them somehow in the same relation as I did with the 3ds...?

SOLVED! Sorry, there was a problem in the texture itself - my fault...
Many thanks again for your helpful hand

Glad that you sort things out!

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This is one of the results of my converting efforts - a BMW V12 LMR in his testcar livery of 1998... textures of the race cars of 1999 (Le Mans) and 2000 (ALMS) may follow once in a while
Presently I'm trying to build the Sebring track from scratch, using the great tutorial 'How to build a track in 60 minutes' admittedly consuming more than a days work so far, haha... Actually I just finished the layout and the kerbs...