Polygon Cruncher
| Developer(s) | Mootools |
|---|---|
| Stable release |
10.0
|
| Operating system | Windows |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | http://www.mootools.com/ |
Polygon Cruncher is a 3D computer graphics software for generating 3D-optimized mesh, based on reduction and other optimization techniques. Polygon Cruncher is also available as an API through an SDK.
Overview
Polygon Cruncher is developed since 1999, firstly for Kalisto Entertainment. It is originally based on an initial algorithm proposed by Michael Garland.[1] The principle is to contract mesh edges depending on a cost list. The process leads to reduce the number of triangular polygons.
Polygon Cruncher simplifies meshes and keep most of details even at high optimization ratio. Texture information, vertex colors, and specified normals are taken into account during the optimization, as well as many others settings. For example, it is possible to define a symmetry axis in order to produce symmetrical low resolution meshes.
Polygon Cruncher has the ability to generate a dynamic mesh (also called multi-resolution mesh) once the optimization has been computed. This features allows to choose the most appropriate LOD for the mesh in real time and is demonstrated in the Polygon Cruncher OpenGL viewer integrated to the software.
Since December 2010, Polygon Cruncher exposes its API in a C++ library. A new feature allow to serialize optimization and produce pre-optimized 3D assets usable in a real time context in video game, CAD or real time visualization process.
Supported Platforms
Polygon Cruncher software is running on Windows operating system. It is available as a plugin for:
- Autodesk 3ds Max
- Autodesk Maya
- Newtek Lightwave
- 3DBrowser.
In the 3D Photo Browser, Polygon Cruncher is able to simplify various 3D formats such Maya, Wavefront, Truespace, Sketchup, XSI, Collada, DXF...
Polygon Cruncher SDK is available for developers through a C++ library. This library is currently used by different companies such Autodesk® (3ds Max®), Act-3D (Lumion®), Anark® (Anark Core Platform®).