So, going through these lectures, my biggest question is WHY low poly and WHY low tris?
My basic understanding is to speed render times, which makes sense, but then in this tutorial you made the super Ngon on the bottom, but kept the 32 tris in the hole where the pole goes… is there a rhyme or reason to this?
How else do I begin with the end in mind if the why is never explained!?
/endrant
704 Tris
Yes, how detailed the model does count towards render times, but low poly and low tris because not everyone has a machine that can run at high poly and high tris. Low poly models are also useful for game development and animation purposes. These are just generalizations they’ve made the course in mind for. If you want to make models high poly than by all means, do. There is also nothing stopping you from making them lower poly either. Just because Michael does it one way doesn’t mean you have to. The why is not explained because Michael’s word is not law when it comes to Blender. There are many different ways to reach an end result. It depends on the artist to decide how to get there.
Hey Nixe!
I appreciate the reply!
I should clarify I was asking:
Low-poly is useful for quick renders and obviously very helpful with learning. I agree as such. I guess I’m trying to understand in this particular instance why on one side we have the multi-sided Ngon, and on the other side we have 32 triangles connecting into the center.
Is having a super Ngon bad?
Is having a 32 pole vertex bad?
In what conditions - gaming assets v. artwork, etc. etc.
Assuming I’m doing Blender mainly for character assets, should my tri count be under 1000? Under 500? What’s the constraint with modern technology? That’s why I’m looking for a guide.
For example:
“When making artistic renders, poly count doesn’t matter nearly as much as proper textures and materials.”
“Poly count really matters when exporting objects into video game engines, so we’ll try to keep ours down below X with that assumption.”
I don’t even know if those examples are accurate, but it’s more of what I’m getting at rather than whatever I think is best. I’m nUb… I don’t know anything 
Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.
Have a great weekend!