I'm doing some optimizations for animations and am at a crossroads;

[test case]
100 animated models, less than 1000polys, 5 frame vertex animation

Whats strange is, if i use the gamestudios "guard.mdl", i get a fps of 25+ which is fine for what i want

but when i use my model, same amount of animation frames, no bones and LESS polygons than "guard.mdl", my fps drops below 10

What could be the reason for this? the differences i see in pressing f11 are as follows:

[test with 100 "guard.mdl"]
PPS(polygons per sec) - 3138k
REF(refresh rate) - 173
TRI - 137k

[test with 100 custom model]
PPS(polygons per sec) - 565k
REF(refresh rate) - 0.3
TRI - 99k

Ive been looking into it and i cant see why there would be a difference, and why would the PPS change so dramatically ??

[other info]
custom model untextured
guard model 256*256 texture
both tests use same scripts, just changing model name
guard.mdl filesize = 514kb
my model filesize = 129kb

[SOLUTIONS]
so its confirmed, vertices count being the problem, man there really should be notes on these stuff somewhere, unless i missed it
Also, incase it helps anyone, if you animate all your models by one variable, meaning, they all display the same frames, it actually increases FPS, based on tests done

I am assuming you also have less vertices and your model is a closed mesh?

cant help you much, but try to give your model a texture just for a try.
I.e.: When i have an untextured Terrain in my Level i have the feeling it runs slower then if it has an Texture assign to it.
Will probably not solve it but just give it a try.

@Quad:

[mesh tester my model]
All meshes: 4
Closed: 1
Opened: 3

[mesh tester guard.mdl]
All meshes: 20
Closed: 0
Opened: 20

About the vertices, maybe that could be the reason? my model does have significantly more vertices, since it was highpoly before... do you know of a way to reduce vertex count? also, am surprised that the difference is that great

@chris_oat: ive tried both textured and untextured, same result

The number of vertices is (almost) the only thing that matters when it comes to animation. The (vertex) animation of a model is nothing else than blending the positions of the vertices of frame and next_frame.

hm, you model have less polygons but much more vertices than the guard model ?

how could that be... unlinked vertices ?

cut away the half of the model(to come below the amount of the guard) for a quick test.

@superku, that would explain it all then

@gri: well, good point, i actually used the MED mesh reducer to reduce the mesh to under 1k polygons, i ASSUMED it took care of vertices also but it seems it doesnt change them at all and yes, cutting the model in half did prove successful;


So what superku said, explains why i see no differences at all in my lowpoly mesh on screen and when it was highpoly, i'm looking for programs to reduce vertex count, i would love a stand alone app but cant seem to find one

Simple method to remove isolated vertices: Add a cube primitive, select its faces, delete them, answer the question "Do you want to delete isolated vertices?" with yes. Your vertex count should be much lower now.

o_O

thats it ?

*closes multiple tabs about mesh reducer and 3ds max*

lol you are a savior ^^

This does make the pro version's auto LOD kind of useless for animated models though, since you cant store LODs of varying vertices count in MED, guess i'll have to use MED to cut polys and vertices but do manual LOD using the "_1 , "_2" method... not too bad i guess

*thanks to everyone who posted