Limitations

There are many limitations when it comes to 3d. Sometimes you will have to limit what you are doing for one reason or another. A common reason is so it meets certain requirements.

File size is often a limitation. For example, if you were developing a game, when you go to burn it onto a disc, you only have a limited amount of space. This would mean you might have to limit things to get it to fit. It could be you have to decrease the quality of textures, or remove unnecessary parts of models. Another example of a file size limit, is on websites that allow you to upload files. They put a limit on the size of files that can be uploaded to stop incredibly large files from being uploaded.

Polygons are used to create 3d models, most of the time for Real-time computer graphics because of how well polygons are suited to scanline rendering. Every polygon in a model has to be displayed on a screen. The more polygons the long it would take to load a model. When counting the number of polygons in a model, it is refered to as a poly count. A limitation of models is often its poly count. The model may not be allowed to have more than “x” polys. This limitation would be to cut down on loading time. So to get a model to an acceptable poly count, you would have to remove some polygons, decreasing the quality on the polygon.

Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model. In a 3d design software, such as 3ds Max and Maya, you can render models that you have made, making an image of it. It is a digital image. Rendering images can take a long time. Animation studios who produce high quality animations have entire rooms, (called Render farms) dedicated to rendering. In these rooms are multiple computers, which are dedicated to rendering. A limitation on rendering is time. It takes a lot of time to render. If you have a schedule to meet, then you might not have time to do multiple renders or renders to a certain quality. You have a deadline to meet and therefore have to sacrifice something. This is a limitation of rendering.