Please help so I can win the contest!! :P (general questions about importing obj and details, number of polys, grid reference, etc)

[motrJR]

So I'm trying to get my contest entry going and it's a bit hairy because of the shape of it (thin and pointy at spots, etc.) and I'm just trying to figure out the best way of doing it.

I poly-modeled the main difficult detailed piece in Blender as I just couldn't deal with it in 3DC just figuring the software (and more) out. And now I'm importing the object in (to hopefully do more modelling and assembling in 3D Coat alone, without Blender). So I'm am learning and have a couple of questions:

1) So far I have come to the conclusion that I should basically import the detailed piece into surface mode if I want the thinness and pointy/fine shapes/details retained, therefore I should have it generally finished. Then I can add on with other layers' extra shapes. Is this correct?

2) What is the general amount of polys I should shoot for and relation to the underlying grid? Essentially this piece you could say is just the top for the cockpit (or is the cockpit more or less). And it is really like 1/12th of the height and width of the vehicle model at least. When I import and size it by eye I can generally get it in any kind of range of polys from 200,000 or so (or less of course) to 2 million (and more of course). Can anyone offer me a little bit of suggestion there?

Thanks for any incoming help!

[motrJR]

EDIT: I guess when you're importing and it says 250,000 estimated polygons and then it turns out to be 2,300,000 that's a factor? Idk. Is that too much for a single small piece?

[Carlosan]

50 minutes ago, Tony Nemo said:

Decimation in the Geometry menu will allow you to reduce the triangles where the density is not necessary.

 

[motrJR]

Thanks. I've never really understood a lot of the terms used in artful 3D modelling.

After hearing the term decimation I searched and found a video with a decimation brush too, and realized that I used such a thing a lot when I used Sculptris for the 2-3 weeks that I played with it. Forgot all about it until then. The vid was an old version of 3D Coat so it was different but I found it under Clean Clay. I do now realize that I need to look over more of the tools and it will be self-explanatory if I do. But I know that I could use the menu method too with some freezing, correct?, to retain the details. 

I'm still a little unclear on the other things such as grid space relations, total geometry capabilities, etc. but I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go along. I know I've already hit a wall when up-res'ing just tinkering. I'll just worry about the shapes and clean it up as much as I can if I've gotzta. Thanks again, Carlosan!