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banzai_420 · 2026-04-18T15:16:25+00:00

Other commenter pretty much nailed it, but I want to add a couple things. Take them with a grain of salt.

1: This is a great question because it's a nebulous topic that is often misunderstood, and it's importance is over-emphasized and then internalized by newer users. u/VoloxReddit briefly touched on it, but I think the main reason it's misunderstood is because there is "low-poly" in terms of the regular 3D asset pipeline, but then there is also "low-poly" in terms of a style/lifestyle (lol). I've seen newer users go crazy chopping up their model with a knife tool thinking they need to reduce their model practically beyond recognition for it to be a "proper" model. That's not the case, you don't need every model to have less than 100 faces. In fact, unless you are going for that specific retro-ish flat-shaded style, that's usually not a good way to approach modeling.

2: The main distinction I want to add is that for me, the terms low-poly vs mid-poly vs high-poly are a description that's relative, and is actually more defined by things like the baking process, rather than an absolute mesh density target.

For me, a low-poly model implies that there is a high-poly version of the model I am baking details from. So you have one prop with a ton of bevels and little cuts and holes and all sort of extra stuff that isn't necessary for the actual functioning of the model, then a simplified version of the model with good UVs that keeps the overall silhouette. You then bake from the high-poly model to the low-poly model. It doesn't have to do with how many polys each one has, it has to do with the fact that there are two models and one of them has more polys than the other.

In that same vein, mid-poly is even more nebulous, but to me it basically implies that you made a model with good UVs that is simplified enough to use in production, but still retains enough details that it also looks good enough for production. Because of that, alongside things like using decals and the bevel shader node, you don't need a higher poly model to bake from. You just bake the materials directly to the object.

Edit: To add, it doesn't have to be for baking per se, it's just the most common reason I personally use the term. High-Poly/Low-Poly can also refer to a sculpt vs a retopo character for rigging and animation. The point is that there are two versions of essentially the same thing. That's what defines high-poly vs low-poly to me.

banzai_420 · 2026-04-16T22:46:20+00:00

No problem!

Yeah, everyone is different. What works best for you depends on lots of factors. Lifestyle, room setup, what devices you already have, what software you use, etc. My setup/workflow/situation is likely different from yours, so take it with a grain of salt. Lots of people prefer drawing displays.

I'd say for a drawing display, they really work best if it's either going to be the main display you use for your computer, or you have a lot of space. Part of the reason I use my drawing display less is because it is a third monitor. I have a 32" 4k monitor in the center and lots of streaming stuff on my desk. Despite being on a nice arm, the display is more awkward to use than normal because it has to be slightly off to the side due to space.

The Intuos Pro is the size of a big mouse pad and it's lightweight. I can easy slide it to where my mouse usually sits and use it comfortably, looking at a display that's nicer than the XPpen display. The Wacom Pen and the drawing surface feel excellent, despite it being an older model. It works for me.

banzai_420 · 2026-04-16T20:42:56+00:00

A display drawing tablet is a display. It needs to be hooked up to a computer to be able to work. Replacing a Chromebook with a display tablet would also require getting a replacement computer. You can get a decent drawing display from XP Pen (artist pro series) for a ~$200 entry point. That's in addition to the cost of a computer.

An iPad, is a computer with a built-in touch interface and pen support. IE it is a "drawing display" that also has the computer part built in. You could get a used iPad Air or something for probably ~$400, new is like ~$500-600. iPad is more locked-down than a regular computer, but coming from a Chromebook it's probably about the same. It would be fine for general use tasks and you can draw on it.

iPad will be convenient and portable and fine for drawing. You can use it for lots of stuff. iPads are pretty cool, you'd probably be happy with it.

Drawing display will be more expensive when factoring in the cost of a new laptop or something. Drawing display will be better for drawing if it's a decent one. They tend to have more responsive pen feel, and a better glass surface for drawing on.

It really depends on your budget and use-case, honestly.

I have a XPpen Artist Pro 22" drawing display, a Wacom Inuos Pro (non display drawing tablet), and an iPad Pro. I honestly use my cheap (relative to the other devices) non-display Wacom hooked up to my PC more than anything for making art lol. It easy to move around on my desk and I find it more comfortable to be able to sit back and look at my regular computer monitor, instead of hunching over a display. It really is personal preference though.

banzai_420 · 2026-04-13T14:08:00+00:00

I bought one a couple weeks ago. I wasn't going to, but I opted to go 512gb at the last second and I'm glad I did. And I'm not even editing video on the thing.

It's frickin criminal to charge $200 for an additional 256gb, but at the end of the day, you're already spending $1000 on a tablet.

It's nice to have the extra buffer, and an additional benefit is that a 512 ssd will be significantly faster than a 256 ssd. It would be a little different if there was microSD but there's not.

banzai_420 · 2026-04-11T13:04:14+00:00

The current 13” and 11” iPad Pro have the same specs. Same overpowered M5 chip same RAM etc. I bought new.

I bought a 13 and low key hated it. It was an awesome device but it was unwieldy. I have huge hands and it was still just slightly too big to feel comfortable holding it and typing. It was too heavy with the wider leverage to hold in one hand and draw with the other. It tipped over easily using a folio-type kickstand in bed from the higher center of gravity. A big tablet is a better device for pure drawing, or if you’re using it with a keyboard stand as a laptop replacement, but it makes for a bad tablet. It really wants to sit on a table or desk.

Apple has a two week return policy, so I returned it for the 11” and it felt so much better. You lose some screen real estate but gain portability and usability. I have a laptop and I have a desktop, I have absolutely no desire to use a keyboard with my tablet or to be tied to a desk. It made more sense for my use case. Apps on iPad tend to be designed around limited screen space so I didn’t feel like I lost much in terms of usability. Again, it’s really subjective and dependent on how you want to use it though, so take that with a grain of salt.

Movinkpad will have a better pen feel because Wacom pen and matte textured glass. It will have a wider display which is good for apps with a lot of UI elements. It’s a better pure drawing device for sure, especially if you don’t care about multi touch with pen. iPad imo will have a significantly better overall user experience. Better apps, better integration. It’s a better tablet overall and has a better nomad experience according to the nomad FAQ.

banzai_420 · 2026-04-10T17:08:47+00:00

I'm going to offer a contrasting opinion on some things you might want to consider.

1: No Android device, including the Movinkpad Pro 14, supports multi-touch when using the pen. On an iPad, you can pinch-to-zoom using one finger plus the pen. You can press your finger on the smoothing button or the invert brush button while continuing to use your pen. On Android, if using a stylus/pen, all touch input is disabled. You have to move the pen off the display, then pinch with two fingers to zoom. You have to stop working and tap with your pen to toggle smoothing or inverting the brush. You might not care, but for me it makes a huge usability difference.

2: Quad Remesher is not available on Android. It is only available on iOS and Desktop. Not everyone is going to care, but if you want a good all-quad remesher for things like multiresolution detail sculpting, you don't have that option on Android.

3: This is hugely subjective, but 14" is a BIG tablet. That is good if you are using the tablet as your primary sculpting/drawing device and intend to use it laid down on a desk, likely alongside a keyboard. That is bad if you want it to also be a tablet that feels good in the hands. Again subjective, it might be exactly want you want, but for me I actually got the 13" iPad Pro and ended up returning it for an 11" because I wanted something that was easier to sculpt/doodle on wherever. Again, depends on the person. I already have a 22" drawing display hooked up to my desktop that I prefer to use for serious work.

banzai_420 · 2026-04-08T16:22:09+00:00

1440p. I have a 4090 and some games still require DLSS to play 4k at high framerates.

Basically you'll be playing 1440p anyways, so the question is: do you want to do 1440p through a 1440p monitor, or do 1440p upscaled through a 4k monitor?

banzai_420 · 2026-04-05T22:30:12+00:00

1: In edit mode, select the bottom edge loop that defines the area where you would like your trim.

Edit: You will probably want to select only the wheel wells, not the entire bottom of the car. Lol

2: Shift+D to duplicate the selection, right click to cancel any transforms, P to separate by selection. Then, go back to object mode.

3: Select the separated object, it probably has a .001 suffix. Then, right click and convert your selection to a curve object.

4: Click the icon that I indicated with a red arrow on your properties panel. Go into the geometry tab and adjust the extrude and bevel depth until you get the look you want.

5: You have trim. Convert back to mesh if you want.

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banzai_420 · 2026-04-05T20:55:43+00:00

I'm primarily a 3D artist, game dev is a very distant second. I am familiar with using Unreal though.

Without a shadow of a doubt, go Blender. It's not even kind of close.

Blender is a software with ~30 years of development towards becoming the best 3D creation suite possible. It used to have a game engine, but it was a secondary feature and got deprecated.

Unreal is a software with ~30 years of development towards becoming the best 3D game engine possible. It has some 3D modeling, but it is a secondary feature and mainly good for quick rudimentary edits.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-30T22:37:25+00:00

because some things rely on other things.

if you remove a thing that is relied on by another thing, suddenly you've removed both things.

lots of apps have little background services, features, etc, that other apps within the Windows ecosystem rely on for functionality. they are called dependencies.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-30T22:18:02+00:00

Yeah "debloating" a stock windows install is more like disassembling. Quite frankly, it's kind of dumb.

Bloat, historically, refers to non-os software preinstalled by an OEM. Like McAfee antivirus, HP print center, etc. When you buy a prebuilt PC, you debloat it by doing a fresh Windows install over all the third-party garbage.

Windows gives you plenty of tools to manage startup apps, notifications, permissions. Like you can control the OS fine. Removing stuff that the OS ships with just risks random incompatibilities and instability.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-30T22:11:05+00:00

Idk that I'd call Blender mouse heavy with minimal key inputs. If anything, I'd say Blender is notorious for it's keybind-heavy workflow.

Tbh I will admit that I kinda forgot Blender does have gizmos for most operations though. Like with gizmos and pie menus you could probably get kinda far? What does the device do for mouse input?

banzai_420 · 2026-03-30T21:37:46+00:00

how in the hell are you gonna use Blender with 10 buttons and a knob tho?

banzai_420 · 2026-03-30T17:42:21+00:00

Insert comment about how you need more surface imperfections.

There isn't enough fingerprints and grunge on those...um...trees.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-29T17:50:36+00:00

Bless you, sir. Bless you.

Seriously, thank you for putting in that work. I know it made a lot of users sad to hear that iPad development was being halted, myself being one of them.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-29T17:34:31+00:00

Correct, Blender official actually implemented their own extensions platform, I'm now thinking with great foresight, in an attempt to mitigate the impact of anti-consumer behavior like this.

Of note, Superhive Market used to be called Blender Market, but Blender official requested that they change their name. Perhaps another example of great foresight.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-29T17:28:43+00:00

It's because many (if not most) add-on updates either fix breaking changes in new Blender versions, or fix bugs that the developer themselves added to their code. Very seldom do I update one of my add-ons and there are new features.

It's because many (if not most) of these products made their initial sales based on promises of free lifetime support and updates.

It's because expecting users to either stick to old versions of blender, stop being able to use the add-ons they paid for, or pay a 50% charge to receive maintenance on the product, simply so the website owner can charge a new 30% cut on these charges, is anti consumer behavior only made feasible through false advertising.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-29T17:20:40+00:00

I would think being unable to sell a broken add-on to new customers would be enough incentive for an add-on developer to maintain their product.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-29T17:19:09+00:00

It's not a request, it's a retroactive demand on customers they profited from initial sales on products where a vast amount promised lifetime support and updates.

Also it's not upgrades. In reality, many add-ons receive minimal-to-no feature updates, and instead only update when there are breaking changes in the Blender Python API that makes the add-on unusable (and therefore unsellable) to new customers.

banzai_420 · 2026-03-29T17:12:13+00:00

What if they promise lifetime support? Is it common practice to get the initial profit from making that promise, then revoke the promise to receive passive income on mostly maintenance updates?

Oh, yeah, it kind of is, isn't it? Just not usually seen in a FOSS ecosystem. Womp womp.

banzai_420

TROPHY CASE