>>7605082Not that anon, but let me take a stab at it.
>Is SFM capable of...Yes. Each model in SFM can have up to 65,000 triangle, or 32,500 quads. If someone can't get a nice, smooth, properly deforming mesh without seams using that number of polygons, when modern high-end games like GTA 5 do it with 30-40 thousand tris, they should go work on their skills a bit more.
> I have seen this mess in every model I have used, and assumed it was due to limitations in the actual engine.Not really a question, but it needs addressing. This is exactly what the anon you are replying to means when he mentions SFM animators not knowing their art. I don't mean that as a personal attack either. It's common with animators throughout actual AAA studios as well. Most animators know very little about 3d in general, because animating is a craft unto itself. They're kind of the special snowflakes of the CG world, and they get away with that lack of knowledge because no amount of knowledge will let other people who don't have a flair for creating the illusion of life do what they do.
>If SFM is capable of such smoothing, why are the actual Source characters also so crude?A lot of the source games, especially tf2, were designed to run on toasters, so that everyone could play them. They had to be much easier on resources because of that. Furthermore, Source Engine originally only used one core of your CPU, regardless of how badass your processor was. SFM is still like that, so they (Valve) only release official models that can be played with on said underpowered PCs. Note that the new Source Filmmaker, which is in beta right now and accessible only through the Dota 2 Reborn client, removes those limitations.
>As for texture faults, that's modellers not wanting to spend an extra twelve hours on getting things just right.Partially, yeah. Also some areas were never meant to be seen, so they never mattered to the art team. Chances are, the groins of characters fall into that category.
