Pepakura and unfolding questions

[ultulva]

So I have been wanting to create a suit of armor, specifically Alphonse Elric's suit (Full Metal Alchemist) . I have looked at many many reference pics, found some basic foot tall models and other things that didn't quite do it for me. I guess I am too much of a stickler for accuracy with this :/ Well after a long hard look I found a beautiful model, just drop dead gorgeous. Screen accurate , and beautifully textured with zbrush. I ask the owner and he agreed to let me use it. I was so happy.

So here is the problem..... Because it is so visually perfect , it is also quite detailed. 94,000 vertices

Oh and here's another problem... I have never unfolded a model before. I tried to load it into Pepakura Designer but it just sits on the loading bar for eternity. Can anyone offer me at the very least my next steps?

Much appreciated, thanks in advance

 

[epilepticsquirl]

What other 3D programs do you have access to? 3DS Max, Rhino, blender, etc.
Do you have pepakura viewer or the full version pepakura designer?

 

[ultulva]

I have blender and have acess to autocad and 3dmax. I have not used 3dmax yet though. Also I have the full version pep designer.

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

You need to divide your model into segments (i.e. arm, fist etc.), then look at the segments and see if you can reduce the poly-count.

A whole model of course most of the time is way too large.

Not many polycount reduction algorithms are really reliable for creating a low-poly for pep, so you might have to look into welding points and faces together to reduce the polycount by hand. That´s at least what I do after I modeled a highdef object and want to unfold it in pepakura.

 

[ultulva]

I'll be honest I am new to 3d modeling. I have played with it for a short time now, but as I mentioned I did not create this model, so it's formation is beyond me. Something that sounds as simple as segmenting the model, for me, is still beyond my experience. I will however look up everything you suggested for me and try to figure it out with tutorials and the like.

I appreciate your help

 

[epilepticsquirl]

I'm not too familiar with blender, but this link may be of some use to you.

How can reduce the poly count? - UnityAnswers

They talk primarily about blender so maybe it'll help you out some!

 

[ultulva]

I'm not too familiar with blender, but this link may be of some use to you.

How can reduce the poly count? - UnityAnswers

They talk primarily about blender so maybe it'll help you out some!

Problem is it is saved as an .obj file, something blender does not seem to support, so I might have to go and learn 3dmax. but ty for the link

 

[epilepticsquirl]

blender.org - Import & Export

3rd from the bottom should help you out. :thumbsup