I'm trying to develop good habits so I'm wondering on how to go about this.
When one part of a mesh requires high polys and another part does not, is it better to separate a mesh in two (or more) parts?
It makes sense to keep them separate as to not add unnecessary edge loops/verts to a simple area of an object, but I'm worried about how the object as a whole will render when baking maps.
here's a quick example pic: coherent mesh on the left, segmented mesh on the right.
In short:
Under what circumstances should a mesh be segmented or coherent, and furthermore, when should a mesh be it's own object object?
I understand these may be broad questions but any answer is appreciated.
Hey ggeneralshrooms , good question. There's no hard and fast rules on this, so usually I go with whichever is going to be easier to modify. Segmenting a mesh can be a great way to save geometry in some circumstances. Just be aware that if you plan on baking it, you'll need to separate out the different pieces into different objects before baking. An easy way to do this is Ctrl+P -> Separate by Loose Parts.