How to decide if a model is Low Poly or not

In the past anything over 10 000 polygons was considered high poly. I do not know how much the standard has changed since then but it is a matter of platform. If you want to buy models that will run on an ipad app they will have to be much lower than 10 000 polys so it really depends on what game or app you want the 3D model to work in.

Agreed with above.

All depends on what game system you plan to use. For example, iPhone games are very low, less than 5k max. However xbox & pc games run models like cars up to 150k.

Do some general google research on what platform you're building for & then re-evaluate what asset you can spend the extra polygons on for added detail.

if your mesh is super dense and its obviously doesn't look low on polys, then it's probably not low poly that's my rule of thumb personally. I mean its pretty obvious. Anyway, most of the time something is high poly ita just that the modeler has not stopped. To make something game ready you tend to bake the normals onto a low poly mesh, so if you are making a model for a game any unnecessary polygons should be got rid of anyway, Don't leave anything useless.

Yes nik y is exactly right! Most advanced modelers will create a base mesh just like an under drawing when you are trying to work out the perfect proportions of something first. Then when that looks just right they will add on a few details but not too many and then bake on the normal map.

This way they can add a controller on the model to enhance the levels of smooth for high end rendering but then can still animate the model with low poly. Animators hate working with slow rigs so it is best to have something really quick for them to move around.

In some cases when the model has to be really high poly the riggers will rig the low poly mesh and hide the higher poly and connect the vertices using python scripted plug ins but then it can get frustrating for the animators at a later stage because they can't really see what the finished product will look like with the high def eyes and facial expressions.

Thank you to everyone!

Now I do understand this topic a lot better.

From what I have seen here, CgT reckons low poly to be anything that is under 50k. but as others have stated, that may not be useful for platforms with much less available memory.

Oh but I would like to add that i have done some work with a dev for iphone games and some of the models did push the 30k line for polys.