# Reducing poly counts on CAD files

## Overview <a href="#overview" id="overview"></a>

If you want to use a 3D CAD file to create a virtual item for Breakroom (for instance, if you have a CAD file of your corporate headquarters), you may need to reduce the polygon count to achieve optimal performance in a runtime environment. You can consult our [Review Policies](https://wiki.sine.space/index.php?title=Review_Policies) for more information about recommended poly counts.

## Reducing poly counts in Blender <a href="#reducing-poly-counts-in-blender" id="reducing-poly-counts-in-blender"></a>

You can use the Decimate modifier in Blender to lower the polygon count of your model. Start by importing your model into Blender. Select the model in the Hierarchy.

<figure><img src="https://1679086873-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5gOE0ivmDtuXfHroTVSx%2Fuploads%2FCuE37dWgLBcs8tXfhPwU%2FCAD_001.png?alt=media&#x26;token=eaa530fe-d8f8-4c17-ab38-f89f60cb21ae" alt=""><figcaption><p>Pictured: Blender, with a high-poly model imported for use and selected.</p></figcaption></figure>

With the model selected, click the **wrench icon** in the bottom right panel. Click on the **Add Modifier drop-down menu,** and select **Decimate**.

<figure><img src="https://1679086873-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5gOE0ivmDtuXfHroTVSx%2Fuploads%2Fi2mEMNpCWVZkrPccg2gj%2FCAD_002.png?alt=media&#x26;token=d3dd6ec6-0109-49a0-8f62-73aa99f9f4bd" alt=""><figcaption><p>Pictured: The location of the wrench icon and the Add Modifier menu.</p></figcaption></figure>

In the Decimate panel, you can see that the face count for this object is currently 1,007,616. Adjust the **Ratio slider** to reduce the face count, and then click the **Apply button**.

<figure><img src="https://1679086873-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5gOE0ivmDtuXfHroTVSx%2Fuploads%2FThs2BY88zmQrksCvKcYU%2FCAD_003.png?alt=media&#x26;token=d41460a4-e483-45b3-b236-dd7e80dac991" alt=""><figcaption><p>Pictured: The Decimate panel, with the ratio slider and Apply button visible.</p></figcaption></figure>

In the picture above, you can see that the ratio has been reduced to 0.8, which is 80% of the original. This gives us an adjusted face count of 806,092.

{% hint style="info" %}
More information on using the Decimate modifier can be found in [Blender's own documentation](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/generate/decimate.html).
{% endhint %}

## Recommended software <a href="#recommended-software" id="recommended-software"></a>

In addition to Blender, there are a number of software solutions for reducing polygon count on large files. We recommend the following:

{% embed url="<https://www.blender.org/>" %}

{% embed url="<https://help.maxon.net/zbr/en-us/Content/html/user-guide/3d-modeling/topology/zremesher/zremesher.html>" %}

{% embed url="<https://www.simplygon.com/>" %}
