Polygon theory help

SketchUp
1

what exactly make a polygon… is 1 polygon = to 1 face or can a face have numerous polys if it is complex?

2

Geometrically, a polygon is a closed plane figure with many sides. A SketchUp face is a similar plane figure, but with a few special aspects:

  • In SketchUp, a sequence of edges defining a boundary of a face is called a “loop”. A face can have exactly one outer loop defining its outermost boundary and possibly multiple inner loops defining holes. Most geometers do not allow a polygon to have holes.
  • Some geometers allow the chain of edges to self-intersect. SketchUp breaks edges wherever they cross, so self-intersection automatically produces new face(s) whose loops organize the new edges.

And no, a single face can not contain multiple polygons except in the sense of outer and inner loops.

3

thanks, I made a monster and was wondering if it was the shape and detail in the faces that was driving
the # of polys, based on your explanation that’s clearly not the issue

4

Well, actually, since SketchUp faces must be planar it is likely that the shape and detail are driving the number of faces hence the number of polys. Unless a surface is flat, it can’t be covered by a single face. Complex curves require a lot of faces.