In this quick test we use the new Open Subdiv integration in Blender 2.76 in order to speed up the viewport performance.
Written tutorial:
Let’s begin our test by adding many levels of subdivision to our default cube.
Next we’ll add some array modifiers to make the polygon count even higher.
Now that we have over three million faces, let’s add a camera move to see what frame rates we get. So let’s add a keyframe, then move forward a hundred frames and move the camera position. Then lock it with a second keyframe.
If we hit Alt + A to start playback, you can see that the Fps has dropped to around five frames per second.
Now let’s test this with Open Subdiv enabled. We’ll go to preferences –> system and enable GLSL compute inside the “Open Subdiv compute” dropdown menu.
Let’s then check the use Open Subdiv checkbox in the subsurf modifier settings. If we play this back right now, we can’t see any speed improvements, likely because this feature doesn’t properly support array modifiers at the moment. But if we apply the array modifiers, we start to see some pretty amazing speed improvements. The frame rate is easily staying at full speed.
If we remove the checkbox, we can see how it immediately goes back to being sluggish.
That’s the promise the open subdiv integration brings us. The ability to enjoy smooth viewport playback, even in complex scenes. Thanks for watching!