Run Polygon Cruncher

Once the setup has been performed, launch Autodesk® Maya®, then:

• Select one or more polygonal meshes.
• Open Mel script editor.
• Type polyCrunch in the editor and execute.
• A polygonCruncherNode is added to the selected meshes and a single polygonCruncherSettingsNode is created and connected to the selected meshes.
• Adjust the settings then click on the Calculate button and move the slider to optimize your meshes at the appropriate level.

Accessing optimization settings

When running the polyCrunch command, two kinds of nodes are created:

• PolygonCruncherNodenodes allows to perform the optimization on a part of the mesh.
  
  To Select the vertices to optimize:
  
  
  1. Click on the button Start Edit Selection
  2. Select the vertices on the mesh using Select > Vertex / Face / Edge.
     
     Two buttons give access to the PolygonCruncherSettingsNode:

  Edit Settings display the optimization dialogue without modifying the selection.

  Select & Edit Settings select all the meshes connected to the polygonCruncherSettingsNode and display the dialog.

• PolygonCruncherSettingsNode nodes which handle the optimization settings.
  These settings are applied to all the meshes that were selected when running the polyCrunch command.

Notes:

• The history must be turned on in order to use the plugin
• If several meshes have been selected before applying the command, these meshes are linked together. The optimization settings apply to all meshes.
• Polygon Cruncher can optimize only a part of the mesh. To select some vertices:
  • Click on Start Editing Selection
  • Select some vertices using Maya Select > Vertex (F9) command from the menu
  • Click on Stop Editing Selection to validate the selection.
  • Select Optimize Invert Selection if needed from dropdown menu
• Type help polygonCruncher; from MEL editor to get more information about the switch that can be used.
• Some attributes could be animated such as the ratio attribute that can be driven from an external script.

A complete help guide is available on Mootools web site. Please have a look at:
https://www.mootools.com/en/software/polygon-cruncher/online-help

Installation

• Run Setup.exe.
• Select Polygon Cruncher and select a version of the Maya plugin for Polygon Cruncher that matches your Maya version.
• Install Polygon Cruncher in the Maya plugin directory.

At the end of the setup process, several files will be added to your Maya folder, and particularly:

• A mll plugin that contains the Polygon Cruncher plugin
• Some mel files that handle the loading of the plugin, add the polyCrunch command and handle the interface of the plugin.

Uninstallation can be done from Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features