Avatar complexity tiers

Owned by Mircea Barbulescu-Sosoiu
Mar 08, 2023
3 min read

Let’s start with 3D avatars.

The 3D avatar models and the props contain different numbers of polygon faces. The more detailed the object is (high-poly model), the more computational power it will need to be displayed and animated.

Remember, in a .avatar container file, you can put multiple types of avatar content. Sure, mostly you will find there 3D characters/avatars, but an Animaze .avatar container file can also hold props (hats, glasses, etc.), backdrops (3D/2D), 2D avatars (currently using Live2D technology), or hybrid avatars.

Depending on the use case you envision for your avatar (mainly used in a face-cam scenario, used mostly on mobiles or on desktops) it can have varying degrees of complexity. To make things easier, we are defining for you several complexity tiers for 3D avatars:

Complexity by features

 

Feature

Floating head

Tier 1

Upper Body

Tier 2

Full Body

Tier 3

Cinematic

Tier 4

Animations

expression animations

Y

Y

Y

Y

head rigid animations

Y

Y

Y

Y

idle animation

Y

Y

Y

Y

special actions

Y

Y

Y

Y

visemes

Y

Y

Y

Y

upper-body animations

N

Y

Y

Y

hand animations (IK chains)

N

Y

Y

Y

body  animations (retargeting chain)

N

N

Y

Y

body animation correctives

N

N

Y

Y

sitting animations (in, loop, out)

N

N

Y

Y

walking animations

N

N

Y

Y

complex palms and finger animations

N

Y

Y

Y

 

Shading

basic lighting

Y

Y

Y

Y

fur

Y

Y

Y

Y

skin shading

limited*

Y

Y

Y

transparencies

Y

Y

Y

Y

cel shading (diffuse tone, specular tone, edge tone textures)

Y

Y

Y

Y

animated normals

limited*

Y

Y

Y

animated diffuse

limited*

limited*

limited*

Y

Textures

diffuse

Y

Y

Y

Y

bump

Y

Y

Y

Y

spec

Y

Y

Y

Y

fur mask

Y

Y

Y

Y

color customization mask

Y

Y

Y

Y

animated normal targets

limited*

Y

Y

Y

animated diffuse targets

limited*

limited*

limited*

Y

translucency

Y

Y

Y

Y

subsurface scattering

Y

Y

Y

Y

 

Others

dynamic elements (physics)

Y

Y

Y

Y

self-body collision handling  

Y

Y

Y

Y

particle effects

Y

Y

Y

Y

limited* - it's recommended to avoid using this feature as it is resource overwhelming for some platforms (consult the breakdown by Performance and Download Size).

 

Complexity by performance

 

 Mobile friendly

Laptop friendly (works on integrated GPU/

Ultrabook GPU)

Desktop friendly (also works on dedicated laptops GPU)

Cinematic (but Still real- time. Needs entry level gaming class dedicated GPU)

animation system type

skeletal

blendshapes and skeletal

blendshapes and skeletal

blendshapes and skeletal

 

number of vertices (overall per

item)

 

1000-9000

the number of active shaders & percentage of display on screen impacts performance

 

9000-15000

 

15000-25000

 

> 25000

 

 

number of textures

 

0-5 (choose not to use some of the following: diffuse, bump, spec, customizations

mask)

 

 

> 5

 

 

> 5

 

 

> 5

max texture

size

1024

2048

4096

> 4096

 

shading

as stated in Complexity by features breakdown

as stated in Complexity by features breakdown

as stated in Complexity by features breakdown

 

as stated in Complexity by features breakdown

 

physics

 

simple pendulums and no more than 2-3 dynamic

elements

 

 

simple pendulums and no more than 2-3 dynamic

elements

 

full featured physics

 

full featured physics

 

particle effects

 

simple and no more than 1 particle system

simple and  no more than 1 particle system

full featured particle systems (recommended to max 3)

 

full featured particle systems

 

Complexity by download size

 

 

Mobile friendly

Laptop friendly (works on integrated GPU/

Ultrabook

GPU)

 

Desktop friendly (also works on dedicated laptops GPU)

 

Cinematic (but Still real- time. Needs entry level gaming class dedicated GPU)

animation

system type

skeletal

blendshapes

and skeletal

blendshapes and

skeletal

blendshapes and skeletal

number of vertices (overall per

item)

 

negligible

 

negligible

 

negligible

 

negligible

 

 

number of textures

 

0-5 (choose not to use some of the following: diffuse, bump, spec, customizations

mask)

 

 

> 5

 

 

> 5

 

 

> 5

max texture

size

1024

2048

4096

> 4096

shading

negligible

negligible

negligible

negligible

physics

negligible

negligible

negligible

negligible

particle effects

negligible

negligible

negligible

negligible

  

There is an extra avatar Tier, namely the hybrid avatar, which consists of a combination of 2D with the 3D world. You can find more information on it here. 

We will update this document on a regular basis, anytime notable changes arise and need to be publicly shared.