Hi everyone. In this video, let's talk about simplifying shapes. Okay. So, whenever you have a complex shape and you need fewer planes, fewer polygons in your model, you can simplify the shapes if you understand how this can be done. So, let's begin with a simple gradient. You can see that there's an infinite amount of grays between the black and the white. So, we have this smooth transition gradient between the two extremes. Now, we can break this shape into fewer planes to make it a simpler shape. Okay. Notice that each plane represents a small chunk of the gradient and the overall impression is the same. There is a transition between black and white and is to upgradation. Now, let's see this applied to actual objects. For example, a cylinder, you can see that there's a gradation between the light and shaded areas and we have a strong sense of volume. So, how can we simplify this shape into fewer planes so as to have the same impression of volume? So again, I chose one dominant tone for each chunk of the gradient, and you can see that if I for example zoom out my image, you have the same impression of volume between the two objects. Let me zoom in again. But what if we have a more complex, a more organic shape? How should we proceed? So, let's take this gradient for example. You can see that there's not an even gradient from left to right. There's also a top-to-bottom kind of gradient that gives a different volume to our shape. So, let's see a more simple representation of that. You can see that the areas are now represented by broken lines. But I still have the same impression of a gradation between the light portion of my shape and a dark portion. But this is not exactly representing the gradation from top to bottom of my shape. So, I can have a slightly different representation of this following the same principles. Let's take a look at that. Okay. Now, I broke my shape even more into simpler planes and now I have the feeling of volume not only from left to right, but also from top to bottom. You can see that if I zoom out my image, let's zoom out so we can have an idea. You can see that the gradients look the same, the three of them look the same. Of course, the smaller they are, the more subtle transitions I have in return. So, let's zoom in. You can see that depending on your polygon budget for your models, you can have simpler or more complex shapes. Now, let's try to see this applied to a more organic but concrete shape like for example a skull. Here we have a soft transition between the light in the shaded areas of the skull. We have a smooth gradient overall, and this represents volume quite accurately. You can see that if we zoom out, we still have the sense of volume. But this is very complex to have as a model shape. So, let's see a simplified version of this. You can see that now I just ignored the subtle transitions of tone and represented this big chunks with simpler flat planes of tone. You can see that I only try to represent the biggest differences in tone where changes of plane are more noticeable. So, we can have, if we zoom out this image, the same representational volume between the two skulls. You can see I still see volume and the basic shapes are all there. Okay. So, this is a nice way to simplify your shapes. Understand how gradients work and take big chunks of this gradient which do not have too much contrast and then represent this chunks with simple flat planes. Of course, the more planes you have, the more subtle the transition. The fewer planes, more abrupt transitions will occur. So, practice simplifying shapes as much as you can. You'll see that in no time, you will be able to look at a shape even if it has a lot of gradients and you'll be able to simplify this shape into a few meaningful planes. Okay. So, thanks for watching this video and I see you all in the next one.