Earlier in 2017, Microsoft acquired Simplygon, a company focused on creating tech for optimizing 3D models. Fast forward nearly eleven months later, and we're starting to see the first fruits of that acquisition.
Microsoft announced today that it is launching Simplygon Cloud in the Azure Marketplace. As an extension of Microsoft's efforts this year to make 3D accessible to everyone, seen in the Creators Update and more recently the launch of Windows Mixed Reality, Simplygon Cloud works to automatically reduce the complexity involved in creating 3D models through optimization. From Microsoft:
Historically, 3D asset optimization has taken days or weeks of manual effort and is one of the tasks that artists and developers dislike the most. With Simplygon, you can create 3D assets once – at full visual fidelity – and automatically optimize them to render smoothly on any platform – within minutes, saving valuable time and money.
In an example, Microsoft showed a couch originally rendered with 584,000 polygons could be optimized down to 5,000 polygons for lower GPU devices, maintaining fidelity while reducing the file size significantly.
The tool supports GLTF, FBX, and OBJ file types, Microsoft says. Supported rendering engines include Unity 3D and Unreal Engine. Simplygon also works with "all major mixed reality platforms," including Windows Mixed Reality, Android, and iOS.
Simplygon Cloud is now available in the Azure Marketplace, and you can get started with optimizing assets by deploying a Simplygon Cloud virtual machine from the Azure Marketplace home (opens in new tab).
