Triangle count / polygon budget

Triangle count is how many triangle primitives a model sends through the rendering pipeline. A polygon budget is the limit a project sets for that count. More triangles mean more vertex and index data to download and store, more vertices to transform, and more primitive setup work before pixels are shaded.

Set a budget from the weakest target device and what is visible in one frame, then spend it on silhouette, joints, and close-up curves. Use lower levels of detail for distant objects and remove interior faces the camera never sees. Blender's Decimate modifier is useful for a first reduction pass, but hand-built topology usually keeps important forms with fewer triangles.

Gotcha: triangle count is not a universal speed score. A million tiny triangles may be vertex-bound, while a two-triangle fullscreen shader can be fragment-bound. Draw calls, materials, overdraw, skinning, and texture size can dominate first. Count what is actually rendered, profile on the target device, and treat the budget as a measured constraint rather than a magic industry number.