Polygon
What is it?
A polygon is a flat surface bounded by straight lines. In 3D graphics, polygons are the building blocks of 3D models. Most 3D models consist of thousands to millions of polygons (usually triangles). The number of polygons determines the level of detail of a model.
Practical example
A mobile game character often has 5,000–15,000 polygons for good performance. A film character can have millions because real-time rendering is not required.
Test your knowledge
Why are triangles the most used polygons in 3D graphics?