How to Optimize your IMVU Products

As an IMVU Creator, one of your most important goals is to build products that work seamlessly on the IMVU platform. Creating reliable products not only makes your customers happy, but helps you grow your brand and reputation.

In this article we are going to lay out the guidelines for creating products that are optimized for IMVU.

The guiding principle is efficiency. Use the fewest textures and polygons possible while still maintaining the look and behavior you want for your products.

TEXTURES

General Guidelines

• The Power of 4 – pixel sizes for textures should be combinations of 4, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512 per side. For example,  64×128, 256×256, 256×512 etc. Do not use irregular sizes (example: 133×133)
• Think Small – make sure your product image maps aren’t too large. Smaller items like jewelry and watches and shoes should have the smallest product image maps
• Hair – ideally hair should only include two textures, for instance one texture for baby hair and one for longer hair
• Rooms and Furniture – the fewer polygons used and the smaller the texture maps – the more optimized the item is and the less it negatively impacts a customer’s experience

Ideal Texture Sizes

• One large texture – works more efficiently than many small textures
• Tops and Bottoms – no larger than 512×512
• Hair – if you use multiple textures for your hair, the solid colors should be less than 256 pixels. More detailed textures can be larger
• Accessories – 256 or 128 or down to 64 if the accessory is tiny (earrings)
• Shoes – 256 should be sufficient
• Complex Furniture – a complicated plant, or item with a lot of geometry, or large ‘Furniture’ item for 3-5 avatars, should have no more than three 512×512 texture slots, or some derivative of it, like a combination of two 512×512 and four 256×256 etc.
• Medium Sized Furniture – less complicated static furniture the size of a loveseat should use no more than two 512×512 texture slots
• Small Items – a complex item that is smaller than the size of an avatar should use no more than a single 512×512 texture

POLYGON COUNTS

• Clothing – fewer polygons are always better
• Hair – the average polygon count should be 8,000 – 15,000. Highly detailed hairs can be an exception
• Shoes – 2,000 – 5,000 polygons are recommended
• Accessories – 2,000 or fewer polygons for complex items – tiny items could be 500
• Complex Furniture –  a complicated plant, or item with a lot of geometry, or large ‘Furniture’ item for 3-5 avatars, should be less than 2,500 polygons
• Medium Sized Furniture – less complicated static furniture the size of a loveseat should be no more than 2,000 polygons
• Small Items – a complex item that is smaller than the size of an avatar should be no more than 1,500 polygons