One thing I just realized, though it should have been clear in my head since the start of this, is that there will be a need for a smaller version of this spider. Since there will be long distance shots of the spider, using the main model would be a waste of rendering resources, too many polygons and the hair would just take too much time to render if you only see this from a distance. I am pretty sure we wouldnt have to do LOD procedure during rendering since the spider isnt going to be coming from a distance to close up in any of the proposed shots but we will need a smaller version of this model.
Should we just take the current one and do some poly count reduction? Or should there be a new model altogether? The rig shouldnt be that elaborate, if anything we can take the current rig and just use it for the small version, how that would be accomplished I do not know.
I can also do quick image editing to create smaller texture maps (256x256) so that would also reduce render times, depending on the size(s) of the model… of course if we were to have 2 smaller scale models then a mid size map series would also be produced. I know the function of MIP maps is for that purpose, however would that really help for a model that is an 8th of the size of the original model?
I am just thinking about this now so that when I come back to Portland tomorrow I can start working on this again, a week of my absence has really kind of hampered this a bit and we need to get back on track asap. I do not want this to fail.