Scribd
Upload
10 views16 pages

Module 01 3d Workflow

This document outlines the workflow for creating 3D characters for next-generation gaming, detailing steps from concept art to rendering. It serves as a guide for 3D artists, emphasizing the importance of understanding various techniques and optimizing models for performance. Key processes discussed include modeling, UV unwrapping, texture mapping, and normal mapping, culminating in rendering techniques for both real-time and non-real-time applications.

Uploaded by

Khanh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
10 views16 pages

Module 01 3d Workflow

This document outlines the workflow for creating 3D characters for next-generation gaming, detailing steps from concept art to rendering. It serves as a guide for 3D artists, emphasizing the importance of understanding various techniques and optimizing models for performance. Key processes discussed include modeling, UV unwrapping, texture mapping, and normal mapping, culminating in rendering techniques for both real-time and non-real-time applications.

Uploaded by

Khanh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 16

version 1.

30
Introduction

1 - Concept Art

2 - Low Res Modeling

3 - Unwrapping UV

4 - Texture Mapping

5 - High Res Sculpting

6 - Normal Mapping

7 - Lighting and Rendering


This workflow explains the different steps of the character's creation for next
generation gaming. It starts from the understanding of the concept to the rendering
in game.

This documentation is for all 3D artists who are familiar, or not, with the basic tools
in 3dsMax. The goal with this document is to provide an insight into the 3D
workflow, it doesn’t contain any modeling techniques, working methods or
exercises.

You must know that there are a lot of techniques and methods which could
conclude with the same result. Your skills as a 3d artist will grow and develop down
the track, and one day you will discover your own technique and develop your own
workflow.

However, the way to become a good 3D artist is not easy. Understand this workflow
doesn't mean that you are a good 3D artist. Mastering 3D techniques takes time of
practice, perseverance and patience.

Good luck!
In every concept art, whether it is a
character, object or environment,
drawn from the imagination or not,
there are few key details that need to
be identified before creating the 3D
model. As a 3D artist, it is important to
identify:

The graphic style


Analyse the art direction: anatomy,
proportion, silhouette, shapes, color
palette, etc…to determinate the main
aspect of the character.

The character story


The facial expression, attitude, posing,
animation, accessories etc… are part
of the character’s personality and each
has a story to tell.

The Last of Us Team Fortress 2 Gears of War 3 Halo 3


Now, let’s figure out the technical
constraints. With the help of the turn
around concept, all the elements must
be analysed and one question arises:
what will be created in 3D and what
will be painted in the texture?

The polygon budget


Identify all the elements which will be
created in 3D and do an estimation of
the total amount of triangles according
to the polygon budget constraint.

The texture optimisation


Identify the elements which will be
painted in the texture and elements
that could be mirrored to save place in
the texture. What are the textures
supported by the engine? Normal
Map? Transparency? Specular Color?
front back side
Etc…
* concept from Call of Duty
Once the concept in mind, the 3D
mesh can be created in 3D modeling
software such as 3dsMax, Maya,
Blender, etc…

In video game, whether it is on mobile


or console, most of 3D models have to
be optimized in order to have a high
frame rate in game.

So the best 3D model has to have a


minimal of triangles while keeping the
best visual quality.
Maintaining this balance is one of the
big challenges that a 3D artist has to
face.

* model from Ghost Recon: Future Soldier by Cedric Seaut


A 3D mesh is made of Vertices, Edges
and Faces that together form the
shape of the model. The appearance
is a white surface with lines called
Wireframe.

To add details on this surface, it is


necessary to unwrap the UV of the
mesh. The process is called
Unwrapping UV Coordinates. Unwrapping
To have a good UV map, avoids the
issues about stretching, ratio, edge
padding, seams, unused space
etc…The more the uv is correctly
unwrapped, the more the texture is
detailed and beautiful.
Low Res mesh UV Map
The Texture Mapping is a technique
for projecting texture to a surface of
the 3D model. The 3 main textures
used in video game are:

Diffuse Map
It defines the main surface color of the
model.

Specular Map
It is a greyscale texture that controls
the intensity of the specular highlights
from real-time lights.

Normal Map
It is used to fake High Res details
when it is mapped onto a Low Res
mesh.
To add more details to the model, a
High Resolution model is needed. It is
a mesh with a high number of
polygons, so the mesh is very
smoothed which allows to sculpt micro
details. The softwares used for
sculpting are Zbrush, Sculptris or
Mudbox.

However, as the HR model is too


heavy so impossible to render in
game, it has to be faked. It exists a
technique to add HR geometry details
to the surface of a LR model without
adding more polygons and changing
the silhouette of the LR model. This
technique is called Normal Mapping.
How to create a Normal Map?
From a HR mesh, the Normal Map
could be simply generated in many
software such as 3dsMax, Zbrush or
xNormal, this process is called Normal
Map Baking.

The result is a texture with blue as


predominant color. But at this step of Baking
training, it is a bit complicated to
understand how a Normal Map works
with only few words. Just remember
that the NM simulates the illusion of a
detailed 3D surface by modifying the
direction of each pixel’s normal.

HR mesh (10 million triangles) Normal Map


LR Mesh (10.000 triangles) Normal Map LR + NM
Low Res Mesh LR + Normal Map LR + Diffuse Map LR + NM + DM
Low Res Mesh LR + Normal Map LR + NM + DM
* model from Ghost Recon: Future Soldier by Vo Binh Quan
Creating a 3D model with textures is
good but it’s still not enough. To have
the best visual result, the model needs
to be rendered from a scene
containing lights, reflections, shadows,
special effects, etc...

There are 2 methods of rendering:


• non real-time rendering for film or
picture (see picture on the right)
• real-time rendering for video
games (see next slide)
Thank you for reading.

You might also like