When starting a new project in whatever software you choose it is always best to start from the new project folder in preparation for game ready asset creation.
• New Project Folder Why?
Starting from this folder will always give you a basis to come back to if any mistakes are made, you can create any name you wish for your asset and using default settings then save. This then can be found under Maya Autodesk default settings in project folder.
• Transport
Once this has been achieved you are then ready to begin your workflow in your work area on the creation of your game ready asset.
This folder can then be placed anywhere on your work area.
• The workstation
Upon entering my work area in preparation to start. I import my image of my door for the first time.
You are presented with four options of where to place your image.
• Perspective View
• Top View
• Front View
• Side View
Most of your work time will be spent in one of four views.
I always choose the front view as this gives me the best placing four my image.
• Setting up an Image
An image can be set on your image plane in placement and placement extras found within the attributes editor.
This can then be set to the size you need, for your project. This allows you to set up your image in the (X.Y.Z) axis of your work area. At this point I am ready to start my workflow in creation of my door.
Then I create my reference.
• Starting Workflow
Before starting my workflow I always created new shelf this allows me to access my tools more efficiently and quickly it depends on what project I’m doing.
Most common used tools are freeze transforms and delete by type history, these are two of the first tools I use on my new shelf in my work area.
· Setting up an Image
· Shelf
· Demographical drawing
I made my demographical drawing in sketch builder from Maya Autodesk using the application tools found within the programme.
The drawing its self was made in two parts the outer mainframe and the inner door which fits perfectly within its form.
The frame itself consists of 283 vertices each vertices fits on the corner of a polygon, polygon has four sides like a cube base but occupies a flat space which means it has no thickness to give a polygon thickness extrude the face this would then have six sides which means it would then have eight vertices, every time faces extruded the vertices go up by four.
My door frame has 563 edges and there are four edges to a polygon it also has 438 UV is and 558 potential tris.
A tris can only be achieved if a polygon flat plain is split from corner to corner this will then give two triangle polygons.
Trying to keep my door as simple as possible this would still make for a good game asset but less complicated to transport as a (DAX) file,
A (DAX) file is used to transport between programs it's primarily used by game engines this would be (UDK) or (Unit) this is a very similar game engine.
There are 13 full cubes to my door frame and several extruded faces to make up a very simple door frame.
• Work Area
I always start my projects with, create polygon tool, this gives the best control on the size of my polygons in reference to my demographical drawing of my door.
This tool can be found in your workstation under mesh.
This tool allows me to create large sections of polygons in one go and allows you to create any shape you wish within the work area and gives you more control.
• Retopology
There are several different software packages to do meet apology there would be 3-D cast Maya Autodesk, also my favourite set brush when you start Retopology on your model your model within Zbrush you need to load your hi Poly model first then you need to create csphere this will appear on canvass in your work area.
Next you need to activate your tools pallet also picking adaptive skin topology pallet also projection pallet.
Next you will select the rigging pallet first then your hi poly model in your work area once this is done you can then deactivate the rigging pallet then you are ready to click the edit Retopology button then begin laying down vertices.
The more vertices you add the better details, which will be transferred to the low topology version of your model.
With this done you might want to go to your transform pallet then activate symmetry in X.
• UV Mapping
I laid out my UVs in the texture editor I then assigned the chequered pattern to the geometry of my doors UVs.
I did this in order to better see what is going on with my door.
When unfolding the UVs, it is recommended to use a repetitive pattern to best to see how to cope with the new UVs. I assigned a new lambert shader to the doors geometry and changing the texture resolution to (256 x 256). At this point I saved my workflow in preparation for cutting the UVs.
In order for the UVs, to be properly unfolded I first cut the UVs, in to shells, which will define the different parts of my door to be textured.
UV shells should be cut and unfolded so that they can lie flat without overlapping.
On highlighting my border edges and cutting the different parts of my shell you then have to stitch it back together, as the different parts are being stitched you must be careful when unfolding not to go over the border edge anything within the border can be unfolded safely and it will unfold inwards.
Going outside the border edge to unfold, it will make it unfold outwards this will distort the doors geometry.
After stitching the inner border edges together I then take a snap shot in the o to 1 plane in the most efficient way for my doors geometry.
Then exporting my UVs at a resolution of 1024.
• The Colour Process
Painting in Photoshop to give my UVs colour and texture, then laying an ambient occlusion on the top.
This map was rendered using a custom shader node from mentalray, to give it shadow and depth, made in Maya Autodesk through the hypershade baking the texture to my geometry surface, then saving the texture at 2048 resolution gave me some nice detail for my UVs.
I was quite surprised to learn how many different techniques can be used for texturing.
Simple yet looks so complex when it is put altogether with all the techniques of Photoshop to UV mapping.
Next I used several translucent layers to build up the dirt rather than painting it straight onto the colour texture this gave it a more of a real look of battered metal, then added a chipped paint texture.
I use the same techniques on the door UVs, to give a rich texture.
Texturing can be done in several different ways you can use real high resolution photographs to apply a texture, but I wanted to give my door the more personal touch by painting by hand using pastoral colours
Putting all the maps together gave me a good finish on my door.
An important task for successful texturing is the creation of a texture library this holds true for professionals as well as independent students.
If I had chosen photographs as my textures I would best avoid a strong light within my scene.
So for my texture library, it’s created in Photoshop I use this as the basis for my texture.
So I keep all my painted textures at the highest resolution I can get.
Which then makes it easy enough to scale down to fit my geometry of my model? Adding a texture Blair to my painted affects makes it looks more real.
However using the painting texture tubes in Maya Autodesk is just as effective. But I get more control of my textures in Photoshop this suits me best.
Redefining and adding variables to my door.
• Painting
• Lighting
• Colour theory and application
• Anatomy
• Set design
• Shape and form
• Light and shadow
• Texture
• Shape (2D) and Form (3D)
Form is three-dimensional (height, width, and depth) and includes simple objects like spheres, cubes, and pyramids for example, You will see that as a texture artist you are creating art on flat shapes, that are later placed on the surfaces of forms. An example can be seen in a common prop in many computer games.
When a shape is cut into a base material in Photoshop and some highlights and shadows are added, the illusion of form is created. A texture can be created rather quickly using this method.
· UDK Screenshot
My door is now a game ready asset and there is a lot still to learn about UDK transporting maps plugging them into the right coordinates so they appear on your door within the games workspace.
A UDK is a solid piece of technological; I’m still trying to learn as much as I can.
· UDK Engine
The Start:
I started my process for my door with a simple box which I set out and mapped in Maya Autodesk.
Making sure I could get precise coordinates when doing my door, this also gave me time to think about the process of how I was going to achieve the look for my door that I wanted so in making the simple box it gave me a few good ideas watching the film aliens, this gave me the perfect setup for what I wanted in my door.
Those darks appealing feel that there was something sinister behind the door. To keep away from a to complex door, thinking of the time factor of a door that would look stunning under the right lighting and mapping conditions as they tell you in most of my Autodesk books setting the lighting is crucial it can make a bad door look good and vice versa.
preparation and setting out a good solid workflow for my door so this is why I did a normal box first to try and make some good lighting or to make a simple box look stunning in a plain environment while following a few basic rules which I applied within my workflow.
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