Tips and Tricks for Modeling for Next-Gen

Games There are many different ways to generate final normal

maps for low-poly models, and knowing when to use certain techniques to achieve the best possible results is essential.

While these tips are presented within the example of the Epic art pipeline, they can be easily applied to similar packages and production environments.

Pete Hayes - Artist, Epic Games Inc. Previous to joining Epic, worked as a multimedia

specialist in the corporate industry and a 3D modeling instructor at the Art Institute of Dallas.

Worked on UNREAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2, primarily in creating high-poly pre-rendered matte paintings.

He was co-speaker of the Art Content Creation for the Next Generation Unreal Engine track at GDC 2005.

Currently a weapon/vehicle/mech modeler for Epic Games on their Xbox 360 title GEARS OF WAR.

Presentation Overview Basic familiarity or some with some/all of the programs

covered. Existing knowledge of normal maps and creating 3D assets for next-gen games.

General Practices – Work smart, coordinate, & ends justify the means.

3ds Max – Techniques, modifiers, & scripts/plugins.

Zbrush - Techniques, asset libraries, & tools.

Lowpoly/Processing – Lowpoly, unwrapping, & processing.

PhotoShop - Techniques, asset libraries, & tools.

Thanks Everybody on the Gears Team and everybody at Epic

Games. The following contributed directly to the WIP images used in this presentation:

Jerry O'Flaherty – Art Director Chris Perna – Lead Artist Jay Hawkins - Concept Artist Maury Mountain – Texture Artist Mike Buck – Texture Artist

DISCLAIMER: The images used in this presentation are WIP images that I or the above artists produced for weekly art meetings and DO NOT represent final Gears of War art assets. All images are for internal demo purposes only and are not intended for public release. All images are copyright Epic Games 2006.

General Practices - Work Smart

Too Much/Not Enough: Always keep in mind poly/map/physical size. Low poly count & smaller map size = bolder & more simple.

Streamline Interface: Always hotkey or create custom menus, quads, etc.

Mike Buck Skin

General Practices - Work Smart

Digital Kitbash: Create asset libraries of pipes, bolts, fasteners techno greeble, alphas, tools, etc.

Sharing is Caring: Don’t feel you have any ownership over your models or techniques, share everything for the greater good!

Right Package: Always choose the right tool for the job to maximize productivity.

General Practices - Coordinate

Art Director, Lead & Concept Artist: Keep everybody in the process updated, make sure you are always on track.

General Practices - Coordinate Jay Hawkins

General Practices - Coordinate

Animators: Double check sizing, placement, moving parts, etc.

Texture Artist: keep in close contact with whoever is going to skin your model.

General Practices – Ends Justify Means Not Hi Poly: You are not making a model for rendering

… you are simply modeling a detail map for a low poly.

Modify in Post: Keep in mind how much can be added/fixed in post.

Chris Perna Skin

General Practices – Ends Justify Means Your Process: It’s all about capitalizing on each artists

strength and what pipeline and tools is best for the project.

Chris Perna/Maury Mountain Skin

General Practices – Ends Justify Means

General Practices – Ends Justify Means

General Practices – Ends Justify Means

Chris Perna Skin

General Practices – Ends Justify Means

Chris Perna Skin

3ds Max - Techniques

Float Geometry: Cuts, holes, insets and other superficial detail can be floated.

Paper Clips & Duct Tape: Model in chunks, slap stuff together, countersink meshes, etc.

Smooth Edges: Make sure everything in your hi poly has smooth edges.

3ds Max - Techniques

Exaggerate: Exaggerate details, make things a bit larger and more defined than what they would typically be.

Work in Stages: Try to get the entire model roughed in first then go back and make detail passes.

3ds Max - Techniques

Organization: Use layers logically to group large chunks of your model.

Instance Objects: Instance and mirror as many objects as possible. 

Smooth on Render: Smooth on render only, display as box.

3ds Max - Modifiers

Shell: Create metal plating & other hard surfaced objects.

FFD: Excellent for molding things into shape, fitting parts together, keeping objects smooth, etc.

Symmetry: Great for mirroring halves of models, can generate unusual shapes if stacked.

3ds Max - Modifiers

Bevel/Extrude: Create base shapes with splines then beveling/extrude to create mass.

TurboSmooth: Render only if you aren't working on the shape, don't over smooth if not necessary.

3ds Max - Modifiers

Mike Buck Skin

3ds Max – Scripts/Plugins

PolyBoost: www.polyboost.com - A collection of scripts that expands your modeling functionality in Max.

PolyCruncher: - www.mootools.com - Essential if you need to bring your zbrush meshes into max for processing.

3ds Max – Scripts/Plugins

Advanced Painter: Great for “painting” on bolts & greebly bits.

Additional Scripts: www.scriptspot.com - Max scripts. Align to face is great for fine tuning placement.

Zbrush - Techniques

Organic Strengths: Focus on using Zbrush for it's main strengths.

Avoid Silliness: Don’t get too carried away and add wasted detail.

Zbrush - Techniques

Exaggerate: Overmodel crevices, dents, organic elements, etc. to make sure they pop on the normal map.

Normal Material: Hand paint directly over photo reference then use the normal material to export.

Polygroups: Always use polygroups and keep them under 500k if you are going to export.

Zbrush – Asset Libraries

Alphas: Create stock alphas, rock, wrinkles, wood, dents, scratches, etc.

Models: Store a multitude of base models at various stages of detailing.

Zbrush – Tools

Zmapper: If it’s a 100% organic piece then process normal in Zbrush.

Layer Shift: Great for creating tile able normal maps.

Mike Buck Tutorial Excerpt

LowPoly/Processing – Lowpoly

Lowpoly is King: Always modify the hi poly to fit low poly needs, make sure your low is structurally solid and clean.

Model Over: The closer the low poly matches the hi poly the cleaner process you will get.

LowPoly/Processing – Lowpoly

Smooth Lowpoly: The fewer number of smoothing groups the better.

Modify Post Process: Path deform, optimize, tweak the proportions subtly, etc. (as long as you don't disturb the unwrap boundaries).

LowPoly/Processing – Unwrapping Organization: Maximize texture space as possible but

not at the expense of logical organization.

Fewer/larger: Fewer/larger chunks, even if it means subtle stretching, always consider texturing.

Keep Clean: Even though normal maps can compensate for small anomalies in the unwrap get it as tight as possible for best results.

LowPoly/Processing – Processing Render to Texture in Max: Create base material

libraries in Max and apply to hi poly before processing to generate additional maps.

LowPoly/Processing – Processing Explode Objects: Break apart major components

and/or animated components so they can process individually.

Mirroring Issues: There are a lot of ways to deal with mirroring issues and it’s dependent on the type of game asset, engine used, processing application, etc.

PhotoShop – Techniques

Normal Map Filter: Use to create normal maps from photo source or hand painted images.

Rubber Stamp/Healing Brush: Clean up processing glitches easily.

Actions: Creating an action library is helpful for all sorts of utility manipulation of normals.

PhotoShop – Techniques Normal Overlays: Add additional non-modeled

details.

Mike Buck Original Skin Chris Perna Interior Detail

PhotoShop – Asset Libraries

Easy Minor Details: Dents, scratches, skin pores, bolts, etc.: can be layered onto existing normal maps.

Brushes: Custom brushes can speed up the process of modifying you normal maps.

Summary Love Pushin Polys – Log serious hours and everything

comes together and each model gets better, faster, cleaner!