Steps for making dota item
what are the steps for making a good dota 2 item? (I'm working with Maya,Zbrush,Photoshop and 3dcoat, and I'm open for suggestions for new softwares/things to do)
btw, what do I do after I have a high poly model?
How do I make the first model I made a high poly model?
And then how do I make it into a low poly model? (in Maya of course)
And why do I even transform my low poly model to high poly and then back to low poly?
btw, what do I do after I have a high poly model?
How do I make the first model I made a high poly model?
And then how do I make it into a low poly model? (in Maya of course)
And why do I even transform my low poly model to high poly and then back to low poly?
Replies
EDIT;
So low to high poly workflows are what you are going to to want to do. Starting with a base mesh (sort of optional), then bringing it into ZBrush MudBox or wherever you are going to be doing your sculpting, and then forming a LP from that is definitely the path you want to be on. I wouldn't personally make my LP in Maya, I would do it in 3dcoat, and build it custom there, I feel like that has way more control. Some artists like to use handplane as well.
The theory of HP->LP workflow is very simple. Game Engines will not run at optimal speed if everyone submitted X-million poly meshes. You transfer as much of the aesthetic detailing from the HP to the LP to achieve your "optimal result" which in reality will always be your HP. Dota is a different art style, that was forged from the blizzard style, which takes hints from the old school WarHammer stuff, with huge blocky painterly detailing, so even in reality, your HP shouldn't be getting down to tiercahary material definition.
The tutorial thread has a bunch of helpful hints to get you started, or feel free to join the google hangout to get a good grasp on what people are doing. Just keep an eye out, observe, and make some radical stuff.
you see this.
Check out the tutorial thread here, has tons of information to get you started, there are a few videos that answer all of your questions perfectly.
(oh and I'm modeling with Maya btw)
btw, what do I do after I have a high poly model?
How do I make the first model I made a high poly model?
And then how do I make it into a low poly model? (in Maya of course)
And why do I even transform my low poly model to high poly and then back to low poly?
This is a good guide on how to make an dota 2 item .
The questions u asked tho, show that you need to learn the basics first ;
google-search tutorials or just use the help files of said software
I'm reading and watching everything you sent me right now, but can you please tell me a straight answer for these questions? (the guides are not directly 100% helping)
what do I do after I have a high poly model?
How do I make the first model I made a high poly model?
And then how do I make it into a low poly model? (in Maya of course)
And why do I even transform my low poly model to high poly and then back to low poly?
If I bake with xNormal, it turns high poly into low poly? how does it happen? baking isn't about the texture and not about the poly count?
(please answer these question directly
You create the high poly so that you can create the details, and bake them onto the texture of the low poly, so you can fit within the constraints of the game.
So after I make a high poly model I just bake it and put textures on it and it's ready to be sent to the workshop?
Without even retopology it?
You sure you have been watching the tutorials?
Retopology is the creation of a similar, but more efficient model (low poly) and baking is the process of projecting angle/light/colour information from the high poly mesh to the low poly mesh.
No one really wants to answer your questions on by one because all the information is there. If you had more complicated questions that couldn't be answered with some cursory google searches or reading/watching some tutorials I'm sure you would get more specific answers.
Basically you need a really nice version of your model made from as many polygons as you like (generally hundreds of thousands or more). This can be done in traditional modeling software or sculpting software. How you do it is irrelevant.
You then need a mesh that will be used in game. IT has a very specific triangle count limit. You then unwrap this model and bake the information from your high poly to it. Then you paint the textures and define the shader masks and rig it to the existing bone structures.
That is basically the process.
ty, I just couldn't understand what baking and retopo are exactly used for and when they're used, and what do you mean buy uwraping the model?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping
Polycount wiki will have the answers to all of your questions
http://wiki.polycount.com/
Rather than asking a lot of questions you could answer yourself, maybe try and make something following one of the tutorials out there and see where you get to.
***
High Poly 'sculpt'. This model can be 100,000's of polys. You bake IT'S detail onto the LOW POLY in game model.
It has tons of details and looks really sweet, but the game can not handle it. Little cracks, chips, fabric texture, grain, whatever.
That is used to bake the lightmaps (shadowing/highlights) and the normal map (bumps) so that the low poly model in game looks really cool.
It is NEVER used in game, simply a way to make really nice looking textures. (it's the 'new handpainting')
*** 2 low poly models.
Lod0 (level of detail 0 ) is the highest poly model the game can use. It is used for the menus and the hero's portrait in game (the portrait is the picture of it's head in the Hud). It's also used in Hero Cam (zoomed in)
(this is NOT required, but makes your model look better sometimes)
Lod1 is the main in game model. That's the one you always see in regular camera mode.
Has the least amount of polys because it is so small in game. Only needs silhouette and the details from the high poly bake.
(This IS required. It's the main in game model.)
***
Textures. Every model needs 4.
Diffuse (color with shading), normal (bumps from the high details), and 2 masks. The masks are multi layered and are used for specular, glow, etc..
(these ARE required, even if the masks channels are all black (1 pixel of white in alphas) they are still required and you cannot upload without them)
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This page has everything really that you need to get IN GAME. It doesn't cover modelling, the texture pdf is pretty good, wont teach you to bake but it tells you what you need and how to put the textures together.)
http://www.dota2.com/workshop/requirements
That's a list of heros, choose one and it'll show you your poly count limits and texture sizes for each piece. They are very strict, you can not go larger.
Top of page has links to everything you need, texture creation and whatnot. Valve released some great documents.
after your lod's and textures are done you need to rig your model to the required bones (hero pages have downloads of skeletal files).
Then and only then can you upload to the workshop and test it out. Get in game pics, etc... make promotional materials and then finally upload your finished highly polished kick ass stuff to the workshop and try to get votes and hope the community and more importantly Valve loves them.
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unwrapping is when you flatten out the model for textureing. (You flatten the UV coordinates, not the actual model).
And then I retopo the model, and put the textures on it and it's basically ready for the big workshop world?
Retopo it so it becomes a low poly model which fits the requirement,
Unwrap low poly
Bake the maps
Create textures/masks from the map
Test and repeat until you think you are finished
Where to put the light source/s?
will I already have the shading and highlights?
And should I retopo it with Topogun?
(I know that I have shit tons of questions but I want to know exactly what I'm doing xD)
Where to put the light source/s?
will I already have the shading and highlights?
And should I retopo it with Topogun?
(I know that I have shit tons of questions but I want to know exactly what I'm doing xD)
You can retopo with any tool you wish.
Please read this...
http://media.steampowered.com/apps/dota2/workshop/Dota2CharacterTextureGuide.pdf
Dude, please stop saying this I READ THEM ALL..
Now can you please answer?
If you really did read them all and still can't work it out, look at the videos and just look what people are doing. It's all there.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123800
You're even more retarded than me, after I asked few times for straight explanation + I said that I work with Maya, and all those guides are not helping me you're still sending me the same things.
MDK, please, just don't answer
Use the programs you like to use.
It doesn't matter which you use, you just need the end result.
Is is that hard to understand?
I'm having a really hard time telling if you're genuinely looking for help or just joking around, specially with this post.
Don't expect things to just fall on your lap, go search and read tutorials, guides and everything. No one here is supposed to hold your hands and teach you all you need to know about 3D in general, when it looks like you have very little knowledge about a lot of stuff.
This is a really good way to show appreciation! I'm glad people who are looking to learn treat others with such respect.
You have enough information. Watch the tutorial thread or make an item. There' has been enough information here, and enough artists have wasted their time.
The second post told you what you should do, so let me re-iterate.
Have fun, when you post an Item I'll be more then happy to give you constructive feedback. Until then, do work and learn.
Well the thing that I can say to you is that already read everything you sent me like more than twice..
Dude, your attitude is awesome and I keep I'll be able to have great attitude as yours
For everyone else including you I'd just say thank you very much, you really helped me to understand more than few things
My English is pretty damn shitty so alot of explanations didn't help as they would have helped me if my English would have been better.
And Sapolini, you acting really disgusting, that's a shitty way to treat a beginner who is having really tough times in understanding things.
It's not only that you're not helping and telling other people to treat me worse than they did, you're insulting me as a person, it pretty hurts when people like you type things like that, I thought that you, an artist would understand that there are people right there that are actually reading the shit that you write about them, their art or any other thing and they can actually get hurt.
Again, sorry for my shitty English and asshole behavior for the ones who weren't real dicks to me.
Have a good night
Shtreimel, people have provided a lot of great resources and tutorials for you that if you follow along with them, you should be able to get a good grasp on the process. If you have any specific questions of things not directly covered you should feel free to ask for clarification here, but simply asking the same general questions repeatedly when they have been answered is not going to do you any favors, hence why others' frustration as it seems you are not even attempting to learn from the shared materials.
As you progress and learn you are welcome to seek feedback and help but at the very least show some effort on your part (and some pictures of your models! we can help easier that way) for people to feel justified in helping you and that you aren't just trolling.