Chico State Game Studios Modeling Weeklies
polycounter lvl 7
Hey all,
I am the Modeling Lead for Chico State Game Studios, a senior level course in the Computer Animation & Game Development (previously Applied Computer Graphics) program at California State University Chico that simulates a real-world studio environment comprised of about 40-50 students a semester spread across 1-2 projects which alternate phases of development each semester/year.
This semester a large majority of the team is new to modeling for games, the previous curriculum focused on modeling had a very large focus on CGI and very little on game asset creation. Though a new modeling course was introduced this semester to add in more game modeling curriculum and future courses are being planned out/developed, the problem still exists that Chico State Game Studios is sometimes a students first taste at modeling for games.
In order to help the modelers I lead this semester I am requiring them to post in this thread as their weeklies. Please feel free to critique and help out as you see fit.
The current project at Chico State Game Studios is titled Quantum Keeper: Patriots of the Past. This is the first time the studio has targeted console/pc as a main platform in a few years, with the previous focus being on mobile platforms. The setting of the game largely centers on the Revolutionary War with the art style being inspired by Dishonored, having a focus on somewhat stylized character facial features but more realistic environments.
A reminder to my team: Weeklies must be posted here by on Sunday at midnight every week.
I am the Modeling Lead for Chico State Game Studios, a senior level course in the Computer Animation & Game Development (previously Applied Computer Graphics) program at California State University Chico that simulates a real-world studio environment comprised of about 40-50 students a semester spread across 1-2 projects which alternate phases of development each semester/year.
This semester a large majority of the team is new to modeling for games, the previous curriculum focused on modeling had a very large focus on CGI and very little on game asset creation. Though a new modeling course was introduced this semester to add in more game modeling curriculum and future courses are being planned out/developed, the problem still exists that Chico State Game Studios is sometimes a students first taste at modeling for games.
In order to help the modelers I lead this semester I am requiring them to post in this thread as their weeklies. Please feel free to critique and help out as you see fit.
The current project at Chico State Game Studios is titled Quantum Keeper: Patriots of the Past. This is the first time the studio has targeted console/pc as a main platform in a few years, with the previous focus being on mobile platforms. The setting of the game largely centers on the Revolutionary War with the art style being inspired by Dishonored, having a focus on somewhat stylized character facial features but more realistic environments.
A reminder to my team: Weeklies must be posted here by on Sunday at midnight every week.
Replies
Ladder:
Texture:
The Substance Designer created texture is set up to adjust the amount of wear the wood has. The ladder is not using a sbsar. file, it is simply using bitmaps; the option is there.
I might have to go back and organize my graph...
The project I was assigned this week was to retopoligize a high poly sculpt and bake out a normal map for it. These were my results:
Low Poly:
907 Faces/ 1812 Tris
High Poly:
8 200 192 Faces/ 16 400 384 Tris
Topology:
Low Poly without Normal Map
Low Poly with Normal Map
For this week, I was assigned to create the ground texture for the game. I created albedo textures from these images in Photoshop as well as the normal map with Bimap2Material in 2k resolution.
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Hello, I am one of the least experienced of the group with only having been modeling for a little over a half a year now. The programs that I have been mainly using are Maya 2016 [moderate], Substance Painter[beginner] and now Zbrush[beginner].
My task was to create a set of realistic trees from the Philadelphia area. Do note that I've had absolutely no experience modeling a tree before. I looked up tutorial after tutorial for creating trees, and for the most part haven't been overly useful (mostly due to my lack experience/understanding).
Anyhow, I started with an Atlas Cedar. I used Zspheres in Zbrush in order to get the basic shape down.
I might have made it too complex? Not sure.
I then exported it to Maya. The poly count came out pretty high (as expected). So in order to lower the count, I used Maya's mesh reduction tool and semi fine-tuned it. With this, I lowered the count to 1257 faces (2514 tris). I have no clue on what the general poly count for a realistic tree in a game environment should be. The edge flow is off, so I'll be fixing that.
Here are the UV's I did. I know they aren't the best, however it's what I have at the moment.
And here's what it looks like with the checker pattern
That's how far I got with the base tree. I haven't went into Substance Painter yet to texture it.
After trying my had at creating a Atlas Cedar needle texture, I ended up changing to a Ginkgo tree (use the same base body). The Ginkgo tree had leaves instead of circular needle patterns. The main leaf I have been using for the leaves is this. I haven't gotten very far with this yet.
The main tutorial I've been following for the leaves is the Ultra-efficient tree texturing and modeling tutorial.
This is what I have from that tutorial so far. It's not to my liking at the moment.
Another one I want to follow, but not sure if it'll work with this tree, is the Modeling a tree crown tutorial. I've been checking out polycount wiki foliage page as well for other tutorials. One tutorial that seems to be very informative is the Evergreen Needles tutorial.
Thank you for your time!
Base Modular pieces:
Being that I am not paid for anything, and you are paid to lecture and help, I just don't really understand this at all. Are you not able to critique your own students?
The other website I frequent is gamdev.net, for programming related to games. On there anything that sounds like homework, they have a policy that they will not do programming homework for people. This thread is a step further and sounds like "do my job". If all you know is high poly CGI and not game stuff, I feel you should have prepared and stuck around here, observe ask questions to apply that to your students. From the website though, it looks like the college has been making games for years.
Critiquing this thread to me just feels like a job. If individuals wanted help, and ask for it vs a collective group. I feel like that is a class and a job of the class. I already see about 7 questions, are you going to post reply's to this thread. Are these questions just going to be asked tomorrow in class that it is a waste of time for anyone to post here? "I'm forcing my students to post here...in turn I'm forcing you to critique their work."
Just one person's opinion though.
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/adam-pawlowski/12/28a/2a5
No, I am a student. The entire studio is student run. I applied for the role of the modeling lead and got the position based on my resume and portfolio.
Who said I am not critiquing them? This is just their online weekly, they have another one during lab time that I run. I will also be posting here every week after their deadline for posting. Just like how I did previous semesters, only instead of being in a private forum it is now public.
I sent an email asking polycount if this was ok beforehand and it was approved as long as it stuck to a single thread. This has nothing to do with doing homework for anyone, it is about getting people used to coming to polycount as a resource and getting critiques for their art.
No one here is going to ask for any work to be done for them. Did anyone give you a model and tell you to fix it?
You're making way too many assumptions here. I never said I lack knowledge about being a game artist did I? In fact I have been doing it for many years, before I ever started at Chico State and have been the lead of this department for over a year now. I was giving those that want to critique some background info on where the students knowledge would be based on the current curriculum of the program.
Chico State Game Studios has been around for many years and has been for years student run. There is no instruction in the course, you get assigned a task based on your department, with deadlines and specifications just like a job, from other students.
Then don't critique here, no one is forcing you even though you seem to think I am. I've already answered your other questions up ahead.
Also you seem to be assuming that we give instruction. I give tasks and critiques.
The entire goal of making students post weeklies here is to expose them to the world of game art by jumping into the deep end. I've told students previous semesters to come here as a resource, and it would be great if they came here on their own but that isn't the way most college students work.
This thread has nothing to do with taking any workload off of me or the students, in fact it is giving both of us more work to do since the students have to have done enough work between their Thursday in lab weekly, and this one to show progress, and I must give critiques here as well as in lab. The faculty only really suggest that I do one a week in the labs, this online one is entirely my own doing.
There are no graded assignments in the course, just reviews every month based on their work and participation which then gets turned into a letter grade at the end of the semester based on how they adapt over the semester based on reviews.
The Breast for the female character is still making trouble for me because its very hard to get the natural flow of it down for me since i have never done female characters before. I have a side by side comparison in the image below hoping the one on the left is the changed while the one on the right is the original. If anyone has a better idea on how to model breast i would greatly appreciate the help since this is my first female character.
This is the shirt i have been working on since the concept shows that there is a pocket i have been using sculpting tools in Maya 2016 to change the form to better fit the body.
The fabric that covers the stomach and part of the breast had to be redone because as it was pointed out on another day it would be able to bend properly so i just used the quad draw tool to fix that issue.
Lastly this is the dress i made a few months back and i used cloth simulation to make it have that form. I want to redo it to make it better but i don't know anything that can make it look more natural or closer to the concept image
I still think having random works in progress thrown into a big thread, you might not get as much feedback as you want, but who knows really. Typically the threads on here are of single pieces, or a collective group of final pieces to critique. For instance, the previous character, the person doesn't seem to be having any issues or asking questions, so maybe if they waited till they were done, feedback can be given on proportions and similarities to the concept, when they actually are looking for feedback. If you get what I'm saying, just posting because it is Sunday, vs an actual need for feedback, might get better feedback.
Link to the album with color and normal maps: http://imgur.com/a/iCUpI
Here are some render shot taken in UE4:
Here is a link to the full album with the base color and normal maps:
http://imgur.com/a/alKE8
Here are the textures as they appear when tiled in a 2x2 grid in Maya:
These are some maps I made for some leafs I'm going to be using on a set of modular hedges I'm making. Seen here...
And the repeating texture I made for it here...
I've also made some High poly models that I will use the same process on for some other bushes.
I've also done some experimenting with vertex normals to create better blending between the alpha cards.
Any tips, advice, critiques are of course welcome, thanks!
Thanks for the concern. The weekend weeklies were originally created to serve a single purpose:
Make sure people actually are working and making progress.
Before I started doing a weekend online weekly I would watch as people from my team came into the labs the day before something was due and start working on it for the first time, only to tell me later that day that they weren't given enough time.
The reason I asked to move it over to the polycount forums is to get them on the forums at least once a week. Like I said before, I wish people would come here on their own but it just wasn't happening.
And another issue is if I waited for people to "need" feedback it would never come for some people. Many people would be more than happy to tell me every week that they're still working on it and act like they have no issues if they could. It also allows me to find issues ahead of time instead of wasting tons of hours working in a wrong direction.
Not every modeler I have had on my teams is like this, but at the end of the day if someone isn't pulling their weight on the team it is my fault as a lead. Sure they can fail the course and not receive units but they also mess up the pipeline and create a ton of stress and extra work for my team.
I have only been doing online weeklies for a semester now and already they have paid off in a HUGE way.
A close up view of my texture that I created in Substance Designer 5.
I am currently figuring out how to make a glass texture using Substance for the lamp's glass panels, but this is what I have now! (If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know!) Also currently working on the base and arm that will hold the lamp up.
Link to the album (includes the normal map) - http://imgur.com/a/iGtBR
I realized that i still don't like rigging all that much but i can still do it if need be since the auto rig script i was using wasn't working right for me at all so i had to make a very quick rig.
Here's my progress.
Tree #1 w/ Leaves (Ignore bark texture)
Tree #1 Mesh
Tree #2 w/ Leaves (Ignore Bark Texture)
Tree #2 Mesh:
Tree #3 Mesh:
Tree #1 redone texture so far:
What it was prior:
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I've also been assigned an additional task this week, creating outdoor tables from the revolutionary war era (think Assassins Creed 3). So far, I've created two different tables with 2-3 variations. I plan on creating a few more variations for each table over the next few days.
Here's my progress on the tables:
Texturing so far:
I made a few windows for the modular pieces, and their high poly versions. A set of stairs and platforms for buildings where also made, they are modular as well. The only missing part is the corner section of the platforms.
Achievements this week:
I was able to make the clothing items in Marvelous Designer, this was my first time using the program.
I also participated in the Game Jam on Friday and Saturday.
I made changes to the areas addressed in the weekly during class on Thursday as well.
The clothing still needs some more tweaking until I am content with it.. MD is a little picky.
This is what I have so far:
All models are UV'd and ready to be brought into substance painter, I will be posting textured captures tomorrow. Any advice, comments, or concerns are appreciated, as I would like to catch any potential problems before texturing begins. Thanks!
Update: Textures!
For the tables, I fiddled around with some built in textures, brushes and alphas. Ended up making multiple smart materials that worked out quite well for tables (many layers!).
Table #1: Short
Table #1: Tall
Table #2: Long
Table #2: Short
And here's an update on the tree texture. I went with the suggested tiled texture which worked out quite well. The tree's on the back burner right now due to a few reasons (one being software).
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My next task is to create street vender stalls/stands. They'll be designed for obtaining items from and/or being broken in order to create a distraction. So my plan of action will be to create multiple pieces of wood that can used to create any number of stands. And with multiple pieces of wood, it should be easier to 'break' the stand when required. One of the things I'll need to learn is how to create/deal with cloth/fabrics that are usually draped over the stalls during that time period. Will have to test things out!
This is what it looks like in Unity.
This is the sculpting I did in ZBrush. Still in progress of learning.
This was my last week project. I was to create some crates. I did a better version of it.
Here is a close up view on the textures.
This program has been fun, but it has its challenges. This is what i have been working on over the weekend. here is a picture of the concept if anyone can help me with making the pockets like its shown in the ima
Here's my work so far!
Vender Stand #1:
Textured:
I plan on adding a few supports along with changing the current supports. My reference were the venders in Assassins Creed III. Currently, they look too much like the ones in AC3 so I plan on changing it up to more of my personal taste. I'll also be adding a few pieces of cloth.
Mesh:
And here are a few extras for the venders area.
I'll post here again when I have them finalized!
I also created a modular canopy, where there are sections of two, one, or zero boards holding the cloth.
Progress with RedCoat:
I finished the sculpt and have been having some issues getting a somewhat detailed model into maya. After decimating it down to about 300k I was able to get it to open up. However, in Maya it has about 8 million which is workable. It just stalled me from starting the retopo. The .obj was still having issues opening.
My latest assignment was to make a park bench. Here is the low poly and the final textured product:
[EDIT: The wood texture was provided to me by Teroniz. It was decided that we use the same wood textures to add consistency between the variety of wooden objects in the game]
For the bottom image, I'm having a problem with
It looks too straight plus it doesn't have many offshoots for such a large crack. At the very least, it would be best to have a zig zag of a line rather than a straight-ish line. An example would be this. Notice how it's not straight, along with having larger chunks missing in places? I suggest to mimic that.
All in all, I am no rock expert and this is just my opinion!
Vender Stand #1
Mesh:
Texture:
Vender Stand #2
Mesh:
Texture:
Vender Side Table
Mesh:
Texture:
The reference I mainly used:
This week I've been continuing my studies with sculpting rocks, using a few new tools in ZBrush that have delivered markedly better results than my initial attempts (Primarily the TrimSmoothBorder brush, which seems to be a very popular tool for sculpting rocks.)
I've also been working with Maya and Mudbox to make low-poly versions of these rocks (With the high-poly versions baked on as normal maps) that can be used in a game environment. Each of these low-poly versions contains about 500~ tris each. There's still a lot of room for improvement (Namely in giving these rocks a more distinctive "feel" to them), but I feel that I am at least making progress.
I've also been working on a small texturing project as well that involves create a pile of hay. This was primarily done using Substance Painter.
Its still a little too low. I've been given 10k tris and its at about 6k.
These are some walls, the back can be brick or wood, the front sections are more for store fronts with windows.
These are just a few doors with no Hi-poly versions yet.
These are different windows with their Hi-poly version sitting in front of them.
This week I'm making a small flower pot. I decided to go with a sunflower (ultimately I hope to put around three flowers per pot, but we'll see!). They are currently separate objects because the flower might be able to be plucked by the main character. I'm still messing with the alpha cards, so at this point the flower is a work in progress. Here is the flower pot and flower:
My task this week was to create a tree to climb up and to get onto buildings. Again, used AC3 for reference. I've only spent time to zbrush it so far, will be re-topologizing and texturing it over the next few days.