Clint (aka "pfunked") here to answer questions
Hey 3D modelers!
I just wanted to drop a note letting you all know that I'm available to answer questions.
I've been doing 3D modeling since about 2002, right around the time when the campaign to buy Blender from the shareholders was going on. (I was a poor college student at the time but I got to pitch in a couple bucks!)
I'm a programmer by trade, so I approach art from a very left-brain perspective. Just like software is broken down into the atomic lines of code, 3D objects can be broken down into vertices, edges, polygons.
I specialize in low-poly 3D modeling, so I'm happy to answer beginner questions most related to gaming (box modeling, UV mapping, simple rigging and animations, baking and normal maps). Also, if you have questions about Blender in particular I'm happy to answer them.
Hi Clint,
I'm currently working on your goblin with blender 2.49, I have a few questions :
- Your models are untextured, but vertices have a colour : is it possible to generate a texture from the vertices colour ?
- What method should I use to unwarp UV ? (for the moment I use smart projection)
- Is there other tools for painting than the brush ? Can I fill a face with a color ?
Tartos,
- It's possible to generate a texture from the facet colors with Baking. First the model needs to be UV unwrapped. Looks like I didn't unwrap the Goblin, but it's not hard to do. You also need to create a new image for the baking (in UV/Image view, select all faces and Image -> New). Bake options are found near the Render buttons.
- I mark seams in the model and then do mostly smart projection. To mark seams, select the edges you want as a seam and Ctrl + E for the Edge Specials menu. These seams define the "islands" created when doing smart projection. Think of it like seams in clothing: if you unstitched those seams and flattened the material, that's what my style of UV mapping is like.
- You could create new procedural materials (with color/texture) and assign them to specific faces. Then bake. Or, if you want to do painting, you can export the UV layout and do your painting in GIMP.
Thanks for the replies, the models looks much nicer now :).
I have another question : when I load the goblin or the zombie, I have problems with the height of theses models : when it walks feets are bellow the ground but when it dies the height is ok. I saw the scale of the armature was not 1.0 for thoose models, how can I change this without altering the mesh ?
When I made these I didn't realize how important armature/model scale was.
In Blender you can Apply Scale/Rotation to Object Data -- that will keep the current size but reset the "scale" to 1.0. However this tends to mess up any existing animations.
I am using the Housemodel.blend, I need it exported into .x format. Here is the problem. In my engine this model does not have a subset for the texture when exported to .x in 2.49b. I am new to texturing so if you know what functions in blender set multiple textures. The model has a texture already and I am not sure if I need to link the object to the texture and that makes a subset or not but. The models called, Tools, (has a spade and pitch fork) and the model called mage tower, strawhouse, are all set correctly and input nicely. Shedding light on this for me will be extremly helpfull. Thank you very much.
www.tkodo.com
I'm not sure what "subset for the texture" means... is this an .x thing? Or something particular to your engine?
It's a texture slot in my engine there called subsets. Slots to place texture files.
www.tkodo.com
Greetings. I'm trying to understand some best or preferred practices when creating game models. Specifically;
1.) Generally speaking, or specifically to your game, what is an appropriate poly count (average or min & max)?
2.) Is manifold mesh preferred in games or doesn't it matter (I assume it is preferred, but doesn't matter)?
Now I understand it may vary based on game engine and other such things, but I'm just looking for some basics. I've been exploring, but if I make a bunch of models for practice I'd prefer them not to be trash just because I didn't know something.
Anyways, thanks for taking the time to respond.
^^^^ Me above, sorry for not registering first.
Gallery | Web | Models | Game Models
Greetings Quandtum!
Current-generation consoles probably spend about 5k to 10k poly for main characters -- less if you have dozens/hundreds of characters on screen simultaneously, and maybe much more if you only have a few characters on screen at once. Often a much higher poly model is made (1M+ poly) with subdivision and sculpting, and the detail is baked onto the Normal Map of a lower poly model. Of course, some games swap in a lower-poly model when that object is viewed at a distance.
Depending on the game, though, you can accomplish quite a lot with far fewer polygons. In my game I use 2D renders of the 3D models so poly-count isn't an issue, but generally I make low poly models (about 1k-2k).
Manifold meshes are preferred but not required. Sometimes just for performance reasons you might not worry about the extra polys spent on making it perfectly manifold. I'm sure some things (e.g. animated/dynamic cloth) are easier to work with if they're one-sided and not manifold. The exception to all of this: if you're doing a very specific type of game that requires physics to interact with your mesh.
Hope this helps!
It does very much, thank you!
Gallery | Web | Models | Game Models