Arcane University: 3D art

< Arcane University

AU Disciplines

Project Management

Writing

Concept Art

3D Art

Animation

Implementation

Level Design

Sound Effects

Music Composition

Voice Acting

The 3D Art department takes two-dimensional concept art—usually digital drawings—and uses them to create three-dimensional models to be placed in the game world. The 3d artist must also take into account any special requirements regarding pre-existing lore, and technical restrictions required by the animation and implementation teams.

General Workflow

With the concept art imported into the modelling software, blockout modeling starts. For the high-polywork flow, the 3D artist sculpts a high-poly mesh. They then bake the high-poly details into the normal map of a retopologized low-poly version of the mesh, and add textures to this low-poly model.

1. Blockout
2. Sculpting
3. Retopology
4. UV Unwrapping
5. Baking
6. Texturing

After this, the asset is passed to the Nif implementation team to be exported to NIF format. It is then given its physical properties such as collision and physics. It may then be rigged/skinned to bones and animated, if necessary. In some of the Partner Projects your work as a 3D artist finishes here, and an asset implementer takes over. However, in others, you are encouraged to implement your own asset. This is also what we recommend in the Arcane University, as it allows you to see and fix errors in your mesh and textures that's not visible until you see it in game.

Tutorials

General

• Start to Finish Game Asset (Video on Twitch) By Bartalon
• How to Model Anything in 3D - Modeling Fundamentals (Youtube) by FlippedNormals
• 6 key principles for 3D modeling (Youtube) by CG Cookie
• What is Texel Density and How to Master it (Youtube) by malcolm341
• What is Texture Padding and How to Master it (Youtube) by malcolm341
• UDIMs - Modelling and Texturing Essentials (Youtube) by FlippedNormals

Landscape

• Hiding Texture Seams with Blended Decals

Trees and Plants

• Flora Workflow
• Tree Animations
• Creating and Texturing Grass (video) by David Pynkoski (Beyond Skyrim)

Tilesets and Architecture

• Modularity in Creating 3D Game Environments (pdf) by Mike Bernstein
• Skyrim’s Modular Approach to Level Design by Joel Burgess (Bethesda)
• How We Used Iterative Level Design to Ship Skyrim and Fallout 3 (lecture video) by Joel Burgess (Bethesda)
• Fallout 4's Modular Level Design (lecture video) by Joel Burgess (Bethesda)
• How to Create Tilesets (lecture video) by Zix (Skywind)
• Snapping Tutorial (video) by Zix (Skywind)

LOD Objects

• LOD Model Creation
• Guideline for LOD model creation (forum thread) by Grumpycat (Skywind)

Rigging/Skinning

• Rigging with Blender 2.79
• Rigging in Outfit Studio

Basic software

As a 3D artist you have to use a variety of software and plugins to achieve the results you want. Below you'll find several alternatives within each category that are suitable for asset creation. You must have a 3D modeling, 3D baking and 3D texturing program in order to create your asset - this is your most basic programs in the unique 3D workflow.

3D software

Software	Free	Modeling	Sculpting	Texturing	Rigging	Skinning	Animation	Notes
3ds Max	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	The official nif export plugin only works for very old versions, but ck-cmd works with newer versions
Blender	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Receives very wide support due to being free and open source
Maya	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Maya is preferred as an animation software
Mudbox	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Substance Painter	Free with a student license	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Particularly good for texturing
xNormal	Yes	No	No	Normal maps only	No	No	No	Specialized software for creating normal maps
ZBrush	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
CrazyBump	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Specialized software for creating normal, occlusion, displacement, and specular maps
MindTex 2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

2D texturing program

These programs can be used to manually alter texture maps. These are not mandatory to download, but they are useful for editing textures by hand or combining maps.

• GIMP: Great free alternative to Photoshop
• Affinity: Not free
• Photoshop: Requires yearly subscription

Links

• How a Team of Modders Use Substance Painter to Recreate Skyrim article on Substance Painter blog by Hayden Price