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Game Asset Generator Addon

polycounter lvl 7
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Linko polycounter lvl 7
I have made a tool able to generate a game asset and a good quality texture in 5 minutes. Discover how it works in this video:



You can get it here it is completely free to use: http://linko.projects.free.fr/dblender.zip

Official topic: http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?383624-Dark-Blender-(Official-Thread)-optimized-for-sculpting-and-game-asset-creation

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?utm_source=twitter&u=3305044&utm_medium=social&ty=h&utm_campaign=creatorshare

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  • Meloncov
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    Meloncov greentooth
    From what I've seen, Dark Blender is a cool tool, but you're doing it a disservice by overselling it like that. It'll get you some decent base textures to use as a starting point in five minutes, not "Blizzard quality" textures.
  • fdfxd2
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    fdfxd2 interpolator
    Meloncov said:
    From what I've seen, Dark Blender is a cool tool, but you're doing it a disservice by overselling it like that. It'll get you some decent base textures to use as a starting point in five minutes, not "Blizzard quality" textures.
    wat you racist against blender users?

    Just kidding,

    Well no shit it doesn't generate blizzard quality textures, because from what I can gather the textures are either made with quixel suite or are hand painted

    But I see your point,

    come on linko these are lines I'd expect from Andrew Price with his "next gen" textures
    not you.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    You'll get much, much more interest if you simply presented the various tools involved in a simple manner as well as making them available as individual addons/scripts - as opposed to what seems to be a full custom install.

    Put differently: it seems like this relies on decimation, automatic UVs, and a clever node setup for cycles baking. If you were to make a Gumroad video explaining exactly that, you'll get many more views and donations than with an obscure "DarkBlender" product.
  • jfitch
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    jfitch polycounter lvl 5
    Could see this /maybe/ working for a hard surface piece but the generated topo is pretty much garbage. Did you at any point say that the model is Marc Brunets? (I didn't have speakers plugged in). 
  • armagon
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    armagon polycounter lvl 11
    I don't get the excessive criticism and attitude here. Is it just because it was written on top of free and open-source software? Is it just because it's not yet another tool by Autodesk? :-1:
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    @Armagon: not at all. Imagine that you are a Blender user, with a very carefully setup UI and set of custom hotkeys. What would you prefer:

    1 - adding a few more clever scripts/addons/node setups to enhance your existing workflow, or
    2 - replacing your whole setup (UI, hotkeys, and probably a few other things that I am forgetting) by something completely different, just for the sake of a few addons/scripts/node setups that could have been bundled individually.

    This is not an "attitude", this is just advice for Linko to make his offering much more clear and accessible to potential users. :+1:


  • armagon
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    armagon polycounter lvl 11
    Well, for beginner artists like me, the bundled setup is great. It's easy to follow, and to know exactly where to go. But i agree with you: maybe two separate offerings could be made. A bundled one and a modular one.
  • Linko
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    Linko polycounter lvl 7
    Thank you all for you answers.

    I can't make a custom installation because i need to integrate shaders. images and node setup to make my scripts working. But i have kept the default Blender interface, i have only changed the starting mesh but you can set a cube and the shortcut haven't been changed (new shortcuts must be imported in the user preferences) to allow you to customize the UI as you want.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Hi there @Linko -

    I have to say I am genuinely confused now ...

    If this is not a custom install (or shall I say a custom .exe since the program does not require an install in the first place), and if this does not bring in custom preferences ... then, what is it ?

    You mention that you made a tool. What kind of tool is it, is it an add-on ? A python script ? Or maybe a pre-made Cycles node network for baking ? Or is it a custom .blend scene with everything setup and ready to go ? Please explain.
  • Linko
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    Linko polycounter lvl 7
    It is several python scripts that execute the tools that already exists saved inside the .blend as text file. And the compositor include a node setup to generate a grayscale from the baked maps. The script does an Union boolean to create an envelop of the mesh and remove every intersections this way you get the most details possible for the polycount entered and no waste of UV space. It does the decimation for the low poly, it cuts the model by half to unfold half of the model (can be avoided by moving the mesh in +X), it bakes every maps at once, it save them in a folder, it composite the maps in the node setup i have created to generate a grayscale ready to be painted. The map is easy to tweak i have documented the compositor to change the top lighting, add sky lighting, metallic effect, etc. And it include +70 gradients that i have calibrated with the grayscale with color picked from real world materials. To bake the maps it uses Cycles, that allow to get a better result than XNormal (unbiased AO) and GPU. But i have tweaked the AO with an RGB curve to get the same contrast as XNormal to meant the industry standard and tweaked the Bent normal to make it compatible with Subtance and Quixel because by Blender's viewport is in XZY.
    And it include a huge node setup called Auto Gradient, this node take in input a color and convert it into a gradient. The blue color will be converted into a water gradient, etc. You must pick the exact same color as the colors provided in the gradient ID texture.
    It automates all the step that you do to get your game asset: the retopology, uv mapping, map baking, compositing in photoshop and gradient painting. And also it import directly every maps and create a map setup so you don't have to import in marmoset your textures.
    There is other python scripts, this video cover some other tools, for example you can create a mesh from your concept art, use the orb cracks brush provided, the stencils, etc.

  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Now that's interesting !

    My advice would be to present each tool separately, with a VERY concise, narrated video for each (that means no dubstep !). If you present all that very clearly I am sure you will gather a lot of interest.

    Put differently: you cannot really expect people to want to try your tool if all you provide is a download link, no documentation, and barely watchable half hour videos. You clearly put a lot of effort into this, now you just need to work on your delivery.

    Lastly, the name itself is bound to always create confusion. "Dark Blender" ? No idea what that is. "Linko Blender baking tools", now that makes sense. Now of course that's just an example, you can call it whatever you want, it's all up to you.
  • Mant1k0re
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    Mant1k0re polycounter lvl 8
    +1, I'm half convinced I want to try it but the video isn't doing a great job selling it. Miauu's script packs presentation videos may not be the best in terms of sexiness but I think it shows what Pior means, each script is presented starting from the problem it is trying to solve and then proceeds to show various use cases. Maybe you should be looking at it for inspiration :)
  • Linko
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    Linko polycounter lvl 7
    Hi, thank you for your feedback.
    I am making a standalone addon that will work in any version of Blender with an accessible user interface.
    I have improved the quality of the grayscale, the speed and fixed bugs. The addon will create the nodes and shaders to generate the game asset you'll have nothing to do.
    You set the polycount of each LoD, you click on generate and done, your asset is ready to be painted.


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