Character Modelling Pipeline research
Hi,
I'm gathering research for my University FYP about the character modelling pipeline and would like to find out the variations of how people create a character.
I was hoping you could tell me what your own pipeline is for creating a 3D character, for example do you create a base mesh before sculpting the high poly? Do you always create the high poly in Zbrush or do you Sub D in your chosen modelling software? What are your personal choices of software for each stage?
I would really appreciate it if i could find out a few modeller's pipelines, i'm not expecting huge paragraphs but as much information as possible would be great.
I'm gathering research for my University FYP about the character modelling pipeline and would like to find out the variations of how people create a character.
I was hoping you could tell me what your own pipeline is for creating a 3D character, for example do you create a base mesh before sculpting the high poly? Do you always create the high poly in Zbrush or do you Sub D in your chosen modelling software? What are your personal choices of software for each stage?
I would really appreciate it if i could find out a few modeller's pipelines, i'm not expecting huge paragraphs but as much information as possible would be great.
Replies
- blockout in zbrush from an existing basemesh
- find out what pieces need to be modeled separately in 3ds max.
- clean up all the sculpting work
- Decimate everything
- assign polypainted colors to different materialtypes.
- export HP meshes (amount depends on whats the best for baking)
- retop in 3d coat for sculpted things and meshes that need to be embedded in one mesh.
- copy and reduce polygon count of separately modeled pieces from 3ds max inside 3ds max
- Bake using Xnormal , Normal , AO and vertex colors (polypainted mask)
- texture in photoshop and judge in 3ds max using xoliul shader
- put ingame and see how it works
in the meantime show some of the steps to the art director and animator for feedback
shit, they're on to me
I used to do a lot of the rigging of my characters early in my career but I do none now.
While it's always beneficial to have more skills and it does help you better understand the needs/expectations of others in your team I doubt any studio would expect this.
Generally all rigging is in the hands of a Technical Rigger/Artist.
Funnily enough Torch, that question has really helped me as once i'm finished with this project, i'm thinking of changing my focus to rigging.
Sort of a follow on question from Torch, how much of the pipeline is done just by the modeller (in an industry pipeline)? For example, who unwraps the mesh? Who is responsible for baking the normal map?
The character artist creates any mesh (high and low), UV unwraps, bake normals and create textures.
Some studios might have a separate texture artist but I've never encountered it.
If they are lucky they might get an animator that can rig and a modeler that can animate but trying to find someone who can do it all is like asking to find someone who can write their own play, build their own sets and star in it while selling tickets at the same time...
For most character artists I suggest using any one of the many pre-done rigging solutions out there, biped, CAT, puppetshop, Rapid Rig, Advanced Skeleton, The Setup Machine bla bla bla... there really isn't a "need" for character artists to suffer through all of the technical limitations and BS that drives all of these advanced setups. Why bother recreating the wheel? Especially when you're not even a wheel mechanic...
It helps to know how meshes are rigged and how they will deform, I wouldn't want to work with anyone who didn't know that, but I don't expect anyone to be a rigging god and to make me a fully functional tank before they crank out any character meshes.
- concept and decide proportions
- continue concepting while building base meshes for all the different proportions
- rig base meshes and begin first pass animations on the different skeletons
- model characters around base meshes
- pass character mesh model to riggers
- begin uvmapping while animators begin second pass animations
- texture character
- hand off final, textured character to riggers
- final pass animations
The idea is to not leave anyone sitting idle. Animators can begin animating with characters that are not final. This way they can find problems with your game meshes while you're still at a point that you can easily fix them.
At University I managed to learn to character model, rig, animate and direct a few (poor) films alongside all the crap written work and life drawing. That was handy learning.
I've recently been part of the hiring process, and as part of a tiny 3D team I find it really off putting if someone can't do basic rigging or shows no technical interest. But if part of a really big team I suppose it's not essential as long as you understand where to put those edge loops for deformation.
Well you'll likely find that base meshes are common place for a studio production workflow as opposed to personal art. We set up a number of base meshes for heads, hands, inside mouths etc. so that you don't need to remake them from scratch every time, as well as saving time this also ensures the topo will deform and animate the same.
If your company is working with a few standard sized skeletons (ie, not 50 different unique monstrous creatures), then it makes sense to create a few guide models with the joint placement marked with rods, and a few edgeflows marked with coloured polygons. It takes very little time to do and it's better than teaching character artists to be riggers. Oh, and point your character artists at this page: http://www.pig-brain.com/tutorials/tut02-02/