Using a basemesh for multiple characters?

Stirls

So a game I'm working on requires a set of enemies, and I feel it would be fastest to just use a single basemesh which already has all of the musclulature set out. Is this common in larger studios? What is PC's opinion on this?

I'm working remotely with a small indie dev right now (pretty happy about that!), so whether or not something like this flies with bigger workplaces is on my mind. Apologies if it's a silly question.

Lazerus Reborn

Why reinvent the wheel? If it's fit for purpose, use it.

LRoy

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY52p12bnIo[/ame]

Stirls

Lazerus Reborn Good point.

perna I thought this would be a more "general" area of discussion, next time I'll keep that in mind. I'm worried that if I don't persist in creating a completely new sculpt each time, that I'll drop in skill. But I see where you're going with this!

LRoy Thanks for the video. Consider my qualms officially eased!

skylebones

If it saves time go with it! I use the same base mesh for all my characters, and it's probably a good seven years old by now.

Stirls

Woah, really? That's incredible! Time-saving thrusters are go!

JordanN

Before it got cancelled, Capcom had a development blog where they mentioned reusing the same mesh for different characters.

Incidentally, in a game such as Mega Man Legends 3 where there’s a need to create a large number of character models, we generally use one base model over and over for the sake of efficiency, altering it as needed for each character.

http://www.capcom-unity.com/devroom/blog/2010/12/20/heroine_progress_report_-_3d_modeling

Jeremy Mitchell

Not a character artist, but observational pro tip: If you keep your topology the same for most of your characters, your riggers will buy you whiskey.

I think it's in their contract or something.

Anchang-Style

I can't remember who said it around here, but it was basically, that a lot of studios use one basemesh for character work because it got it's UVs layed out in a way that is automated for their pipeline.

Ruz

yeah most of the studios I have worked at have a base mesh which you can barely alter in terms of uv's or even vertex count.

It's not cheating or anything, so just go for it

peanut™

I use the same seat in my car when im driving, i'm worried that if I don't persist in driving below 20 Mph, that my lungs will inflate on their own and explode in my thorax. :poly114b:

D4V1DC

^cheater must use new seat every-time & you call yourself a driver, some people.

myclay

http://www.russian3dscanner.com/

[vv]90221853[/vv]
if you want to have unique sculpts and want to have the same topology in a quick time, Wrap could be the answer.

just put your unique sculpts or 3D scans into it, load your template or basemesh,
press a button or set a few reference points and have fun.


this tool here seems to be much much faster and better than the advertisement video from Max.

almighty_gir

holy shit, dat wrapping!

Stirls

Damn it! I sorta wish PC had a notification module so I'd know when people comment on this thread. Thanks for the replies, guys. From what I've gathered:

- Try to stick to the same topology when appropriate
- If it gets it done faster, do it. Noone will look down on you for it.
- Buy new car seat every time you go for a drive

Boom!

Torch

Stirls wrote: »

- If it gets it done faster, do it. Noone will look down on you for it.

perna wrote: »

Sigh...

Why is that a bad thing? I thought speed is important, as long as you're not compromising quality.

Matt Fagan

myclay wrote: »

http://www.russian3dscanner.com/

[vv]90221853[/vv]
if you want to have unique sculpts and want to have the same topology in a quick time, Wrap could be the answer.

just put your unique sculpts or 3D scans into it, load your template or basemesh,
press a button or set a few reference points and have fun.


this tool here seems to be much much faster and better than the advertisement video from Max.

Thanks for sharing this. This tool seems quite interesting and may just save loads of unnecessary work!