Modular environment questions
polycounter lvl 5
I posted my questions a few days ago under jacob07777's [UE4] Modular Building Set Breakdown, but the topic may be a bit old so I think I should create a new thread, and hope some expert out there can clarify things for me. These may be noob's questions as I recently want to expand my knowledge to environment modeling:
--For most modular assets I have seen, majority of them are outdoor buildings. Can indoor scenes be modular easily? Such as bedrooms, kitchen...etc?
--As far as I know, modular assets are based on grid heavily. So what about props (stuff like rubble, beds, bunkers, tables, chairs...)? Should they be modeled with the grid system in mind as well, or we can model them freely (of course with correct scale) as unique assets, UV and texture them, then just duplicate them around in the game engine?
--Also, am I correct that we should plan out the texture maps first before modeling the modular assets? Can we model the assets first and then think about UV and textures later? It seems counter-intuitive to me as I normally model first then I will UV and texture (at least that's what I do with characters)...
Hope my questions are clear.
--For most modular assets I have seen, majority of them are outdoor buildings. Can indoor scenes be modular easily? Such as bedrooms, kitchen...etc?
--As far as I know, modular assets are based on grid heavily. So what about props (stuff like rubble, beds, bunkers, tables, chairs...)? Should they be modeled with the grid system in mind as well, or we can model them freely (of course with correct scale) as unique assets, UV and texture them, then just duplicate them around in the game engine?
--Also, am I correct that we should plan out the texture maps first before modeling the modular assets? Can we model the assets first and then think about UV and textures later? It seems counter-intuitive to me as I normally model first then I will UV and texture (at least that's what I do with characters)...
Hope my questions are clear.
Replies
http://www.thiagoklafke.com/modularenvironments.html
Even spaceships can be modular; [ame]
Props are usually a lot more forgiving in their placement in a level, so the grid system isn't a problem, as you said correct scale and texel density matters most here.
And your final question, i would establish the grid units you will be using and assign a texture resolution appropriate to those.
For instance 10 grid units = 256, 20 units = 512, 40 units = 1024 ect.
This will ensure texel density and you will also know that if you have a modular asset 18 units wide you will have some uv discrepancies.
You don't necessarily have to do the UV's first, but always keep them in mind otherwise they can bite you in the but when it comes to making your textures tile.
Hope this cleared up a bit for you.
Cheers