Do you usually put together a scene in a game engine or 3d software?

YellowYeti

So simple question (i hope), and probably a really obvious one, but right now i'm looking to set up a scene, i've been modeling all the pieces and putting them into a scene now, but i want to make it like it's been ravaged and torn up, would i do that also in Maya? Or would i export each individual asset and then just put it together in like UDK or something? Sorry if this is a dumb question, or frequently asked.
Side question, don't know if there are any, because i haven't seen any but maybe i'm not looking hard enough, are there any tutorials for setting up a scene from like start to finish with like putting together models to textures to lighting and what not? Thanks!

Eric Chadwick

No, yes, and yes. Look on the wiki.

Eric Chadwick

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Level_Design

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Modular_environments

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Tutorials#Pay_Tutorial_Websites

YellowYeti

Thanks for those links and all eric! But i have one thing to ask because i'm not quite sure what you mean, what are you saying yes to,that i can import it to the game engine and render it out in there, or i can just render it in maya for like a portfolio piece? I'm sure it says it in one of those links just it will probably take me a while to find it.

RN

I think he meant that you need to export individual assets and assemble the scene with the Unreal editor.
You do that with the engine editor because it knows best how handle a scene with lots of duplicated objects (a modular scene).

Eric Chadwick

Yep. Also it's better to render in a game engine because this is generally a required skill for game artists. Some games use pre-rendered assets (sprites, backgrounds, etc., all rendered in a 3d app like Maya or Max) but most games use real-time rendered assets (Unreal, Unity, CryEngine, etc.).