3D Models for games advice

aidanh1994

Hello people,

So first and formost i need to clarify a few things with people who have experience with 3D modelling for games. I have some experience with modelling as ive just come out of uni with a game deisgn degree, but i always hated to model. Probably because i didnt really understand it.

Anyway, I would always do the bare minumum to pass the 3D assessments but now it seems to have come back to bite me in the ass because i want to learn how to do it properly.

I just have a few things we where taught that i seem to find people ignoring in tutorials.

1. people seem to be overlapping objects - I was always told that any model for a game had to be joined to be a watertight skin and couldnt be multiple objects just overlapping but this guy uses plains for the side of a container but then starts to just slap the frame around it without joining it at all. Just confused me as i was told never to do that but is it okay? - https://youtu.be/ATE0TzrIhp4?t=8m6s

and thats confused me as he does it more than once.

2. I was also always told that you couldnt have any open faces, but this guy deletes faces that the player wont see to save on polycount, Again this contradicts what ive been told, is this okay? - https://youtu.be/DSnjmaHZSpc?t=7m53s

Any other advice you want to add on is great because right now im confused as hell.

Thanks in advance.

Mirbobo

Both of those examples are ok and used often in production. What you learned in Uni was most likely outdated, which is actually very common. I'd recommend diving into the polycount wiki and looking more up to date tutorials, or if possible looking at wireframes of actual game assets used in published games.

JordanN

aidanh1994 said:

Hello people,

So first and formost i need to clarify a few things with people who have experience with 3D modelling for games. I have some experience with modelling as ive just come out of uni with a game deisgn degree, but i always hated to model. Probably because i didnt really understand it.

What were they teaching you that a school hands out game degrees but you never understood modeling but in fact, hate it?

zachagreg

Like what Mirbobo brought up, unfortunately a lot of university teachings are not anywhere near up to date. There are exceptions but if scrolling through the education threads you'll quickly see the trend. Continue on Polycount though and ask questions when something confuses you because I know I had the same experience with my university.
Question 1: It is more than fine to overlap objects if they make sense spatially and are presented in a way that looks appealing/correct, think a bolt going through a wooden beam or such. Completely water tight meshes come more into play with 3D printing and animation. It's one of those things where sometimes it is needed and sometimes not.
Question 2: Culling faces, or deleting them, if the player doesn't see them not only helps conserve polygons but also to save on texel density for things the player will see. It is common practice and is used a lot. However that does not mean that polycount conservation is the holy bible of 3D modeling. In many cases today I have been told time and time again that polygons aren't as expensive as universities make them think they are.

Honestly, you're going to be getting a lot of contradictions in the coming weeks learning modeling from the way your university taught it. It's unfortunate but it is the way it is right now. Keep an open mind, practice, practice, practice, and keep asking questions. I know it can be discouraging to relearn things but you will see that there is some information that is universal and still used. Best of luck!

Edit: For the polycount thing just take a look at JordanN's "PS4/XBO Polygon Counts" thread. It's good perspective.