Prefered workflow

Peppek1993

Hey guys, I'm wondering what's the desired and/or prefered by most of you workflow when it comes to creating 3D assets for games?

First of all, do you start with high poly model and then make a low poly out of it or the other way around?

Second question, what about the pipeline? What software and in which order do you use to get the final asset?

So far I've spent majority of my time learning 3DS max and got pretty decent at it, I learned to create various objects, some more advanced and some more basic, but I've got a good hang of it. I've made things like Viking Ships, Houses, Blacksmith huts etc. but when it comes to making "the next step" i just move on to the next thing.

I did some tutorials on substance painter and zbrush and have some REALLY BASIC knowledge in it, but I can't really apply it to my personal projects to make a full asset.


My current workflow is:
-make a low poly prop
-turn it into high poly, mostly by adding a combination of chamfer+turbosmooth modifiers and adding some floating objects and details into the high poly mesh
-Most of the time I do the unwrapping aswell and export it
-Bake in substance painter

and thats it

I fail miserably at texturing and dont even try to incorporate ZBrush into my workflow(which I would really like to).

Kinda drifted from the original question but yeah, anyway, what is the workflow that will benefit me the most in the future when(or rather if) I get a job in the industry some day in the future?

Zbrushdude

Iam newbie too, what i have understood is that you gotta make the lowpoly model work well. For instance have enough polygons at the right places and less at the less useful places. Make the uv maps well (someone said that the more seams you have the more its going to cost for processor in a game, i dont know about that yet) There must be bunch of tips and tricks to learn along the way of becoming great artist.

I listened to this interview with some modeling boss of a big company and he said that what hes looking for is not just that you can sculpt amazing models but that you also got your lowpoly model game set and understand whats needed of a model in games.

Udjani

Newbie here too, i have been reading about  workflows a lot and what you are doing is pretty much what every pro suggest. Just to further enfacise this, in case you haven't seen it yet. 

In this page perna talks about that, and show some examples: https://polycount.com/discussion/56014/how-the-f-do-i-model-this-reply-for-help-with-specific-shapes-post-attempt-before-asking/p88

And and long and juicy write about the workflow, specific for weapons but a lot of it can be used for everything. http://piratportfolio.com/fpp_eng/

Zbrushdude said:

I listened to this interview with some modeling boss of a big company and he said that what hes looking for is not just that you can sculpt amazing models but that you also got your lowpoly model game set and understand whats needed of a model in games.

That's what i am finding the hardesd so far to be honest, deciding how much details to use etc. 

poopipe

in terms of production, the process that results in the least arseache is this:
low/med-res blockout - in game, properly, with all the required functionality so you can see how it's used
highres
lowres - carefully considering LODs


an unfortunate number of people follow this methodology:
spend ages on a highres 
spend ages on the lowres
realise  it's the wrong size
redo highres in a half arsed fashion
redo lowres in half arsed fashion
do LODs in half arsed fashion because you're behind schedule
have crap performance that nobody can fix 
regret not blocking it out first
learn nothing 
repeat


The key to low-res modelling is building in the exact amount of detail you need - you can't tell what that is until the asset is used in game.