Couple of questions re: Modelling, Texturing & Scripting
This may sound rookie to people with more experience, I don't feel like a total beginner ...but there's so much to learn!
I am in a phase of revision and working out a development plan for myself over the next year...
To start, if you get a moment... please can someone clarify the following questions...
RE: TEXTURING
- In terms of rendering overheads... which is better:
a) 2048 x 2048 for 3 props
b) 1024 x 1024 for each of the 3 props
- Should I share the same UV & Texture Space between assets... if assets are close together in a scene?
(Am thinking so... but problems if only one of the "shared" assets is used elsewhere)
- I am currently practising purely painting textures. I am used to mixing photo reference textures with the digital paint/compositing over the top
I wonder... Is it okay to have a bit of painted over photo-reference or to blend in layers etc?
Is the reason photo reference not used because it costs more memory?
(and is hard to fit to UV)
RE: MODELLING
- Hard Surface Modelling... does the high poly have to be "one single mesh" when you are using it to make a normal map for a low-poly? Or can you break into parts, generate normal maps for the parts and blend the maps together to make one (all parts share UV within 0 to 1)
- Are there any "past-exam" style art tests available to practise with?? Am really keen to get hold of someone else's concept, and specs and have get stuck in for practise. (I'd like to know exactly how much a concept artist gives you etc). Do you prefer a loose concept or one rigid with detail?
RE: SCRIPTING
- I made a pool game simulation with MaxScript... collision detection etc....and I program AS3.0 and Java and UnrealScript OK (gonna design some GUI' s and Menus I think). So I "believe" I would be able to bash out some nice scripts in time, once I learn fully what it can actually do! (I can make simple GUI's with it and get stuff like the simple pool sim working).
Please can you give a few examples of what you would actually Script in a development environment and what can actually be done with it at more advanced levels...
You could make a GUI to trigger different animations, plant random trees on hills ... etc Am guessing you can make complex editing processes?
Thanks guys. Any help is really appreciated..
I am in a phase of revision and working out a development plan for myself over the next year...
To start, if you get a moment... please can someone clarify the following questions...
RE: TEXTURING
- In terms of rendering overheads... which is better:
a) 2048 x 2048 for 3 props
b) 1024 x 1024 for each of the 3 props
- Should I share the same UV & Texture Space between assets... if assets are close together in a scene?
(Am thinking so... but problems if only one of the "shared" assets is used elsewhere)
- I am currently practising purely painting textures. I am used to mixing photo reference textures with the digital paint/compositing over the top
I wonder... Is it okay to have a bit of painted over photo-reference or to blend in layers etc?
Is the reason photo reference not used because it costs more memory?
(and is hard to fit to UV)
RE: MODELLING
- Hard Surface Modelling... does the high poly have to be "one single mesh" when you are using it to make a normal map for a low-poly? Or can you break into parts, generate normal maps for the parts and blend the maps together to make one (all parts share UV within 0 to 1)
- Are there any "past-exam" style art tests available to practise with?? Am really keen to get hold of someone else's concept, and specs and have get stuck in for practise. (I'd like to know exactly how much a concept artist gives you etc). Do you prefer a loose concept or one rigid with detail?
RE: SCRIPTING
- I made a pool game simulation with MaxScript... collision detection etc....and I program AS3.0 and Java and UnrealScript OK (gonna design some GUI' s and Menus I think). So I "believe" I would be able to bash out some nice scripts in time, once I learn fully what it can actually do! (I can make simple GUI's with it and get stuff like the simple pool sim working).
Please can you give a few examples of what you would actually Script in a development environment and what can actually be done with it at more advanced levels...
You could make a GUI to trigger different animations, plant random trees on hills ... etc Am guessing you can make complex editing processes?
Thanks guys. Any help is really appreciated..
Replies
3x1k is better than 1x2k since one 2k texture equals 4 1k Textures.
You can share UVs over multiple objects, but I don't know if every engine can handle it and doesn't load the big texture for each object again. Also, as you yourself said, if there is one of these objects used on its own, you'll waste texture memory...
Photoreference has nothing to do with memory usage. It's not so much used because it is next to impossible to find photoreference that matches your Model/UVs perfectly...you can use them as a base or to add detail in certain areas, but there's no texturing without handiwork.
Regarding Modelling:
High Polys can be so many parts as you like. Good example are Floaters, that make adding detail so much easier. Blending Normal Maps in PS is of course also possible.
Regarding Scripting:
I'd use Scripts to either aid the rigging process or to, for example, create a library for props to have easy and fast access to them when creating an environment.