What's your work flow?
Not necessarily the programs you use, but the order you go about doing it. I'm specifically curious about the modeling and unrwapping order, whether to model all the objects then, unrwap them all or to model a piece unwrap it, model a piece unwrap and so on.
for instance I...
1) block out
2) Model all pieces in the scene
3) unwrap all pieces in the scene
4) texture
I do this because I figure it's better that all the hotkeys and options to click are fresher in your mind when you do the similar tasks together which equates to faster, at least for me. Though I've heard people model a piece then go straight to unwrapping it and they say it's faster. Or it may just be six one way, half-a-dozen or the other.
I'm asking because my work flow has done me well through out school but now that have job and need to get in on or before my deadline I'm always looking for a way to make me faster. (of course practice helps as well
)
for instance I...
1) block out
2) Model all pieces in the scene
3) unwrap all pieces in the scene
4) texture
I do this because I figure it's better that all the hotkeys and options to click are fresher in your mind when you do the similar tasks together which equates to faster, at least for me. Though I've heard people model a piece then go straight to unwrapping it and they say it's faster. Or it may just be six one way, half-a-dozen or the other.
I'm asking because my work flow has done me well through out school but now that have job and need to get in on or before my deadline I'm always looking for a way to make me faster. (of course practice helps as well
)
Replies
Thank you. That's a good point especially about just wanting to break up the process. I never thought of unwrapping as boring. Sure it's a pain when you have a bunch of texture sheets to set up but at least it's sorta like playing a puzzle game. Only thing that get's me about it is it's the only part of the process that is never obviously visible to the viewer unless they know to looking for texture clamping and the like.
Figure stay the route I'm headed then since It's what I practiced both in.
Do you guys tear up your mesh so you can do the UV? For example, you build a spaceship. You can't just simply apply a UV modifier because the ship is 3-dimentional and there will be tearing and stretching a long the edges.
What I do is apply the modifier. I then split a reference copy of the ship into elements. Each element I flatten to one axis (usually Y sometimes Z). I align all the peices, I reapply the UV modifier. This is the old school way they used to do for stuff back in the Quake days.
Do you guys follow a similar method or something a bit easier? It seems impossible to me to have a tool that would do that automatically. I mean how does it know where you want the pelt seems etc.
White box,
Mesh stage,
Clean mesh stage,
UVW
Then texture colour pass 1, texture colour pass 2, spec pass (if any) the just continue doing texture passes on and on until its good or deadline is up.
If its a character for normal mapping shiz I would do
Block mesh; (all quads usually some kind of basic throw away mesh)
Zbrush sketch; (messy and all out, block in the forms and push the limits of the model (this is the throw away version - usually takes a day or two)
Zbrush Retopo; (retopo the sketch mesh into a nice quaded version)
Highpoly sculpt the retoppoed mesh OR clean up the original high mesh if you are pressed for time (you did it once so now it should be easier and faster and cleaner too xD)
Export the low poly mesh to your program of choice to unwrap
Normal map the high onto the low using your method of choice (usually I use Xnormal)
Start your texture passes
I LOVE Unrwapping. I must be one of those freaks that people talk about but its soooo good to just take a break from modelling and do some unwrapping. Granted I used to HATE hate hate doing it, but that was only because I didn't know how to do it. Now that I have a grip on it and know what to do its so simple.
Helldiver that way seems totally weird. It would be so much faster to just unwrap it with the UVW. Just select you elements (say you have an aeroplane wing, just select the top half of the wing) then use UVW Map > Planar and move your camera to face the planes you selected the use align to view, then use your UVW Unwrap to hit relax a few times then tidy it up by hand.
I hope that made sense... O_O
Yeah Anuxinamoon I do that as well sometimes. Sometimes I get a really complex mesh and I prefer to break it up and lay it in flat planes.
I enjoy unwrapping as well. Something cool about the texture layout and how it wraps around the 3D model in creative ways. I'm still getting better and better at it.
Here's my workflow.
My regular work:
1) Low poly mesh (3D Max)
2) Unwrap
3) Diffuse in Photoshop (at this point I go back and forth between 1 and 3 until it looks perfect to me). I'll adjust UVs if I have to.
4) Fix any final errors, seams. Check shadows. Begin Skin modifier
5) Import custom bone and animation routine. Finish skin, test joints etc.
6) Final cleanup of geometry (back to step 1) making sure it crunches right etc.
7) Export using tool.
My current nightmarish work...
I add the following steps:
4b High poly using 3D max. although I hope to get mudbox soon.
4c Align High poly sub-div surface or cage with the textured low-poly model (making sure things bump or dip where they are supposed to). Most people do it the other way around, letting their hi poly dictate what the diffuse would be like. As I get better at high poly work I may do it that way instead.
4d Using 3Ds max, Generate Normal and AO. I use my diffuse to create my specular map. Touchup normal and AO in photoshop.
Back to step 5
I have Xnormal but I haven't yet learned it or installed it. Haven't seen the need yet.
Oh the most boring things for me are sculpting strong men, and sculpting male hair...
*storyboard (if needed)
*Block-out with real shite poses (cos thats waaay quicker)
*get comfy and do 30 frames at a time until im happy
*rinse-repeat until im really happy.
Had to hijack sorry