Man, thanks for taking all the time to answer all those questions. Lots of good info there. Yeah, that sounds about like what I've been doing (I set everything to display as box). It just looks like there are a lot more polys in the building than I can get to render in one scene, hehe. But, I probably just need more RAM.
Bad ass Kevin. I'm glad you believe in posting high resolution images! Lots of people will post tiny thumbnails and hide it away. I love getting up close with your stuff.
For those of us still studying your GOW2 thread for techniques, this is a very welcome thread
Have played close to three quarters of the campaign in split-screen, but would probably rather push someone off the couch to make sure to see the game full-screen. Really wonderful work and especially with lightmass involved, the game has extremely tight environments from top to bottom.
I also appreciate the comments/feedback loop with the level designers. I think people doing this for a living (or planning to) really need to take note of that. Set dressers/level designers will abuse your work as much as possible, so better make them up to the task! Great work Kevin, thanks for sharing once again. A real benefit as well as pleasure for the community.
Hi Kevin, thanks for another great art dump. I really enjoyed your GOW2 dump, and this is much better. Question though..I know in the past you've done most if not all of your high poly modeling in Max and use ZBrush for your destruction/texture etc, but how did you model the 'lion head' on the top of Flood Tower piece? Hand sculpted in ZBrush, Zbrush alpha? Or just in Max?
Great work Kev! It's good to see that even though things are going great, you're constantly questioning on how they can be pushed even further. That's something I'd like to see more of in the industry in general. People often sit back or become too complacent, should always be about pushing yourself and the tech further.
Along with some friendly competition, it can work wonders for raising the bar.
Again, great job with GoW3, haven't played it myself yet, but looking at all the media it really does look like a step has been taken back to look at how things could be improved overall with character designs and the same approach to environments, and it's paid off.
Can't wait to see what the future brings from you guys
man i forgot about some of this stuff, so badass! that rubble block blows my mind. love the lion headstone building too, dont think i saw that one before! so awesome.
Wow. Been waiting to see some of your stuff pop up here since I played through Gears 3. Awesome work as usual. I died quite a few times because I was ogling the environments rather than reloading or taking cover.
I know Epic's not hard up for cash but you guys should seriously consider compiling shots like this into some sort of art book that is targeted at aspiring 3D artists (rather than the casual collector and strategy guide market) who are desperate to learn professional workflow and best practices. You could pretty much charge whatever you wanted for it, the hardcore 3D artists would buy it.
Yes I know that's what Polycount is for and it's fantastic that it's free but it'd be nice to have all the Gears 3 art including wireframes and process shots from Zbrush collected into a hardbound book. Sometimes it's nice to have a cool artbook to flip through in meatspace!
I'm gonna have to hijack someone's XBox just to play this game! Jaw dropping stuff as always, Kevin! Could we get a wireframe of the lion's head before it got some Zbrush lovin'?
Wow. Been waiting to see some of your stuff pop up here since I played through Gears 3. Awesome work as usual. I died quite a few times because I was ogling the environments rather than reloading or taking cover.
I know Epic's not hard up for cash but you guys should seriously consider compiling shots like this into some sort of art book that is targeted at aspiring 3D artists (rather than the casual collector and strategy guide market) who are desperate to learn professional workflow and best practices. You could pretty much charge whatever you wanted for it, the hardcore 3D artists would buy it.
Awesome stuff kevin! Too bad we can't see the texture sheets, but would you mind sharing some of your process for the really ornate portions like the spirals and other wispy looking accents?
This was the first piece I made for the Centennial Bridge set, I called it the FearBrace. I spent over a couple of weeks on it as I was trying to break away and come up with something more stylish and clean than I normally do.
This was my salute to the Goddess of Inspiration, Promethea. It was also my way of getting our own statue of liberty into the game and paying homage to the Angel of the North statue in Newcastle ( google it ) by making the Angel of the South
It's probably the piece I am most proud of in Gears3, there will be more renders later
More on the way and explanations too.
Heres some production shots of the lowpolys for the Char set's railings. I turned them into a step / stair set also. Those steps made it into most levels, mostly because I took the time to model in more damage on the lowpoly so it would hold other textures well and cast interesting shadows.
I make and bake the lows also. Thats certainly a subject worth my digging deeply into as I had to relearn a lot in Gears3, a number of times , to make the most out of lightmass and to ensure maximum reuse of assets.
Gorgeous stuff Kevin. Never get tired of looking at these pieces. I think you're bridge set is one of your strongest sets yet, both artistically and technically. You really did an amazing job on it and the final in-game result is absolutely beautiful, definitely one of those breathtaking moments.
I think it'd be useful to post some texture layouts (Not sure if you can) just to show how efficient these pieces are and how much mileage you got out of the highs.
As always Kevin your stuff is hugely inspirational. Extremely well done and always a pleasure to look at.
The one thing I have always noticed about Gears, and it is of course Gears style, is that the environment assets I feel are too noisy. They have all this amazing micro detail all over that they just becomes too noisy and busy when assembled in the full game.
You have your micro details and then you have a layer of destruction that can all blend together as noisy. Each asset on its own looks great but when you see the same high frequency detailed assets creating the entire world everything becomes busy and your eyes don't have any real focus or areas of rest. It can look at times like multiple grenades were set off near every inch of the world. This is also true for the characters.
Again I know that is the style of the game and all, just thought I would mention it as you seem to be the only one to post environment work. Your stuff is fantastic though and its great too see all the details your poured into each asset.
Replies
Have played close to three quarters of the campaign in split-screen, but would probably rather push someone off the couch to make sure to see the game full-screen. Really wonderful work and especially with lightmass involved, the game has extremely tight environments from top to bottom.
I also appreciate the comments/feedback loop with the level designers. I think people doing this for a living (or planning to) really need to take note of that. Set dressers/level designers will abuse your work as much as possible, so better make them up to the task! Great work Kevin, thanks for sharing once again. A real benefit as well as pleasure for the community.
Work you guys did like this, is what really made the game feel unique, all the love in the right places.
Now we just need to wait for Uncharted 3 art dump. Polycount is feeling like Christmas right now.
all these polys and you were on some 2GB machine or something :O
inspiration folder, prepare yourself
p.s :O
Along with some friendly competition, it can work wonders for raising the bar.
Again, great job with GoW3, haven't played it myself yet, but looking at all the media it really does look like a step has been taken back to look at how things could be improved overall with character designs and the same approach to environments, and it's paid off.
Can't wait to see what the future brings from you guys
I know Epic's not hard up for cash but you guys should seriously consider compiling shots like this into some sort of art book that is targeted at aspiring 3D artists (rather than the casual collector and strategy guide market) who are desperate to learn professional workflow and best practices. You could pretty much charge whatever you wanted for it, the hardcore 3D artists would buy it.
Thanks for posting!
Thank you for sharing your work!
http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/dartiste/character_modeling_2/
This was my salute to the Goddess of Inspiration, Promethea. It was also my way of getting our own statue of liberty into the game and paying homage to the Angel of the North statue in Newcastle ( google it ) by making the Angel of the South
It's probably the piece I am most proud of in Gears3, there will be more renders later
More on the way and explanations too.
Heres some production shots of the lowpolys for the Char set's railings. I turned them into a step / stair set also. Those steps made it into most levels, mostly because I took the time to model in more damage on the lowpoly so it would hold other textures well and cast interesting shadows.
I make and bake the lows also. Thats certainly a subject worth my digging deeply into as I had to relearn a lot in Gears3, a number of times , to make the most out of lightmass and to ensure maximum reuse of assets.
Thanks as always for the comments
I would also be interested in seeing your baking workflow
I think it'd be useful to post some texture layouts (Not sure if you can) just to show how efficient these pieces are and how much mileage you got out of the highs.
is it alright to ask how much time u usually get for piece like that?
Spark
The one thing I have always noticed about Gears, and it is of course Gears style, is that the environment assets I feel are too noisy. They have all this amazing micro detail all over that they just becomes too noisy and busy when assembled in the full game.
You have your micro details and then you have a layer of destruction that can all blend together as noisy. Each asset on its own looks great but when you see the same high frequency detailed assets creating the entire world everything becomes busy and your eyes don't have any real focus or areas of rest. It can look at times like multiple grenades were set off near every inch of the world. This is also true for the characters.
Again I know that is the style of the game and all, just thought I would mention it as you seem to be the only one to post environment work. Your stuff is fantastic though and its great too see all the details your poured into each asset.