Enviro Modelling - To zbrush or Not to zbrush
Hi,
I'm currently in a personal project to practice some game ready enviros and hopefully when finished - import into unity.
My question is a simple one:
I understand with characters I create base meshes to sculpt detail etc on then bake the information onto it. - Is it any different with environment pieces; say for example a chair, a fridge, a desk, a bed etc - would all of this have to be base modelled, then zbrushed or is it a matter of texturing the detail on?
The reason why I wonder this is; I understand retop is needed for characters; but surely sculpting detail on a fridge for example would change its shape?
If someone could post a noob "step by step" walkthrough - or share any light on this I would greatly appreciate it
I'm currently in a personal project to practice some game ready enviros and hopefully when finished - import into unity.
My question is a simple one:
I understand with characters I create base meshes to sculpt detail etc on then bake the information onto it. - Is it any different with environment pieces; say for example a chair, a fridge, a desk, a bed etc - would all of this have to be base modelled, then zbrushed or is it a matter of texturing the detail on?
The reason why I wonder this is; I understand retop is needed for characters; but surely sculpting detail on a fridge for example would change its shape?
If someone could post a noob "step by step" walkthrough - or share any light on this I would greatly appreciate it
Replies
Normal maps for mechanical/constructed items are often done with subdivision surface modeling. http://wiki.polycount.com/SubdivisionSurfaceModeling#Hard_Surfaces
To add some organic wear and tear, artists bring their finished sub-d models into Zbrush or Mudbox or 3DCoat for a quick sculpt pass.
Some artists do all their mechanical work in a sculpting app, but it seems to be a bit harder to get clean results. YMMV, see what works for you.
http://wiki.polycount.com/CharacterSculpting#Hard-Surface_Sculpting
Sometimes you can shortcut the sculpting/baking process by using a 2D normal mapping tool like nDo or Crazy Bump. Can save a lot of time, but can cause seams if you're not careful.
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryTools#A2D_Normal_Map_Software
Normal maps for organic/natural assets are usually made entirely in your 3D sculpting app, but some people use procedural tools.
http://wiki.polycount.com/EnvironmentSculpting
Whether or not you need zbrush, or even a more traditional sub-d modeled high poly, would completely depend on the project goals.
If you did want to go down that route however, the process should be similar to doing a character.
1- Start with your base mesh. This doesn't have to be the final game-ready mesh; just something you can sculpt on. It might help to start with something that is the size and volume you require.
2- Sculpt in your details
3- Retopologize it to create your final mesh and bake the details onto that. Because the final mesh is created after the sculpt, you wont have to worry about it's shape changing.
Same deal with sub-d. You can get the high poly down first, then retopo and bake.
The main example I'm looking at is roof and roof tiles;
Would i build a slanted box; to then sculpt tiles on, bake out a normal and ao and texture;? Would I have to retop this? Seeing as it would change its height and shape I'm assuming so.
Mm,
So for example; the tiles on your blog which are all weathered away, cracked and crumbled; I understand you zbrushed these (im sure I read your post on here at that time infact) but surely you then had to retop and bake?
Cheers everyone for the help
So I would take those floor tiles I made and bake them onto a simple plane. Didn't need to retopo anything since I was making a tiling texture. You could do the same thing with your roof. Make a nice tiling pattern and bake it to a tiling texture you can use anywhere you'd like.
This is what I really dont understand;
Say I make some blocks, sculpt them into tiles like yourself, - now you say bake them onto a simple plane - i.e. same as baking a hi - low poly character; but how would it form onto a simple plane as the shape is different? Why is there no use for retop here?
You said make it into a tiling texture; again I dont understand this;
I thought it would be; model a base tile; sculpt the tile, duplicate into a group of tiles and change each one etc, bake out onto a lower retopped version and use it as a normal map. Is this what you mean? however the retop is not needed for some reason...
The plane's geometry fulfills the role of the retopo.
Either way I feel you need to check out this tutorial by phillipk and how he transforms a texture on a plane into something else - http://philipk.net/tutorials/modular_rocks/modular_rocks.html
That technique can be applied to anything, for example, you can bake your tiles down to a plane then cut in geometry and pull the vertices up a bit to give a sense of elevation between layers of tiles.
Depending on the players view such as in a top down game, the normal map on a roof along with a supporting diffuse would sell the illusion of depth.
Now if its a first person game and the player is running around on the roofs like assassin's creed, I would go with what you said above and use a real low poly mesh instead of just a plane.
Thank you very much for the tutorial and thank you cryid you always seem to be answering my help threads
So where do programs like nDo2 and crazybump come into things?
I know the generate maps without the requirement of sculpting through texture/photo/drawing use.
Could anyone enlighten me on this further
Easy as pie and speedy workflow.