How do you know when you should use a trim sheet or unique meshes?
Maybe I'm not asking the right question but environment art is still pretty new to me. I'm creating this kind of high security Metal Gear Solid-esque environment and I want to add some electrical trimmings to the floor for maintaining and working on circuits and other high-tech stuff. I have a few reference images that are similar to what I want to create, but I'm confused whether I should make a trim sheet or just create it modularly with different blocks of unique elements.
Not the best angle, but you can see on the sides of the walkway that there are panels and glass sections that house wiring. They look like they're individual geometry segments that are repeated alongside each other. I like how there is a central walkway and then side panels that can still be walked on but have a utlilty. I wanted to create this aspect in my environment. How do you think they created this part?
I like how the floor is broken up into a bunch of different shapes and indivdual parts. This is a little too chaotic for what I'd like to create, though. This was the first reference I found for something that inspired what I want to make. Obviously this is just a flat texture because of technical limitations at the time.
All of the gray denotes where I want the floor to be complex metal and mechanical panelling. The white floor is where I want a smooth and clean central walking surface. I'm not new to 3D art, but I don't know a good process for creating whole environments. What I imagine I would do would be to create and bake individual elements of the metal trim so I can build it modularly. Is that common practice for something like this? What do you think I should do?
Thanks.
Replies
If not sure, do a quick mockup of both. Then you can:
It's not realistic to expect to do things once, get it perfect, and be done. Always many trade offs and it comes down to specifics of the project.
If strapped for time I'd go with whichever seems faster to create. If making portfolio I'd go for whichever makes best visual quality. If trying to learn or any other scenario - test both and then with project considerations in mind you can make a meaningful pro's and con's decision table and make an intelligent, professional decision.
This sounds like the best idea. I'll give it a shot starting with modular unique geometry since I think that'll yield the best results. Thanks a lot ☺️
The nice thing I find about trim sheets is that I don't have to worry so much about seams and making everything fit the proportions of the modular pieces so much. I definitely think that entire floor surface can be covered by a trim, and possibly much of the walls too. Stuff like pipes, fences and the security cage could be unique props just to elevate the level of detail in the scene.
If you're doing this you may as well just use the trims directly. I find the value in modular pieces is that you can pack much more detail into each individual module and tell a more complex story with them. Good for organic, non-planar surfaces.
The answer is, as always, use both :)
This is scifi modularity taken to extremes, but it should give you some idea of what's possible.
An exercise in modular textures - Scifi lab UDK
For actual game use generally you wouldn't use so many UV sets, and such complex shaders. This was more of a conceptual and learning exercise.
But then again it led to making an actual game with heavy modularity… https://80.lv/articles/neon-giant-talked-about-building-the-world-of-the-ascent/
Before you worry about how you're going to build it I would say you need to go further into what you're building. This looks more like a design greybox than an art blockout at the moment
I'd suggest you work a section of your blockout up to the level of detail you want in the final piece - without that you're not going to get a solid understanding of all the things you need to make or how they relate to each other.
Just hammer it together in blender or unreal or whatever seems easiest for now. Don't worry about polycounts or any of that stuff, just get some art done (including damaged floor tiles, door handles, leaks, all that stuff)
Having done that
look at your blockout in game, make sure it works from your game camera perspective and that your metrics are all good. Then apply some rules of thumb ..
If something has a noticeable silhouette it needs geometry, if not just use a texture.
If there's more than 1 of something it wants to be a modular piece
If it needs to lod then be cautious about using trim sheets/tileables
Then...
blockout the the modular pieces and rebuild your level using them. This tells you which parts you need, which parts they should be grouped with and informs you about how best to organise your materials.
And finally
Make the fancy models and textures and replace the assets in your blockout
It seems like a lot of repetition (it is) but If you iterate in passes like this you're able to change your mind about stuff and solve problems with less wasted work than if you tore into final modelling and texturing too early.