Posts by Sigma

  • The random model thread!

    I really like it Kanine. Only thing I have is that the deep pivot on the sharpened edge of the blade seems slightly out of place. I would expect that to have been smoothed out during sharpening unless you're going for an aged look. Wood looks great, nice detail towards where the head rubs against the wood and the leather rubbing as well and I could fully understand the finish on it. Looks great!

  • You can now sell content through Steam Workshop

    I posted this on another website, but I will post here as well:


    "Respectfully, the publishers charging more and adapting their monetisation mechanisms is the balancing of the video game producer/consumer relationship. Keep in mind that a video game in 1994 cost $60 at MRSP, that is still true today while the consumer demands of production quality have skyrocketed to the point where multi-million dollar budgets at AAA quality studios are the norm. Just because the balancing of the equation does not benefit the consumer does not mean that it is still not the market being corrected for delayed adjustments.


    As to your point regarding the adaptation of rules governing preexisting mod-able software [it was a mistake to target a pre-existing game to try paid-modd content on], I do agree with that. However, intellectual property rights and copyrights will always outweigh the interests of modders, who do not have an original claim to the property, and companies retain the right to revoke access to and/or modification of their software (depending on the EULA). It is unlikely though that pre-existing modded software will be the target of action by publishers and studios due to the nature of intellectual property rights (if you do not defend your right to it, you lose it).


    Finally, modders should be supportive of paid modds, if for no other reason than it gives them opportunity to garner monetary compensation for work that is otherwise freely given away. I understand that on face this appears contradictory to the "point" of modding, but that point has always been based on the assumption that you could not legally monetise the adaptation of the studio/publisher's work based on the contractual agreement. However, now studios are incorporating modds as not only a subservice to the community, but an additional revenue stream beneficial to both the studio and community. This alters the assumption in such a way that monetisation becomes a viable option for modd producers. It incentivizes higher quality modds, thereby increasing the reputations (and bank accounts) of all involved. This is a good thing."

  • Freelance Pay

    I have heard of it both ways. Part of it is simply negotiating with the client before beginning the work. Also, the more you do it the more you get a feel for how long it takes you to complete certain tasks. Using a timetracker piece of softwar can help with this (especially one that has built-in invoicing capabilities like NCH's Hourglass, which I personally use). Other things to consider are doing pro-bono work for a potential repeat customer on something small so that you can charge them on the larger item.

  • My 3d work for share :)

    This looks nice Benmx. Something I would like to see you do in future work though is to reveal attributes for direct in-engine changes. I do not see these appearing in the inspector tabs you have open. If you were to do this (and showcase it), it would make your work that much more attractive I think to potential users (myself included ).

  • NEW Unreal Tournament!!!

    Quote from marks

    So like .... is anyone actually working on any levels for UT? I'd be really interested in doing some environment art but I'm no level designer! Would be a really cool side project I think.


    I am helping Raste over on the UT4 forums with his map DM_Hydraulics, once that is finished I will pick mine back up (as yet unnamed).


    Quote from El_Exodus

    Mapcore UT4 fightnight incoming?


    That would be fun. Weekends preferable.

  • Next Gen Art Pipeline (ZBrush/3DsMax/Substance/UE4)

    Pipeline should be as follows.


    Substance Approach

    1. Sculpt high-poly

    2. Export high-poly to 3d package of choice (3DS Max, Maya, Blender, etcetera)

    3. Retopologize a low-poly over your high-poly sculpt

    4. UV Map/Unwrap the low-poly sculpt

    5. Export the high-poly from your 3D package of choice to FBX (or .obj but I like .fbx better)

    6. Export the low-poly from your 3D package of choice to FBX (or .obj but I like .fbx better again)

    7. Import both high-poly and low-poly into Substance Designer or xNormal

    8. Bake the following maps

    a. Normal

    b. ambient occlusion

    c. color_id

    ***Note: Bakes are typically more successful if it is exploded and a cage is used (cage should match your low-poly vertices 100% with a slight "push" applied)

    9. Alter color_id map in photoshop or GIMP to align specific UV islands to materials (not texture, think about what the material make-up of that piece is. Is it chrome? silver? wool? polyester? grease? etcetera) -- same material should get same color (e.g. all light chrome is red, all dark chrome is dark red, all wood is blue, etcetera)

    10. Re-import new color_id map into Substance Designer

    11. Import low-poly into substance designer/painter (if you used xNormal to bake maps)

    12. Import Normal and Ambient occlusion maps into Designer/Painter (again, if you used xNormal to bake maps)

    13. Begin creating materials using either Substance Designer/Painter. You may use the color_id map that you edited previously to stop bleeding while painting/creating your tiling materials.

    14. When you are finished with your materials, you can reveal specific attributes to be altered IN-ENGINE (eg. dirt, rust, water, etcetera)

    15. IF YOU CANNOT OPEN THE SUBSTANCE PACKAGE IN YOUR ENGINE OF CHOICE (Unity has plug-in support, Unreal Engine 4 requires a different branch of the engine you can download at Allegorithmic's site) -- then you will need to right-click each individual output material and export, then import into your engine along with your low-poly and apply all the maps to your low-poly asset.

    16. IF YOU CAN OPEN SUBSTANCE PACKAGE IN YOUR ENGINE OF CHOICE - import your low-poly asset and your substance package, apply that package to your asset. Enjoy the fact that those attributes you revealed earlier are easily changed IN-ENGINE if you want to make changes.

    17. Take a high quality screenshot/video in-engine.


    VOILA! You are done!


    Important Things To Consider


    Materials =/= Textures

    PBR (Physically Based Rendering) may or MAY NOT be required for you engine of choice. PAY ATTENTION! You can change this attribute easily in Substance Designer/Painter (and should) before you even begin you work inside of substance designer/painter (Before you even bake maps!). Although you can change outputs after the fact, it is much easier to just simply do it correctly from the start.

    IF USING PBR -- READ READ READ! THEN READ SOME MORE! THINK A LOT! AND READ SOME MORE!

    IF USING PBR -- You're diffuse will be the color of the object with no (little) depth information in it. Your normal map and roughness maps cover this.

    IF USING PBR -- Pay attention to if your output maps in Substance Designer/Painter are set to linear scale or not, and whether the output is what your engine needs. Set this to your engine needs (sRBG or Linear).


    READ THIS

    AND THIS

    THIS IS GOOD

    HAVE I MENTIONED READING YET?

    ALLEGORITHMIC'S INFORMATION

    THEY SO SMART


    As I wrote this up very quickly because DoubleF is on a deadline, this is subject to changes and alterations. Enjoy!

  • The random model thread!

    Could I convince you to send that wrench over to me? I have a great reference for doing some materials on it (an old one of that type) that I would love to use for practice.


    As for the model, I think doing the small things is perfectly fine as it refines your speed. Complex assets are really just many smaller assets put together anyways.

  • Substance Designer

    So I spent 7 hours yesterday watching videos on substance designer to get started with it. Was wondering if anyone had any videos demonstrating their process to produce either


    A) The materials for a specific asset


    or


    B) The workflow to generate procedural textures (like a wood pattern)


    The tutorials on Allegorithmic's site are great for getting up and running, but it would be great to find a tutorial I can follow along with to really understand some of the aspects of the program.