2012
Lynda.com
Adam Crespi
5hrs. 10mins.
English
This course is a practical guide to constructing 3D buildings that can be used to populate video game environments. Author Adam Crespi starts with a gas station taken from a photograph—retrieving measurements and dimensions with modular blocking and planning techniques in Adobe Photoshop—and then re-creates the building in Maya with polygonal modeling and advanced texturing techniques. The course shows how to model elements such as walls, doors, and roofs, including stacking UVs on a texture sheet, and also sheds light on simulating real-world details like dirt, wear, and grime, using ambient occlusion and normal baking in a high- to low-poly workflow. The final chapter shows how to export the model to the Unity gaming engine for final cleanup and rendering.
Introduction
Welcome
Using the exercise files
What you should know before watching this course
Setting up the workflow
1. Anatomy of a Low-Poly Model
Identifying key contours and shadows in concept art
Analyzing concept art for texture possibilities
Adding perceived detail through texture
The limitations of normal maps
Analyzing concept art for key shadow details
Identifying shadow details as generated or painted
2. Modular Planning and Blocking
What is a module?
Overview of the snap tools and precision modeling techniques
Blocking out the basic form of a building
Designing modular elements
The iterative process: Assembly and teardown
Planning for occlusion and texture stacking
3. Modeling Building Elements in High Detail
Adding foundation elements
Modeling a high-poly roll-up garage door
Improving building details
Building an island and a canopy
Constructing high-detail doors
4. Low-Poly-Count Elements
Adding door elements
Building a roof
Modeling light-tight walls
Adding miscellaneous elements such as air conditioners, signs, and steps
5. Unwrapping the Elements
Mapping UV projection types
Moving and sewing UVs
Planning a texture sheet
Stacking UVs
6. Transferring Maps
Overview of ambient occlusion
Overview of the Transfer Map dialog and baking
Baking occlusion using the Batch Bake dialog
Using occlusion as a foundation for dirt
Baking a normal map using the Transfer Map dialog
7. Planning and Constructing Texture Sheets
Assessing the size of elements on a texture sheet
Drawing detail at the right size
Using tiling and non-tiling textures
Painting layers of dirt and wear
Painting specular and transparent textures
8. Importing into the Game Editor and Testing
Cleaning up, exporting, and importing the model
Importing textures and marking them for use
Adding lights to test smoothing and textures
Refining materials
Viewing the final project
Conclusion
Next steps

http://www.lynda.com/Maya-tutorials/Creating-Game-Environments-Maya-Photoshop/98163-2.html

Download File Size:943.88 MB

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