Beginning 3D Game Assets Development Pipeline

This project-based tutorial covers the creation of 3D assets in a game engine, from concept to implementation. You will learn the 3D pipeline using Maya and Substance Painter, which are industry-standard programs used for content creation in game development. You also will know how to add them and work with them in Unity.

The book begins with an overall look at the production of game development and the different roles in creating assets. Then, starting with Maya, you learn how to start with a concept and take it through the entire production pipeline: base mesh, UV mapping, high poly, texturing, rigging, and animation. You will be working on one asset project throughout the entire book to understand how one phase leads to the next one. Lastly, you will cover asset placement and integration into Unity.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

* Build a thorough knowledge of the 3D game asset production workflow
* Understand how each phase leads up to the next one
* Know how 3D assets are implemented into Unity
* Texture, rig, and animate the 3D model
* Export and import the 3D asset or model
* Understand the iterative design process

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

3D artists, from beginners to specialists, who are interested in learning the 3D production pipeline of game assets as a whole

NOVA VILLANUEVA is Professor of Game Design at Pratt Institute, New York, USA. She has taught game development for more than five years at Pratt, Parsons, and New York’s College of Technology, and is an independent game developer working on The Mills game. She live streams her game development process at twitch.tv/novavillan. Nova has previously worked as a 3D artist for Animatic Media, a 2D artist for the Webby award-winning Mafia Wars game developed by Zynga, and is a published artist featured in the Photoshop Creative magazine. She has an MFA degree in game design from the NYU Game Center in New York and a BS degree in media arts and animation from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS THE 3D PRODUCTION PIPELINE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Who this Book is Intended for

About the 3D Pipeline and How it Fits in the Game Design Process

3D Modeling

3D Texturing

Wait! What about Rigging and Animation?

Textures before Rigging or Backwards?

3D Animation

Game Development Workflow

Working with a Team

How to Use this Book

Non-Linear Game Development

Embracing and Utilizing Computer Shortcuts

Using the Right Tools

What is Maya?

What is Substance Painter?

What is Unity?

Pricing

Getting Started

The Importance of Using Reference

Gathering References

Summary

CHAPTER 2: STARTING WITH MAYA

Installing and Opening Maya

Windows Installation

Mac Installation

Overview of the Interface

Top Menu

Status LineMenu Sets

Shelf

Channel Box

Attribute Editor

Quick Layout and Outliner Buttons

Time Slider

Range Slider

Playback ControlsView Panel

Marking Menus

How to Follow along with the Steps

Creating Primitives

Translate, Rotate, and Scale

Translate

Rotate

ScaleNavigation

Duplicate Objects

Delete Objects

Adding Edge Loops

Pivot Manipulator

Mirroring Geometry Methods

Duplicate and Scale

Duplicate SpecialComponent Selection Mode

Face, Vertex, and Edge

Face Mode

Vertex Mode

Edge Mode

Select

Delete Faces and Edges

TransformScale

Rotate

Extrude Faces

Before Continuing

Shortcuts

Set-Up Project

Setting up the Mech Project

Summary

CHAPTER 3: CREATING THE BASE MESH

Base Mesh

Exception to the Rule

Topology

N-gons

Concave Faces

Metrics

Image Plane Reference

Switching Between Panel Views

Starting to Model

Symmetry

Scale

Deselecting and Inverting Components

Using the Channel Box for Transformation

Using Duplicates to Speed Up ModelingDisplay Modes

X-Ray Mode

Modeling the Leg Connectors

Duplicating the shapes of the Leg Connectors

Modeling the Foot Stabilizers

Modeling Armor for the Motor Units

Building the Body

Shaping the Head

Adding Thickness to the Head

Modeling the Head Details

Adding the Neck Model

Positioning the Leg

Instancing the Mech

Summary

CHAPTER 4: PREPARING THE ASSET FOR THE NEXT PHASE

Adopting Best Practices

Pipeline Requirements

What is the Outliner and Why Do We Use it?

Using the Outliner for Clean Up

What is Construction History

Cleaning Up the History

Starting to Use the Outliner

Combining, Naming and Freezing Meshes

Resetting Transformations

Freezing Transformations

Pivot Locations

Using Instancing for Fast Prototyping

Grouping Our Asset

Summary

CHAPTER 5: UV Mapping the 3D Model

What Are UVs?

The Different Ways You Can UV Map

What is the UV Editor and What is it Used for?

Clean Up for UV Mapping

Setting Up and Using the UV Editor

Creating a Basic UV Map for the Mech

UVing Multiple Meshes Simultaneously

Deleting History if Our UVed Meshes

Optimization of Mesh UVs

Cutting and Sewing Seams

Unfolding UV Shells

Handling a Real-Life UV Pipeline ScenarioOptimizing and Arranging UVs

Texel Density

Moving, Arranging, and Packing UVs

It Always Depends

Final Arrangement and Layout

Summary

CHAPTER 6: CREATING THE HIGH POLY MODEL

What is a High Poly Model?

Why Create the Illusion of Depth

The Different Approaches to End Up with a Low and High Poly

Setting up for the High Poly

What is the Difference between a Low and High Poly Model?

Creating the High Poly

Adding Details and Edge Definition to the Body

Modeling in a Non-Destructive Way

Adding Details to the Feet

Adding the Rest of the Mech’s Details

Summary

CHAPTER 7: TEXTURING THE 3D MODEL

Using Floaters to Add Texture DetailsGetting Our Maya Files Ready

Working With Multiple Texture on a Single Model

Exporting the FBX Model

Installing and Opening Substance 3D Painter

Overview of the Interface

Top Menu

Toolbar

Layers

Properties

Viewport

Texture Set List

Assets

Display Settings

Setting Up to Texture

Baking the Model

Creating Textures Using a PBR Pipeline

Starting to Texture

Masking

Working with Multiple Materials

Adding Sticker Decals

Exporting the Textures

Configuring Custom Output Texture Maps

Summary

CHAPTER 8: RIGGING THE 3D MODEL

What is Rigging?

Understanding Mesh Animation

What are Joints?

Working with Joints

Creating Joints

Arranging JointsMoving Joints

Mirroring Joints

Working with Control Curves

Creating a Control Curve

Using Kinematics for Movement

Creating IKs for the Legs

What are Constraints?

The Importance of Using Constraints

Creating Groups

Setup the Head Control

Setup the Body Control

Setup the Left and Right Femur

Setup the Left and Right Tibia

Setup the Feet

Grouping System

Summary

CHAPTER 9: BRINGING THE ASSET TO LIFE

Iterative Design

Animating the Mech

Animation States

Set up the Scene for Animation

Creating the Idle the AnimationAdding Keyframes on the Mech

Deleting Keyframes

Exporting the Animated Mech

Installing and Opening Unity

Overview of Unity

Creating a New Project

Navigation in the Scene View

Interface

Working with Assets in Unity

Using the Hierarchy

Using the Inspector

Adding Textures to Our Mech

Changing Shaders and Linking Textures to Map Slots

Assigning the Materials to the Mech Asset

Working with Level of DetailsPlaying the Scene

What about Other Assets?

Summary

Wrapping it All Up

Where to Go from Here?

Staying Inspired