Heya!
Im new to this forum. I've decide to try and make some game models, will probably start with something easy like weapons, props etc.
Anyway I got some questions about workflow and things that can be problematic. To make things easier for you Ill try to discribe problem and write a possible solution that might work so you can wirte if Im thinking right or not, whats the better solution etc.
Oh and Im using 3ds Max, Zbrush, Photoshop, also got xNormal and maybe Im gonna buy CrazyBump beacouse it seems to be cheap and super usefull.
1. Hard edges.
Ill split that into to parts:
a) organic models (humanoids, creatures, flora and fauna but also I consider fantasy weapons, armors etc as organic if you know what I mean)
So obvious for most parts "pinch" brush in zBrush will do the trick but for example what with weapons like swords (blade), hammers when hard edges but be very harsh.
Possible solution:
Duplicate base mesh in 3ds Max and make a little bit higher model with additional edge loops so when imported to zbrush and subdivided it will keep shape and nice crisp edge.
b) hard surface like sci-fi stuff, real world stuff etc.
For flat surfaces like walls, doors and overall environment stuff making normal maps from texture in CrazyBumb, Photoshop or xNormal (if possible) should be fine right?
But again what with some kind of futuristic range weapons for example? "Sculpting" in zbrush hard surfaces is kinda wierd and confusing. It can be done and I know that but maybe there are other solutions, maybe something like:
Possible solution:
Duplicate base mesh in Max, make highpoly version in Max as well. Then export both low and high and make normal map in xNormal. Eventually paint some smaller details in zbrush on flat plane, make normals and combine both normal maps in Photoshop.
2. UVs.
Good UVs are very important but when is a good moment to unwrap your model? Answer seems to be simple: after base mesh is ready/before importing to zbrush but... what if my model will change proportions a little bit while sculpting so my low poly model with "perfect" UVs will be a little bit diffrent? Should I tweak UVs or this small changes wont be noticable?
Also what if Ill have to optimize my low poly mesh after sculpting? I need quads in zbrush but when sculpting is done I dont need quads anymore right? So if I start to removing/adding edges in my low poly mesh will that change UVs as well? Will my baked normal maps works fine on otimized mesh? Or Ill have to unwrap again, bake normal maps again etc.?
3. Baking normal, cavity, ao maps.
Just a 2 quick questions here:
Lets say my low poly mesh cannot be changed at all but of course it will change by sculpting, moving points etc. So how do I solve that? Bake all maps on changed low poly mesh and hopefully it will be fine or re-import unchanged model on lowest subdivision level and then bake maps?
Where do you bake your maps? Z-mapper, xNormal? xNormal seems to be good, very simple and free soft but maybe there are some cons of baking maps in it? What with cavity, ao maps? Are they OK based on your experience with other possibilities?
4. Color, specular, emissive maps
a) Color map
Any golden rules for making color maps? I heard somewhere that color map shouldnt be to saturated for some reason, not sure why and if thats true.
b) Specular map
I saw many peoples are making specular maps colored, why? What it exactly do?
Are this colored maps used in both "specular level" and "specular color" so grey values of colors controls how much specular we will see?
c) Emissive map
These are just self-illumination maps right? Do they have to be perfect or they can be brightened/darkened in game engines if needed?
5. Presentation
Of course after hard work you want to show your finished model with all maps, fireworks and stuff
So what we got is:
- render - pretty straightforward, assign maps, add lights, hit render
- viewport screenshot - How to do that? Ive tried with simple plane with some textures on it and it didnt work. I have Direct 3D as a display driver, got latest DirectX 9, Ive tried DirectX shader but it didnt worked. Which *.fx file are you using? What kind of lights are working fine (if any)?
- xNormal viewier - I saw that Diablo model from examples and it seem to be good, what you think about it, did you tried it?
Thats it for now. I know most peoples dont like text walls but I hope Ill find answers here.
Regards
marlev