Eat3D new Next-Gen Texturing tutorial DVD

[P2xelgen]

It looks amazing.
I use to make UT levels, but I am thinking of doing some Environment work in UT3. Do you think this DVD is idea for this kind of work ?

[[hP]]

Originally Posted by P2xelgen

It looks amazing.
I use to make UT levels, but I am thinking of doing some Environment work in UT3. Do you think this DVD is idea for this kind of work ?

I guess the pillar one, is better for you then.
:: Eat 3D :: Old Pillar

[P2xelgen]

Originally Posted by [hP]

I guess the pillar one, is better for you then.
:: Eat 3D :: Old Pillar

Ya but ant that mainly a 3d max mudbox tut, I only have 3d max and zbrush...

[[hP]]

The pipeline is what matters the most.

[Jonathan]

Eat3D DVDs are far better than Gnomons with this type of stuff. Gnomon, for some things, sorta quickly breezes over some things, and then wants you to buy "part two" when part one doesn't even seem like it's finished yet!

[Riki]

First off, thanks everyone for the overwhelmingly positive feedback! Id like to take a moment and answer some of the questions.

Originally Posted by Rhino

take it this is just texturing technique training vis to teach how to texture for next gen engines?

This is basically correct however it is not limited to that. There are a lot of textured techniques that could be used using any current engine.

Originally Posted by X-Convict

I have to agree with what Dennispls said. While what you say laughing_bun is true, that is not accounting for the time and memory that has to be alloted to the artist to complete this task. Assuming this is a 2048, from watching his other pillar tutorial, just for the main concrete that's 4 1024's, 8 512's, etc. You can create 4 512 different re-usable tiling concrete textures, and 4 unique object textures (that can be re-used throughout a scene, or even a level) with just that one set (diff/norm/spec) of materials for the concrete. It's too generic of a scene/set of objects to have such unique materials to be plausible for a general game environment and schedule. There are definitely special cases where things like this need to be done but there are memory limitations that we have to abide by, not to mention milestones, that restricts us from being able to do this on every asset we create.

I do think that the final result looks real cool though and I'm sure there is some good info on there that people can learn from.

There are so many tricks that can be used to pull off the same look in game. If you look at a lot of the gears of war stuff or stuff from other games in UE3, you will see that its indeed possible. With this texturing dvd I wanted to have a little fun and just focus on the texturing side, so I did break some rules on the 3d model itself to make sure it was a fun project. The pillar is a good example of a real game asset that I have created several times that ships.

Originally Posted by Geomancer

That tutorial looks awesome!! though I only have maya

Not sure if that will make a big difference or not.

The texturing DVD would definitely be worth the money if you area a maya user, the main focus is photshop. If you know how to create your normal maps with maya or something else, you can just interpret that step from what I describe on the video using 3dsmax.

Originally Posted by Talon

Is it just a "do this, do that" tutorial?

The end result is impressive (but sadly "next gen grey")... but I certrainly won't fork over £30 for a tutorial.

I go through the whole process and try to give underlying theory to why I do certain things. I always try and help people understand why I would do something a certain way. This may be something others can comment on better.
£30 Can be a great deal for getting good information, I remember paying $900 a class at art school.

Originally Posted by glynnsmith

I've just watched the sample video for that Eat3D DVD, and I'm not sure I could sit through any length of tutorial with his voice. Same with Meats Meier. His voice grates with me and I'm unable to watch his stuff :\

Impressive end result with the Eat3D vid, but it does kind of looks like every other next-gen env piece out there

Looking like every other next gen game out there can be a good thing when learning how to create a portfolio to get a job at all those companies. It may not be your style but it sure can make you valuable and get a nice paying job making tight art.
Sorry about the voice, there isnt much I can do about that, but it may be worth it to overlook those things when learning, I know I had to overcome a lot of things like that when going to art school.

Originally Posted by P2xelgen

It looks amazing.
I use to make UT levels, but I am thinking of doing some Environment work in UT3. Do you think this DVD is idea for this kind of work ?

This particular DVD is great really for texturing, for creating actual props and stuff like that, the Pillar tutorial may be better because it not only does texturing, but also the other stuff.

Thanks again guys, if you post anymore questions, Ill be sure to answer em,

Riki Babington
Sr Environment Artist
Eat 3D Instructor

[[hP]]

It's a pleasure having you among us Riki!

I did sit and watched through all the vids on the texturing DVD tutorial now, and I enjoyed it very much.
Just like you said, £30 Can be a great deal for getting good information, not many artists would give away their techniques like you did, and for that I am very thankful.

Can't wait to watch the pillar tutorial next. I hope you continue making such good tutorials in the future.

Cheers

[AlexanderSmith]

Whoah, my heart rate went up a bit seeing the quality of those textures and the price. Bookmarked and possible buy for sure!

[X-Convict]

Originally Posted by Riki

There are so many tricks that can be used to pull off the same look in game. If you look at a lot of the gears of war stuff or stuff from other games in UE3, you will see that its indeed possible. With this texturing dvd I wanted to have a little fun and just focus on the texturing side, so I did break some rules on the 3d model itself to make sure it was a fun project. The pillar is a good example of a real game asset that I have created several times that ships.

True, but you sacrifice unique areas and cause repetition to be able to use such assets. It's good if it's done right, just like anything. I'm sure this is a helpful tutorial for the most part, but I don't want there to be a perception to focus entirely on creating unique uv's and geometry for every asset for aspiring environment artists. Before I got into the game industry I didn't reuse a lot of geometry or textures because I wasn't aware of how everything worked and every asset I created was unique, so I had to jump head first into creating and figuring out reusable environments on my first game. I think understanding that side of asset creation is just as important as what you've shown.

[Taxi]

I bought it just now. The end result looks amazing and the tutor uses the same programs I use, good thing I found this now, this fall I'll be starting my game design course in Unreal Engine 3 so tutorials like this are a godsend to me. Can't wait to check it out.