Project 2

Creating dynamic environmental assets for video games

Current Knowledge

Basic hard asset creation. I've worked on some more technical assets, but sometimes fall short on the texturing.
I have no knowledge on a dynamic environment. I wish to know how to optimise subtle animation in an environment that can make it seem more alive.
I have no knowledge of 3D sculpting workflow. I would like to attempt to create or modify an asset in Mudbox.
I have basic knowledge on lighting but I would like to be able to light a scene so it truly looks appealing to the setting.

Learning objectives

Establishing a base knowledge of Game engines (Unreal, Unity)
Creating brushes and thumbnail sketches in Photoshop
Working with the ZBrush, Mudbox
Detailing the floor, walls, stairs, and surface of an environment in detail
Lighting a scene
Rendering your scene
Porting an asset into a game engine
Creating rigging for dynamic environments (rigging for doors)
Using multiple imported assets to create a dynamic environment

Tutorials

Creating an asset using Maya, Zbrush and substance painter

This tutorial focuses on creating a hut, large tree and rocks in a stylized fashion.

Video Game Hut

I decided to start with a tutorial for creating an asset that is mostly self contained like a building, with some environmental additions to it. It also leans towards a more stylised look, which is perfect for many games go for a simpler or stylized art direction.

My efforts in UV unwrapping the large tree. Once the process was explained repeating the method became fairly streamlined and mostly just became tedious. Selecting an individual branch

I individually UV unwrapped each tree limb and root, which took a bit longer then expected.

HutV1.mp4

The modelling for this hut from scratch was a lot of effort, the UV unwrapping was more time consuming then anticipated. Trying to follow the tutorial was slow, whilst I found some of it informative I would often pause and take notes for further reference. I mostly used it for reference for the finished project.

Sculpting a 3D asset

Welcome - Sculpting a Game Environment Video Tutorial | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.comJoin Mike Porter for an in-depth discussion in this video, Welcome, part of Sculpting a Game Environment.

This tutorial goes through the process of creating an environment from scratch in a 3D sculpting software. This tutorial is based in Zbrush, but I will attempt to follow along in Autodesk's Mudbox.

Creating the leaf in maya first. Fairly low poly, but suits the style well.

Leaf asset created in Maya then exported into Mudbox to give the visual of veins. Then I exported the Normal map from Mudbox to Maya and added it to the AiStandardSurface texture

The technique I used to create these rocks I learnt in the tutorial. I think they look great, when smoothed their polygon count doesn't seem to high which is good.

Quick tutorials I watched as an introduction into Mudbox.

I attempted to make the tree look more life like and weathered. Then exported the Normal map to add to the Tree back in Maya.

Maya to Unreal

The entire hut scene ported into Unreal Engine 4. This took a great deal of trail and error to get to work. There were so many different elements I hadn't dealt with before. Unfortunately I couldn't get the Arnold textures to work in Unreal. It looks a lot rougher then I expected, but this was my first time attempting to port maya assets into Unreal.

MAYA Hut Project Working Folder

Real-time visualization with Unreal Engine 4 - Unreal Engine Video Tutorial | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.comJoin Simon Manning for an in-depth discussion in this video, Real-time visualization with Unreal Engine 4, part of Unreal Essential Training (2019).

Creating a Forest in Unreal Engine 4

This tutorial a quick snapshot of the pipeline for creating a forest scene in Unreal Engine 4. Starting in Maya, to create the area base. Then using various assets already gathered in Unreal to customize the ground texture in real-time.

Andrew Finch Lead Environment Artist

Studied 3D animation at university of Wolverhampton

Worked for Rebellion for 3 years as an environment and lighting artist. He was a level owner and builder working on the Sniper Elite game series.

Andrew worked for Codemasters for 5 years as a senior environment artist and world builder. Having a major part in how the specialised racing games of the DiRT, GRID and F1® franchises looked throughout numerous editions.

The most recent company Andrew has been working with is Rare a legend of a studio in the gaming industry, created back in 1985 and has been making classics ever since. Andrew works as the lead environment artist for their latest IP Sea of Thieves. Still releasing new content this massively ambitious MMORPG.

"Sea of Thieves" Andrew's most recent project has a video game aesthetic that I would love to work with. It's an incredible looking game, while not being graphically impressive like big game studio 'God of War'. It still does a great job of looking appealing to the tone and doing a lot with seemingly low poly count assets.

Sea of Thieves, Andrew FinchHere are some screenshots from in game Sea of Thieves. Working at Rare as a Principle Environment artist I was responsible for environment work which is a huge team effort. Also overseeing the Time of Day lighting system for the whole world as well as the secondary lighting passes such as interiors and character lighting. It was a pleasure and great honour to be able to do these tasks for such a reputable studio as Rare.

Reflection

I may have been to ambitious with my original goals for this project. Though a combination of multiple set-backs and time mismanagement did force me to scale back the scope of what I wanted to achieve. I'm still happy with what I was able to create, as unpolished as it might be. There's so much I learnt with the tutorials I followed this trimester. Better methods for creating environmental assets like a tree and rocks. The UV unwrapping was a huge step up for me. Having to unwrap such a complex single model asset like the tree took some time. But I'm really happy with the results and will continue to use the new techniques I learnt.

The workflow for sculpting a 3D model was a completely new process for me. Took a lot of time watching tutorials and simply learning the workspace and tools available. I started small with the leaf asset. I didn't want to add to much to the model as its smaller and small detail is much less noticeable. Finished creating the veins and exported the Normal map and was really happy with the result, porting it into Maya and how it looked. The tree was a bigger obstacle and took more time to sculpt the tree seamlessly.

Porting the scene into Unreal was another process I had no prior knowledge of. A lot of time watching tutorials and understanding how Unreal Engine 4 works and the tools (which there are a lot of). This last step in the project was unfortunately rushed due to me spending far to much time and effort on another project.

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