--This thread includes various links and descriptions for 3d modeling and image editing programs. If you have any suggestions or comments, or even find something you think is a problem, please drop me a PM or reply to the thread.--_____________________________
Free E-book various professionals from all over the virtual gaming and entertainment industry contribute to.
http://www.artbypapercut.com/_____________________________
Before anything else, here are some terms. (Open spoiler to view).Edge: A line between two points, or vertices.
Vertex: A point defined in space(vertices for plural).
Triangle: A 3 sided flat surface.
Polygon: A flat surface such as a square or octagon made up of triangles.
Quad: A 4 sided polygon, or a square, comprised of two triangles.
Face: A face is a flat surface of a three-dimensional object.
Bone: A pivot point put on a model for animation of geometry.
Rigging: The setup of bones on a 3d model to prepare it for animation.
Polygon Modeling: A technique in 3d modeling where basic shapes are made into complex objects.
Digital Sculpting: 3d modeling that is similar in technique to clay sculpting in real life.
Texture: An image applied to a 3d model, also called a Diffuse Map.
Normal Map: A texture that imitates detail by making a flat surface look more complex than it actually is through shading or distorting certain parts.
Spectral Map: A texture that determines how light will be reflected off of a surface and how bright it will be.
Bake: Baking stands for when you take a highly detailed model, "take a picture" of its surface, and create a Normal Map to use on a lower detailed version of that model.
UV Map: A UV map is how a program applies a texture to your 3d model, like XY co-ordinates.
UVW Map: Similar to a UV map, but adds a W, or XYZ instead of XY.
UVW Unwrap: UVW Unwrapping is a very common technique used to apply a texture to a model.
Topology: The surface and geometry of your 3d model.
Reference Image: A image such as concept art put in the background of a 3d modeling program for a modeler to create the shape of an object proportionally.
Modifier: Some programs have modifiers that you can apply to your model, they do various things like increase the detail of the topology so you can add more detail or smooth the surface of it, among other things.
Shaders: Shaders are computer programs that create shading, or the perception of depth and distance. Modern shaders have many purposes includes affecting or creating lighting, post-processing effects in games, hue, saturation, and colour.
Draw Calls: (very simplified) Draw Calls are when a game loads each resource needed for a 3d scene. It’s important that you know if the same model is used over and over again in a scene, it will run slow due to “calling” on that object model and image multiple times, but if the various models were placed are combined into one big model, it will be much more optimized as it will only have to render it as a whole model with one image, instead of rendering each model individually.
For the best description I’ve encountered on draw calls, I suggest reading this great Q&A from the
Unity Community LOD(Level of Detail): Level of detail is decreasing the complexity of a 3D object and/or its texture as it moves away from the viewer to improve performance. Using level of detail increases efficiency by decreasing the workload.
Particles: For particles I suggest reading this great article from
www.pxleyes.comSmoothing Groups: Smoothing groups are what determines if the surface of an object is hard or smoothed and there is usually more than 1 smoothing group on an object for different surfaces on the model.
I won’t waste anyone’s time with expensive software (up to 4000$+) so I’ve split the programs into two different categories, Free and Bought. (Almost every bought program has a trial if you want to try them out though, and the Autodesk products all have educational versions for college students.)
FREE=========
BlenderA free 3d modeling software with wide community support, used by many indie studios for its low cost of FREE, abundant features, and ease of use. (Apparently Arcitecht uses it along with Zbrush and 3D-Coat.)
Blender LinkSketchupFormerly known as Google Sketchup, Sketchup is an intuitive modeling software that is well known for its ease of use.
Sketchup LinkSculptris“Sculptris is an elegant, powerful and yet easy to use 3D sculpting software.”
Sculptris LinkGMaxGMax is a free modeling program derived off of much earlier versions of 3ds Max.
GMax LinkMilkshape 3D"MilkShape 3D is a low-polygon modeler, which was initially designed for use with Half-Life. By and by many file formats and features have been added. "
Milkshape 3DWings 3D"Wings 3D is an advanced subdivision modeler that is both powerful and easy to use."
Wings 3D____________
BOUGHT=========
MudboxMudbox is a digital sculpting software developed by the software company Autodesk.
Mudbox LinkFull capability 30 day trial -
Educational Version for certain college students - $795
3ds Max3ds Max is a modeling software developed by Autodesk, it comes it two versions, 3ds Max(For games and entertainment) and 3ds Max Design(More suited for architects).
3ds Max LinkFull capability 30 day trial -
Educational Version for certain college students - $3,675
MayaMaya is also a modeling software developed by Autodesk, the difference being it's designed with a focus on organic modeling in mind, such as people or plants.
Maya LinkFull capability 30 day trial -
Educational Version for certain college students - $3,675
MotionBuilderA software by Autodesk that is used to create interpolated and smooth animations for character models.
MotionBuilder LinkFull capability 30 day trial -
Educational Version for certain college students - $4,195
ZbrushZbrush is a digital sculpting and painting program that utilizes “powerful features and intuitive workflows”.
Zbrush Link$699
3D-Coat“3D-Coat is the one application that has all the tools you need to take your 3D idea from a block of digital clay all the way to a production ready, fully textured organic or hard surface model.”
3D-Coat LinkHas a trial- Currently discounted versions until July 1st, 2013
TopoGun"TopoGun is a stand-alone resurfacing and maps baking application."
TopoGun LinkVery limited trial for evaluating the product- $100
_____________
Polygon estimates for models in TDLWhile these are the general guidelines, keep in mind a model could be much less than 1000 while still looking great, and smaller items such as soda cans, bags of chips, batteries, etc. should definitely be less than 1000 polygons.Level Of Detail Guidelines:
High Detail (first person/close up): 1000 polys
LOD 1(three feet or less): 800 polys
LOD 2(mid-ranged): 400 polys
LOD 3(Far Away): 200 polys
LOD 4(Very far away): 50 polys.
Goal: Maintain silhouette.Also, if you want to post models for TDL in the survivor creations section, be sure to include the polygon count, pictures of the wireframe, and the normal view of the model in all of its glory.
==============
Below are (in this order) free programs for creating textures or manipulating images for your model, free game engines how your model performs can be viewed, and finally general tutorial websites and specific tutorials.
==============
Image Manipulation SoftwaresxNormalxNormal is a free program that bakes all the maps needed, normal maps, spectral maps, ect. The cool part is, it can bake textures from your high poly model, and apply them to your low poly model, which helps if you don't have a program like Zbrush or Topogun.xNormal Link_____
Gimp:
http://getgimp.com/Gimp has most of the capabilities Photoshop has, but is a free software. While Gimp may look daunting at first, it is actually easy to use when you become used to it._____
Paint.Net:
http://www.getpaint.net/Basically an advanced Windows Paint with much more capability and backbone. This could be used hand in hand with gimp for photo touch-ups.==============
A few links of publicly available game engines to see how a model will perform in a game engine.Unreal Development KitCryEngine 3Unity==============
TutorialsGENERAL
http://www.polycount.comhttp://www.3dmotive.com/http://www.3dtotal.com/index.phphttp://eat3d.comhttp://www.justmakegames.com/http://www.cgrats.com/http://www.free3dtutorials.com/Youtube can be your best friend, use it.
SPECIFIC
--Sketchup--The best sketchup tutorial out there for games I have seen, the principals shown are pretty awesome for making quality optimized models in sketchup.3ds Max but applicable to everything for modeling guns- Credit to xxswatelitexx for findingArenovalis’ Tutorial Series
| 
more
