SkankerzeroModularCharacterSystem - Revision history

EricChadwick: Nov 2011

2017-09-27T12:25:29Z

Nov 2011

EricChadwick: restoring images and tables

2015-01-25T20:29:47Z

restoring images and tables

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Cheeseplus: 10 revisions

2014-07-29T08:45:20Z

10 revisions

EricChadwick: category cleanup

2014-05-25T15:02:12Z

category cleanup

EricChadwick: removed "in progress

2012-12-18T19:11:03Z

removed "in progress

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2012-12-18T18:21:41Z

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2012-12-18T18:09:28Z

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2012-12-18T17:55:50Z

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EricChadwick: work in progress

2012-03-15T11:25:18Z

work in progress

EricChadwick at 11:21, 15 March 2012

2012-03-15T11:21:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:25, 27 September 2017
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	= Skankerzero Modular Character System =		= Skankerzero Modular Character System =
		+	November 2011

	How to create a modular character system, by [http://www.skankerzero.com/ Jesse 'skankerzero' Sosa]. Mirrored from the Polycount thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91509 MUTANT Little League TEAM].		How to create a modular character system, by [http://www.skankerzero.com/ Jesse 'skankerzero' Sosa]. Mirrored from the Polycount thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91509 MUTANT Little League TEAM].

@@ Line 561: / Line 561: @@
 |-
 |}
 ----
-[[Category:Character]] [[Category:CharacterDesign]] [[Category:CharacterModeling]] [[Category:CharacterTexturing]]
+[[Category:Character]] [[Category:CharacterModeling]] [[Category:CharacterTexturing]] [[Category:EnvironmentModularity]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 = Skankerzero Modular Character System =
-{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
+How to create a modular character system, by [http://www.skankerzero.com/ Jesse 'skankerzero' Sosa]. Mirrored from the Polycount thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91509 MUTANT Little League TEAM].
-|}
-−
-''How to create a modular character system, by [http://www.skankerzero.com/ Jesse 'skankerzero' Sosa]. Mirrored from the Polycount thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91509 MUTANT Little League TEAM].''

@@ Line 410: / Line 410: @@
 Baking lighting onto all the parts.
-	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1070x554.
+{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
 Taking all the parts and piecing together your unique characters.
-	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 2376x748.
+{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
 Texture wip sneak peek:
 == Texturing ==
 Finished texturing all 9 characters.
-	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1731x942.
+{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
 RGB and Alpha:
-	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x512.
+{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
 I'm texturing using my own style. I developed my style as a way to make my 3d models look like my illustrations. It is very illustrative. I do a majority of it with the polygon lasso tool and a couple taps of the airbrush.
@@ Line 490: / Line 505: @@
 It's a complex shader as you can imagine, but there were no shader limitations in this challenge, so yay!
 group shot wip
 == More Info ==
 [[Category:EnvironmentModularity]]
 ----
 [[Category:Character]] [[Category:CharacterDesign]] [[Category:CharacterModeling]] [[Category:CharacterTexturing]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:55, 18 December 2012
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	I'll know for sure if I have to remove parts or if I can add parts during the uv phase.		I'll know for sure if I have to remove parts or if I can add parts during the uv phase.
		+
		+	== More Info ==
		+	I'm going to be uving these guys next and adding what geometry I'm missing all this week. Hopefully I'll be starting texturing this coming weekend.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	For this challenge, I'll isolate variations and delete the excess.
		+	When I was at TRI, we would export the full model with all the parts out. We would randomize it in real time with an XML sheet that contained the rules for randomization. It was all naming convention based.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	Usually there is very little issues when it comes to rigging. As long as I follow my rules then they should work just as well as any other characters.
		+	Suspenders aren't that big of an issue. The geometry has to mirror the geometry that's underneath them. It will lead to some crappy looking topology, but they will deform exactly like the torso.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	Thanks!
		+	Each variation is roughly 2500. I'll make sure to optimize on the final models if I have to.
		+
		+	== UV Mapping your parts ==
		+	Once you've created your parts, it's time to uvmap them.
		+
		+	Follow whatever pipeline you are comfortable with.
		+	For this I'm using Headus UVLayout. I take all my parts and unfold them.
		+
		+	I then take them back into Max and check to make sure there isn't any distortion.
		+
		+	At this point, I take some time to go and model a couple more heads and body parts.
		+
		+	Now it's time to pack your uvs.
		+
		+	== Packing your UVs ==
		+
		+	Before we begin packing our uvs, let's take a step back and think about how we want to lay them out.
		+
		+	One thing most game artists don't know (especially character artists) is that every 32-bit texture is actually 4 grayscale textures.
		+
		+	This means that with a single 512x512 you have the same amount of pixels as a 1024x1024 if you choose to texture your character only using grayscale. This is, of course, if your game's shader system allows you to use individual channels. I'm using Terminal Reality's Infernal Engine, and it lets you do just that.
		+
		+	For my model, I decided that I need full RGB for certain pieces of the model, but not all of it. So this means that I'm going to use the RGB channel to color those areas and the other areas will be mapped through the alpha channel.
		+
		+	My first step is to separate the geometry into the two groups and pack each group into it's own space.
		+
		+	Each group should now have it's own set of uvs.
		+
		+	* *Protip -
		+	As I was packing the uvs, if it turned out I needed to scale the uv islands, I would collapse the stack, select both groups, and scale ALL the islands across both groups to keep the pixel density consistent across the entire model.
		+
		+	Once you have packed all yoru pieces, you're ready to move to the next step.
		+
		+	== Preparing the Textures ==
		+
		+	We all have our own pipelines, but I thought I would give you guys a peek into mine. I won't break apart my pipeline as that can be saved for another time.
		+
		+	Here are some snapshots:
		+
		+	Baking lighting onto all the parts.
		+	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1070x554.
		+
		+	Taking all the parts and piecing together your unique characters.
		+	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 2376x748.
		+
		+	Texture wip sneak peek:
		+
		+	== Texturing ==
		+
		+	Finished texturing all 9 characters.
		+	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1731x942.
		+
		+	RGB and Alpha:
		+	This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x512.
		+
		+	I'm texturing using my own style. I developed my style as a way to make my 3d models look like my illustrations. It is very illustrative. I do a majority of it with the polygon lasso tool and a couple taps of the airbrush.
		+	The above screens have no lighting in max.
		+
		+	Up next is playing with masks to color the uniforms.
		+
		+	Also. Have to build a base for the group to stand on.
		+	I will also be building mock screenshots for 'menu selection' to show the characters within the context of the 'game'.
		+
		+	== Q&A ==
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	you are correct. A mask image will be used to apply color to the uniforms.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	You're right too. I was going to give one of the robots pants, but then decided against it. So right now the two captains have the pants.
		+
		+	All these guys are modular, so in the end, I can add pants to whoever I want depending on the final pose.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	You're right. I'll go back in there and add more color to the shadows.
		+
		+	There were a couple parts that were going to be colored through the shader (like the skeleton bones), but in the end I didn't have enough room in the alpha for their uvs, so I put them into the rgb.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	If I get time to. The rig for that is in Maya, and I don't have access to that right now.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	Nope, just different uv coordinates. If I had a programmer with me and this was an actual game, the uv coordinates for the numbers would be the same and I would use a font for the number. For this competition though, I just had to fake it.
		+
		+	Thanks for all the feedback guys! Hopefully I'll have time to make this as awesome as I can.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	oh hmm. Yeah. not sure what to do about that at this point. The most that can be done is variation in the spikes.
		+
		+	One of the limitations when it comes to making a crowd system is not being able to fully customize each character as you want to. It's all about compromise.
		+
		+	I think the screenshot might have something to do with the repetitive feeling of the thigh spikes. When I rotate the model around to the front, its not so noticeable. I'm hoping when they're all posed and grouped together, it will just feel 'right' and bring them together as a team.
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|-
		+	\|}
		+	Hey Austin!
		+
		+	I'm using a mask image in which the R channel is the detail for the decals, and the A is the opacity for them.
		+
		+	I crammed 4 masks for uniform color in the G and using a 2d transform to stretch them out and offset them before piping color through them.
		+
		+	Then in the B channel, I have 4 more masks for the robots and the color for the logos. I use a 2d transform to stretch them out and pipe colors through them as well.
		+
		+	So basically the G and B channels hold 8 256x256 texture masks.
		+
		+	It's a complex shader as you can imagine, but there were no shader limitations in this challenge, so yay!
		+
		+	== ==
		+	group shot wip

	== More Info ==		== More Info ==

← Older revision	Revision as of 08:45, 29 July 2014
(No difference)

← Older revision	Revision as of 11:25, 15 March 2012
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← Older revision		Revision as of 11:21, 15 March 2012
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	= Skankerzero Modular Character System =		= Skankerzero Modular Character System =
		+
		+	{\| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
		+	\|}
		+
	''How to create a modular character system, by [http://www.skankerzero.com/ Jesse 'skankerzero' Sosa]. Mirrored from the Polycount thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91509 MUTANT Little League TEAM].''		''How to create a modular character system, by [http://www.skankerzero.com/ Jesse 'skankerzero' Sosa]. Mirrored from the Polycount thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91509 MUTANT Little League TEAM].''