EnvironmentSculpting

Environment Sculpting

Environment sculpting is the process of creating a high-resolution 3D model with a series of painting strokes, using a pressure-sensitive tablet or screen. Usually the details from these models are baked into a NormalMap for a lower-resolution in-game model.

Sculpting Tutorials

• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt christopher.png <
  > Rock Sculpting Tutorial - by Jacob M. Christopher.<
  >Sculpting unique non-tiled rock forms with Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop, and Unreal.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt rooz3d.png <
  > Rock sculpting videos - by Behrooz 'rooz3d' Roozbeh, a Naughty Dog artist working on Uncharted 2.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt henrichsenvironment.png <
  > Sculpting for environment stuff - video tutorials - by Sascha Henrichs<
  >Sculpting a wooden plank, a sandstone rock, and a tiled cliff.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt henrichsproceduralstone.png <
  > 3dsmax Environment Modeling #1 Procedural Stone - by Sascha Henrichs<
  >Using 3ds max procedural modifiers and maps to sculpt a sandstone rock, and easily create multiple variations.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt ardolinoproceduralstone.png <
  > Rock Generator script for 3dsmax - by Alessandro Ardolino<
  >A scripted tool for creating rocks in 3ds max, inspired by Sascha Henrichs' tutorial.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt ardolinoproceduralwall.png <
  > Stone Placement Tools script for 3dsmax - by Alessandro Ardolino<
  >A scripted tool for creating stone walls and floors in 3ds max.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt amorimstone.png <
  > Stone Tutorial - by Pedro "bitmap" Amorim<
  >Sculpting a rock using Modo, ZBrush, Meshlab, and Photoshop.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt manjuriantile.png <
  > Tiles for normal map in Zbrush 3.5 - by manjurian<
  >Silent timelapse showing the sculpting of a section of distressed tiles, with grout.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt plunqironworks.png <
  > ZSketch Ironworks - by plunq<
  >Silent timelapse showing the sculpting of a wrought iron screen, from reference.<
  ><
  >

Tiled Sculpting

Sculpting in order to create a tiling NormalMap or DisplacementMap texture.

• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt khalamea.png <
  > Temple Interior tiling texture process - by Nicole 'Khalamea' Tan
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt glynnsmithwall.png <
  > Modular brick wall tiling - by Glynn Smith<
  >Tips and screenshots for sculpting modular brick walls.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt johnstonegears2modular.png <
  > Gears of War 2 modular modeling - by Kevin Johnstone + more info + even more info<
  >Tips and screenshots of using the grid for modular work.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt eulaerswall.png]] <
  > Generic wall tutorial - by Bram "Peris" Eulaers<
  >Using 3ds Max and Mudbox to sculpt tilable for a stone wall.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt rockmodelingapproaches.png <
  > Rock modeling approaches - a Polycount thread <
  >A variety of approaches for sculpting individual rocks and tilable cliffs.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt shepherdtilingmeshes.png]] <
  > Creating Perfectly Tiling Meshes in Zbrush for use in Videogame Environments - by Owen "SHEPEIRO" Shepherd<
  >Using ZBrush's 2.5D canvas to tile stamped meshes, then using Maya to model tilable geometry.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt robsonmudboxtiling.png <
  > Creating Tiled Textures and Displacement in Mudbox 2009 - by Wayne Robson<
  >Painting in Mudbox on the middle of a 3x3 grid where each quad has the same overlapped UVs. (video is about halfway down the page)<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt henrichsmudboxtilingstone.png <
  > Tileable Stone in Mudbox - by Sascha Henrichs<
  >Sculpting in Mudbox, loading the displacement map in Photoshop for the offset filter, then fixing the seams with more sculpting in Mudbox.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt jamesonzbrushtilingstone.png <
  > Tiling Rock Tutorial in Zbrush - by Stephen Jameson<
  >Sculpting in Zbrush, loading the normal map in Photoshop for the offset filter, then fixing the seams in Photoshop.<
  ><
  >

Optimization And Re-Topology

• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt eulaersoptimization.png <
  > Optimisation workflow tutorial - by Bram "Peris" Eulaers<
  >Using Meshlab to optimize a Mudbox environment sculpt for import into 3ds Max.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt retopoworkflow.png <
  > Retopo workflow - a Polycount thread<
  >Short discussion of re-topo methods for a ZBrush character model. <
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt retopologyinmaya.png <
  > Retopology in Maya - a Polycount thread<
  >Longer discussion of re-topo in Maya and other apps, like Topogun.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt zuccarellodecimation.png <
  > ZBrush Decimation Master With HD Sculpting - by Nick Zuccarello<
  >In-depth video tutorial with voice-over.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt zuccarelloresurfacing.png <
  > Resurfacing A Mesh In Maya - by Nick Zuccarello<
  >In-depth video tutorial with voice-over.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt pikoptopogun.png <
  > Creating Topology in Topogun - by Joe "stoofoo" Pikop<
  >In-depth video tutorial with voice-over.<
  ><
  >
• File:EnvironmentSculpting$sculpt retopoblender.png <
  > Re-Topologize a Game-Ready Alien Head in Blender - by Jonathan Williamson<
  >In-depth video tutorial with voice-over.<
  ><
  >

<<Anchor(Re-Topology_Apps)>><<Anchor(Hard-Surface_Sculpting)>>

More Information

See for sculpting apps, see CharacterSculpting for character-based tutorials, see BaseMesh for downloadable meshes and base mesh modeling advice.

---