This past week I delved into making some assets and textures for said assets. Little did I know, it would be a lot more difficult than I thought. This week, I'll be talking about the current art challenges that I have been facing with my current project.
So, yeah...I lied. I know. Trust broken. You'll be alright, I promise. I didn't really make any assets in. After sitting at work and messing around with stuff for a while, I realized how long that would really take. I do have some experience and can do some things in 3DS Max, but nothing fancy. After asking around, I found this website called Turbosquid. Here is where I found a bunch for free models. Now, I will tell you this: If you plan on going there for free stuff, be wary about what you download. It's trustworthy, but a lot of it may not be compatible with what you are using. You'll have to more than likely convert units or have a proper updated version of 3DS Max (or Maya, whatever your poison is). Really, if you are an artist, or if you have a willing artist, you should use them. The free stuff on Turbosquid isn't what you would call...stunning. But, you get what you pay for. And I'm fine with that for the moment. The stuff I needed is simple enough like boxes, doors, or barrels. It's all good. If you are a person who needs art assets quick, and on a budget, the place is solid. You'll just need to do a little work to get them exported and all the other junk. Like texturing.
Now, I'll be the first to say that I have no idea what I'm doing in this department. I know the basics like trying to keep things as low-poly as possible, and I know the basic rules. Stuff that a designer should know. But lighting, and texture-mapping? I might as well be trying to read Spanish (which, I used to not be so terrible at). Anyway, it's something I never encountered personally. When I actually got around to laying textures down, I was a bit disappointed. And really, I should have seen it coming. Everything sort of looks...flat. That's when I started remembering about normal and bump maps. In the upcoming days I plan on learning a bit about them and trying to apply these textures soon. I know they won't be perfect, but I don't have too much time. I also have my artist friend at work to give me some guidance. He does cool character concept art, but I feel like he can help me when we are working the same shift together. I got this.
One last thing: PREFABS! Talk about something that is bugging me. Prefabs are something that designers or programmers create that makes life easier. Prefabs take different components located in the scene, and make it into one who instance. So every time you need that same object, you can just grab it. Without prefabs, imagine you need to set up about three air conditioners in your house. Now, imagine you have to make the air conditioner before you set it into place. All those pieces everywhere, and it's so time consuming, right? It would be easier just taking it out of the box and sticking it in the window. That is essentially what prefabs are. Now, they are agravating me because I can't save any. I have some clue. It could be a saving issue, or something with the editor. This is a problem I have never had before with prefabs so I'm going to have to do some digging. Which means...you know it...Google! Really, Google and Youtube are the only things anyone needs in life. I grew up loving books and libraries, but I have to say forget all that. If you really want to learn random (or big stuff), the internet is there. I learned so much on my own just by searching anything. I probably wouldn't have been able to do this project without it.
So, that's it for this week! I got some art asset stuff to do, and that'll be it! Oh so very close. I plan on trying to go into overdrive and finish within the next two weeks. Who knows, maybe I'll finish by the next post. That would be pretty cool. Hope to see you all next week!
Now, I'll be the first to say that I have no idea what I'm doing in this department. I know the basics like trying to keep things as low-poly as possible, and I know the basic rules. Stuff that a designer should know. But lighting, and texture-mapping? I might as well be trying to read Spanish (which, I used to not be so terrible at). Anyway, it's something I never encountered personally. When I actually got around to laying textures down, I was a bit disappointed. And really, I should have seen it coming. Everything sort of looks...flat. That's when I started remembering about normal and bump maps. In the upcoming days I plan on learning a bit about them and trying to apply these textures soon. I know they won't be perfect, but I don't have too much time. I also have my artist friend at work to give me some guidance. He does cool character concept art, but I feel like he can help me when we are working the same shift together. I got this.
One last thing: PREFABS! Talk about something that is bugging me. Prefabs are something that designers or programmers create that makes life easier. Prefabs take different components located in the scene, and make it into one who instance. So every time you need that same object, you can just grab it. Without prefabs, imagine you need to set up about three air conditioners in your house. Now, imagine you have to make the air conditioner before you set it into place. All those pieces everywhere, and it's so time consuming, right? It would be easier just taking it out of the box and sticking it in the window. That is essentially what prefabs are. Now, they are agravating me because I can't save any. I have some clue. It could be a saving issue, or something with the editor. This is a problem I have never had before with prefabs so I'm going to have to do some digging. Which means...you know it...Google! Really, Google and Youtube are the only things anyone needs in life. I grew up loving books and libraries, but I have to say forget all that. If you really want to learn random (or big stuff), the internet is there. I learned so much on my own just by searching anything. I probably wouldn't have been able to do this project without it.
So, that's it for this week! I got some art asset stuff to do, and that'll be it! Oh so very close. I plan on trying to go into overdrive and finish within the next two weeks. Who knows, maybe I'll finish by the next post. That would be pretty cool. Hope to see you all next week!