Matt Canei’s Production Journal at Hi-Rez Studios

The focus of this week will be the multi-piece arch-support set for the Lab level. It has proven to be quite challenging but its off to a great start especially now that I got clarification on the design and found out what needs to be adjusted. Feeling good about things right now and this project is addressing two of the big concepts I wanted to get a better grasp on during this experience - modular design and better modeling/texturing techniques. The mindset that we’re being conditioned with is making a drastic difference on personal projects and work quality is vastly improved. It is all about volume and making sure light casts itself on objects in an interesting way - avoiding 90 degree and other sharp angles.

Tech Notes:

• Avoid the sharp angles and small bevels - don’t hesitate to exaggerate them by scaling it up or making it better.
• For similar modular pieces a good trick is to make the middle piece bigger and create a sort of slot for the outter pieces to slide in for shorter halls or to facilitate the process of adding more pieces for a wider hall.

Today was epic. Finally finished up my light and got it in-game, it looked much better in-game than anticipated - I’m very happy with it. Eric took a look at Hanako and was pretty impressed with the concept and direction. He had some really great suggestions for establishing the esseence and environment and increasing the believability. Starting on the Labs Arch set is very exciting - at first it was a very challenging-slightly intimidating task but I’m confident in my ability to deliver - and do so much more efficiently this time around.

Tech Notes:

• Do your bulk light pass right after BSP blocking to get the mood right then - so you can sell it early. Superior lighting will make even crappy art look good.
• Use terrain just for paths and areas around paths - cut out the rest and model it.
• Use more variation across textures - bases are just that- a starting point. Do more to establish surface material with normals and specular maps.
• Pay attention to the scale of terrain materials and how they are chosen - currently Kamo scaling of grass/mud makes character look way too small.
• For the time it takes to perfect dynamic physics it might be better to just hand animate the armor plates with the new skeleton.
• Consider paint effects trees to quickly generate trees -> convert to poly and clean up.

It feels great to be back at it and be re-centered after resting up after midterms with the help of a little wake-up call provided by midterm grades and talks with Tony. Had a great talk with Eric today about the career path, having the portfolio air tight and sending out packages 2-3 months before you’re actually ready to apply for a job. Some great advice was given pertaining to that whole mindset and already being in the city of the studio is a big plus, especially nowadays. Make sure to pick up MAX ASAP since it’s the most popular 3D package in Georgia. I’m going for it there’s not much else to say - it feels awesome to have the freight train going full speed again. Never settle - the last few days unleashed some more potential. The precursor to all of career-related talks with Eric was a discussion about Normal Map generation and the issues Maya has with it. Today (Thursday) was very productive got my normal maps done and got into doing my specular map plus all the others. Almost done with this light and ready to start the three-piece arch set hopefully Tuesday.

Tech Notes:

• Think about material types and adjust normal maps accordingly.
• The quality is far more important than quantity - make sure props are bullet-proof.
• Can achieve a lot of detail with specular maps to the point that diffuse can almost just be solid color.
• Specular maps don’t have to be black and white - can be in color to give colored specular highlights to match the environment better.
• Use procedurals in Maya to see how different colors in spec maps interact.
• For all Maya normal maps run an NVIDIA filter with Average RGB and Invert Y checked - don’t be alarmed if it looks like your normals got erased.
• Take out/turn off any surface texture maps when generating Ambient Occlusion for new depth details like vents in CrazyBump.

Midterms week is among us! Two things immediately come to mind- a lot of hard work and sleep deprivation. Any ways today was all about texturing and Eric gave a really informative lecture on texturing. Some of the principles will come in especially handy for building some of the modular pieces for Hanako. Worked on my texture for the fixture all day Thursday and learned an epic method for making modular normal map details. This week was a grind operating on maybe a total of two hours of sleep but it’s a thing of the past now - going to rest up and get back on things Saturday probably.

Tech Notes:

• Stay away from contrast areas when making textural bases - scale it down or convert to pattern and make it repeat -> step back and look for patterns in the texture. Even if the bounds are solid the contrast areas force an atrocious looking tiling effect.
• The Varation Texture Principle: Start with a perfectly seamless/tileable base then use that as base layer for infinite amounts of variations like a base roof than a variation with missing shingles or extra decoration.
• In Unreal try to achieve as much as possible with just Diffuse/Spec/Normal -> paramaterize these elements with 2×2 fillers.
• The lower the # of texture instructions the better.
• For texture painting workflow add in grayscale details that will contrinute to the normal map detail before getting into the diffuse/color properties. Little bit opposite of what I’m accustomed to - either way knowing as many different methods as possible can only prove beneficial in the future.
• Modular Normal Maps - done by projecting normals in Maya from a detail piece down to a plane. For example, to put a vent on the side of a tank or something, instead of painting it in photoshop or modeling it into the actual base model - model the vent with a plane - project that normal in Maya and paste/scale in Photoshop to fit where you want that detail. Do not rotate normal map clip in photoshop - rather go back to maya and rotate the plane and re-project normals there instead. This will make for way better detail than generating from crazybump and more efficient than having it as actual geometry on the mesh.

Today was all about making sure I completely understand the normal map generation process. There’s a few adjustments that need to be made in the modeling thought process for this reason - really thinking about where to put edge loops - emphasis REALLY THINK ABOUT IT. In other areas of the mind sleep deprivation time baby - everyday should be 36 hours long if you’re in the game industry. Been trying to keep a balance between all the responsibilities everywhere - it’s extremely difficult and is definitely taking its toll. Regardless, the experiences going on right now as a whole are fantastic and things are clicking on all cylinders - I’m at my best when things are getting done regardless of any level of fatigue. What it boils down to is learning as much as possible and taking an approach of antiquity to the whole process. This is a craft in a classical sense and I’m an apprentice in a variety of ways working towards eventually becoming a master - each day is a step closer - the time, effort and dedication will be put in. Things are extremely interesting when tasks start piling up, sleep becomes increasingly evasive, energy levels are low but somehow at the end of the day great work was completed and it was fueled by solely passion. That’s what it takes… In other news, finally got clean normals on my light fixture and should have the process down now. This process should be much quicker to complete next time around.

Tech Notes

• Don’t be afraid of tris they are very powerful at fixing issues and correcting geometrical flaws.
• The Hi/Lo models don’t need to be all that different or have a huge poly count difference between the two before smoothing.
• Put a blinn on the model and look for lighting breaks or seams. Lo poly model should be completely devoid of lighting line breaks or at least as close to clean as possible.

Note: Tech notes at times are limited due to the fact that a majority of the time at the studio is spent at this stage actually working in the software and putting previous technical notes into practice to master them. So basically the present notes are coming from questions that are being asked or summaries of explanations given during the learning curve. The other guys and I have talked about claims that our tech notes are “too short” but we are taking in what’s new and writing it, and mostly omitting things that overlap with SCAD teachings - some of the more fundamental principles.

Got in and started exploring some more levels to make sure I was perfectly reacquainted with the art style before carrying on. Eric came by shortly after I got in and presented a rough architectural concept for a hallway support piece. It is going to be broken down into three pieces for modular considerations which is right up my alley due to the desire to add an understanding and eventual mastery of functional modular design. The concept looks prety sweet and arch is something I want to do so this is a great segway into that once the light fixture is complete. I honestly didn’t expect to get a relatively complicated piece thrown my way pretty early but it was definitely a great surprise, I’m really glad to get the opportunity to contribute to the game and that fact really adds to the experience. On a semi-unrelated side note I can’t freaking wait to get here every day - this whole experience has been absolutely awesome and gets me amped up and I always head back to school every day inspired and absolutely ready to dominate any task that awaits me there. For anyone that is around me a lot - my amped/celebratory “BOOM! / Down-Punch” gesture happens very often - most times mentally because well - it’s a loud victory move.

Technical Notes:

• For objects with form-fitting profiles like perhaps a column that conforms to a wall/trim - modify the profile to fit a flat surface so it is not unique to just that wall.
• X-Normal as a possible alternative to Maya Transfer Maps if normal projections are crappy. Especially useful for projecting on characters/highly organic models.
• UV seams aren’t a huge issue like they are with characters and our taught UV method. Maintaining undistorted UVs in more pieces is more prefered than less pieces/seams and some distortion.
• Try to follow and mimic actual topology i UVs as much as possible -> which probably means only use relax as a last resort. Presently I use relax as a primary step -> for best UVs that isn’t necessarily the best way for classic 2D photoshop painting.
• Think about how objects would actually be constructed if they really existed. Paint in that detail such as: was a light fixtured forged from metal in one piece or put together in panels? *This thought process needs to become second nature ASAP.
• Terrain is very heavy in Unreal especially with very complex terrain layer set-ups - avoid using terrain unless necessary - especially for large backgrounds and such.
• Can export terrain from unreal -> maya in .stl format - it’s crazy high poly.
• Use that as measuring stick for more terra-pieces.
• Make edges of terrain follow path flow so there’s not tri breaks between terrain and terra pieces.

Overall getting in-game for the third time is pretty sweet. The game has come a long way and is really coming together from the first time I played a long time ago. Today/This week to me is all about sponging up the art style and the total essence of the game so that I can begin to contribute in as many ways as possible. Note to self: Don’t forget to ask Eric about modular design implementation beyond the actual principle itself. (Taken care of: discussed for a while how they go about doing so, it’s all about very precise pre-planning and being extremely precise with grid settings in both maya and unreal - definitely something to put into practice immediately). The contrast between character/environments that they spoke if is definitely apparent. There’s no way any characters will ever fade into the background (unless a recon is in stealth BOOM). Since running around and getting a feel for the levels I put together some light fixture designs and got started modeling one - trying to make it as quality as possible so it can actually go to use and can be taken further than a fantastic learning experience. Might as well take it beyond the expectation things are a lot better that way.

Technical Notes:

• Remember Perforce (P4V) as a possible better solution over SVN.
• Can set up sockets for any kind of attachment with or without bones (for sheath or hanging weapons on the body or whatever we want really).
• Use Ladders and ladder volumes to make objects easier to scale over if they are climbable objects.
• Avoid sharp 90-degree or near-90 degree angles and transitions between model edges so they take better to lighting and generate better normal maps. Also look more volumetric when viewed straight on or really from any angle.

The first time walking in was a bit strange. Wasn’t really nervous at all but just wanted to make a great first impression, that whole ordeal. The lady handed me a temporary badge to get into the building for the remainder of the class - EPIC! It felt like a sort of symbolic day personally speaking because getting an opportunity at the place I’ve been trying to get into and the place I want to be was a huge milestone being met. I was reminded of a quote from one of my favorite grade school teachers Mr. Gruszecki, “Today is the first day of the rest of your lives.” I couldn’t wait to get in, meet the team and get to work. I had a lot of questions about the workflow and pipeline that were answered through the video lessons that I completed. The pipeline overall is pretty similar to our Unreal pipeline at SCAD from the outside, but getting into individual tasks there are a lot of differences in the modeling/uving/texturing processes that are fairly different but are greatly effective. My self-lesson that was gathered after the first session: better attention to detail. After the second session I’m pretty amped and will look forward to going back every chance I get, the place is epic with great people and I couldn’t enjoy it any more. Hopefully things continue looking up, until then will keep digging deep and being a human sponge for knowledge.
Technical Stuff:

• Basic modeling pipeline is virtually identical to ours at SCAD. Maya->Photoshop->CrazyBump->Unreal
• Make this mel script to move your pivot point to the origin (basically syncing up your maya pivot point and unreal pivot point so they are the same before export) “move -rpr -ws 0 0 0; rotate -r 0 180 0; axmesh”
• Secondary UV Set for lightmaps on ALL static meshes
• UV Set Editor - make a new set w/ no UVs - flat, non-overlapping, zero-one space UVs
• Use multiple edge loops then set to 1 so edge loops snap to the center by default.
• Bevel edges not objects - works really well for splitting an edge in two to get a nice transition between sides of objects.
• New merge vertex tool - click drag from one vert. to another to merge.
• Pin UVs tool for UVs useful for linear objects to keep UVs in a line straight after unwrapping.
• Transfer maps is epic - good for normal maps for props as opposed to spending a ton of production time sculpting in zbrush for more generic/modular objects.
• Color -> Batch Bake is awesome for baking shadows and ambient occlusion into texture maps before actually painting them. (Using the AO map as a base texture instead of colorized normal map works a little bit better).
• Bring in ambient occlusion map and set to multiply blend mode above your base color (again similar to the colorize normal map method).
• Massive texture library should be made BEFORE anything is actually modeled, whether you use them all or not, have all of that at your disposal. This should apply even if you have highly catered, unique textures.
• To combine two normal maps overlay one on another then run the custom action from rodgreen.com/?p=4