STARR Method: Learning goals worked on: Setting up modular meshes for efficient texturing using texture atlas technique (3).
Research methodology used: Practice-based research
I was lacking knowledge on how to incorporate Photoshop into my texturing workflow. Because of that, I decided to use Photoshop when adding the final details such as the logo for the store sign and the shutters for some of the windows (Figure 01).
I have never used Photoshop when making foliage as well, so after some research into workflows that include the software, I followed their steps and created a texture atlas (Figure 04). I learned how to set up models for texture atlases and painting techniques for simple foliage through some quick-breakdowns of other artists.
Situation: During week 16, I had the responsibility to finish the texturing of the house buildings. As the development of the prototype was advancing, we had to start working on filling out the environment with smaller props. I was responsible for modeling and texturing the foliage that we wanted to populate the environment with. Task(s): My main goal for this week was to quickly finish up the texturing for the house buildings since that was set as a priority by the team. Besides that, I was actively participating in team discussions, mainly with my team members Mark and Talitha, with whom I was working closely on creating and generating the props that we would have in-game. Together with Mark, as the Art Lead, we discussed and created a priority list of the props we wanted to have, Talitha was responsible for the models, meanwhile I would take over the UV unwrapping, texturing and their implementation in engine. Actions: I started by finishing the texture atlas (texture which has multiple textures, all applied to different models) for the houses using combination of Substance Painter and Photoshop. The majority of the work was done inside Substance Painter and I used Photoshop to add small hand-painted details such as shutters for some of the windows and the logo for the store (figures 01,02).
Figure 01: The texture atlas (left corner) is used to texture the house buildings
Figure 02: The logo of the store, I added small signs as well since they are common for supermarkets in The Netherlands
Once that was done, I had a discussion with Mark and Talitha on what assets we are going to need to make, how are they going to be used in the level and what's the priority to have them ( Figure 03). This way, we can focus on the important ones and have them as soon as possible, reducing wasted time or potentially not using already made assets due to miscommunication. We divided the tasks the following way:
- Talitha: modelling
- Filip: UV unwrapping, texturing, foliage
- Mark: procedural generation of the props in-game
Figure 03: The City dressing list we worked on
After all the tasks were distributed, I started working on the foliage, since I had the most experience in that area within the team. However, I had to do some extensive research on how to approach modeling and texturing the foliage for our game. I ended up choosing the following workflow since it was the fastest and provided good end result ( Figure 04):
Model meshes -> Hand-paint the textures in Photoshop -> Apply textures to model
Figure 04: I again used texture atlas technique where I mapped the texture to specific parts of the meshes for the foliage, 2 types of leaves- one for the bushes, the other for the trees
Results: The end result of week 16 was fully textured house models and first draft for the foliage models and textures. Reflection: During this week, I was more actively participating in team discussions and was part of important decision-making. Regarding the foliage, despite the fact that I had already some experience making foliage, I was really stressed out how to approach it for our game without spending too much time due to more open tasks. I did a lot of research into different people's workflows and decided to use Photoshop which I rarely use and avoid most of the time. Working on the foliage was really great learning experience and showed me alternative workflows from the ones that I have already known! Resources used: https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealengine/comments/vktd4u/any_idea_whats_happening_to_my_tree_foliage/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iey_bO_GVoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR8JiKQRzF8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pfcBaRcVOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJhiR3SOyXs
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