Dev Log #20 | How I make my 3D assets

So, 0.6.2 just came out. Which kinda makes the Monday Update obsolete. So I decided to simply write a new Devlog. This time I wanted to detail how I am actually making those 3D models I spend so much time on.

First of all, even though the update was small and there aren't that much new people here. I want to greet everyone that is new. Happy to have you here. As always the same goes for all the existing support aswell.

What you can see in the picture above is a collection of some (not all) of the new assets I made for 0.7. Basically a bunch of different objects that I can quickly throw in a scene to fill it up.

A single look around your room will quickly show you, that no matter how sparse it is decorated, there are usually still at least 10-20 different objects in it. Probably much more. We can easily spot it if that is not the case in a 3D environment. So we need many objects to make a scene look believable and lively. On top of that they also play a huge part in the atmosphere of a picture. If you fill an old overgrown Cabin in the forest with shiny metal objects and designer furniture it will destroy the picture, even if there is enough diversity in the models themselves.

So to make a good scene I need a bunch of diverse, but thematically fitting 3D models. Factors, that make it difficult to find them all online. Which is the reason why I do them myself. That and the obvious factor of learning a lot about modelling and texturing. Things I want to be good at basically.

So how do I make those models? With Blender baby! Explaining how I do it might be a little technical, but I am trying to keep it simple and without many technical terms. This is just an overview and not a tutorial.

1. You start of with primitive shapes. A cube like this for example:

You push and pull it around till you reach the desired shape, sometimes adding or subtracting detail (This is very oversimplified but technically true...). You do that, until you've reached the shape you want. In this case, it was the frame for a door. But figuring out how it should look can take a while. finding out what objects you want/need can sadly take up a lot of time.

2. Figure out how it should look.

This is what I arrived at for the frame. How did I get there? Reference. I always look up what I am modelling. It is extremely important to actually see a picture of what I am making and how it works in reality. What also helps is to have a ruler next to me. I don't model things 100% accurately. But when I want to figure outhow big something is, it helps to have a measure of how big 3 inches/centimeters actually are. You can see in my old models that I didn't do that and sometimes the dimensions are really wonky.

3. Repeat with all the other objects.

I keep doing that for all the other objects. Modelling all of this probably took me around 30 minutes. Usually it takes a bit longer, but I had a good refrence picture for this, which helps.

4. UV Mapping.

After modelling everything, I have to unwrap the object. Which basically means that I make a 2D flat image of the object on which the texture is then projected. Doesn't make any sense for you? Don't worry about it. You can unwrap things by hand, which is more acruate, or do it automatically, which is faster. In case of simple, blocky structures like this door the automatic version works completely fine, so thats what I used. This took me about 5 minutes I'd say.

5. Texturing is next.

For my textures I use Substance Painter. Basically a specialzed program to paint textures. This step usually takes a while, but you can do various things to automate the process. As long as you are careful while modelling and use proper techniques when painting. Which I did here. That basically means I have a prepared texture that automatically detects how it should apply and change to the model. (Also very oversimplified.) This step took about 10 minutes, but it could be much longer. Painting my skin textures usually takes at least 2-4 hours. After the texture is made it still needs to be applied to the object back in blender.

6. Prepping for animation.

The model is basically done, now all it needs are the finishing touches. In this case I know that I will open the door in an animation. So I need to make it possible to do so. This isn't difficult to do, but requires a little bit of work. I basically have to change the point where the door pivots, so it stays at the frame and then I have to attach the small objects that should move together with the door and detach all objects that should stay in place. In this case it took me about another 5 minutes.

And that is it! The model is done and ready for the game. Which basically shows you my workflow for making simple 3D models. Now keep in mind that the times I mentioned can vary greatly and depending on how clear the image of what I want is in my head it can go from 30 minutes to several hours, even if the object is simple.

I hope it was interesting to see  how I do things and you'll hear again from me next week. Stay safe!