Texturing and Baking Game Assets in ZBrush, xNormal and nDo

Name: Texturing and Baking Game Assets in ZBrush, xNormal and nDo
Rating: 4.2 (18 reviews)

Learn the pipeline of creating game assets using these powerful applications!

Created by3dmotive LLC

Last updated 9/2016

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Learn the basics of baking your game assets using the pipeline of ZBrush, xNormal, and nDo

Course content

2 sections • 14 lectures • 47m total length

Introduction0:59
Source files and course samples
Exporting the Sculpt1:26
Preparing for the LP Mesh3:47
Prepare a low-poly version of the high-poly mesh by creating a unified skin at a chosen resolution and clearing masks to enable clean decimation and accurate baking of maps.
Introduction to Decimation Master5:09
Explore how to install and use decimation master and UV master plugins in ZBrush, clear masks, preprocess, and decimate a mesh to a low-poly version, then export for safe recovery.
Introduction to UV Master4:17
Learn to prepare meshes for baking by using UV Master to unwrap with paint-on seam control, choosing protect or attract seams, and preview flattened islands for clean texture maps.
Finalizing UVs2:22
Finalize uvs by loading the existing mesh, cleaning issues, and adjusting smoothing groups in Max to ensure clean bake results, then proceed to xNormal for baking.
Reassigning Smoothing Groups1:36

Introduction to xNormal7:32
Master using xNormal to bake normal maps from high-poly to low-poly meshes, including poly paint handling, and set scale and cage for accurate textures at 2048.
xNormal 3D Viewer4:15
Explore the xNormal 3D viewer to compare high and low poly meshes, and adjust the cage for accurate baking. Edit cage settings and export the prepared meshes.
Finalizing the Bake2:56
Finalize the bake by generating maps from high-poly data and baking the normal map, while ignoring vertex color data and preparing ambient occlusion for Photoshop tweaks.
Introduction to nDo29:22
Learn how to bake and combine texture maps using xNormal and nDo2, generating normal, ambient occlusion, and cavity passes in Photoshop, then preview results on a 3D model.
Final results in Marmoset3:02
Texture with diffuse, normal, and cavity maps in Marmoset, overlay cavity on normals for crisper edges, and evaluate when maps can deliver results without heavy normal maps.
Closing Thoughts0:14
Engage with the course community by posting questions on the forums and the website, and explore other videos to deepen your understanding of texturing and baking assets.
Bonus Lecture: Further Learning with 3dmotive0:18

Requirements

ZBrush, xNormal, and nDo

Description

In this accelerated tutorial, Galen Davis takes us through a unique pipeline showing us how to export and UV inside of ZBrush, bake out normal maps and Ambient Occlusion using xNormal, and covers an introduction to texturing using nDo2. Lastly, we wrapup the model for presentation inside Marmoset!

About the Instructor:

Galen Davis is an Environment Artist currently living and working in Southern California. He is contributing to several AAA titles and is experienced in Next Generation Pipelines. Games and art are his absolute passion.

Who this course is for:

Beginner game artists, or intermediate users interested in learning a new pipeline for their work

Texturing and Baking Game Assets in ZBrush, xNormal and nDo

What you'll learn

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Course content

Basics of Sculpting, the Low Poly, and UVs7 lectures • 20min

Baking and Renders, and Final Presentation7 lectures • 28min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: