Create a game asset from start to finish

In this lecture we explore the idea behind concept designing and how you can go about using reference as a way to enhance your concepts. We go from a base idea, and gradually push it further into a more complex, more interesting concept.

In this lecture we look at the final concept and look for what is not yet right. We use simple selections and transforming to change the concept into looking as best as it can, and then make a final sketch for it.

In this lecture, we look at how light creates volume, and how we can replicate that concept to illustrate volume on our concept

In this lecture we talk about not flat surfaces, and how the are shaded and also how they cast shadows on other objects

Here we create the chipping effect which adds detail to the concept and we also use some adjustment layers to quickly color our concept, before going in and adding hand painted details

Before we can model we need to set some things up. In this case, we need to creat a visual reference that we can use as a guide. So in a way, like a blueprint. We do that by creating a material and a plane to put the material on.

For the modeling we start by using very simple yet powerful modeling techniques to create the base for your lamp. We keep the model loyal to the concept, by using a side view of the concept as a way to keep the same shape.

Continuing with some simple techniques we model the side details on the lamp and the we move over to the top, where we see how we can start with a simple primitive and change it to have it look like we want it.

To wrap up the model, we create the pillars for the bowl which we have to edit by hand to fit the concept. After that we go into the smoothing groups editing to make sure we have a model that is reacting to light the way its meant to.

In this lesson we start creating the uvw coordinates, or texture coordinates for our model. In this particular lesson we learn how to use tools such as flatten mapping, pelt and relax, to create the uvws for the pillars for the top bowl on out model.

In this lesson we learn how to use the planar mapping tool to quickly create a uvw that matchs a flat surface aproximation. We use that to make the side of the base of the lamp. After that we learn how to use the stitching tool, to group together adjacent parts that might have become scattered around

In this part we create uvws for the final parts which have not been mapped yet, and we use all the tecniques learned so far to do exacly that.

After we create all the uvws clusteres we have now to pack them together, trying to save as much texture space as possible, but keeping in mind that the textures resolution should be maintained similar along the whole model.

At the final stage we prepare a material and texture file to see what changes we make. We use native photoshop format to save the texture file and see the progress

In this part we hand paint the shading, either by using a brush or the gradient tool. We keep every surface shaded withing the same light conditions for texture continuity

After we have the shading as we like it we go in and create the chipping effect, to give it a more natural and detailed look, but also to have it follow the original concept as close as possible

Once the shading and details are complete, we go in and add color and add final touchups to help bring the model to a more final level.