Weapon Modeling & Texturing For Game for Absolute Beginners

Learn the Maya user interface overview: workspace, menus, status line, time slider, command line, and channel box, plus how to customize and switch viewports.

Master Maya viewport navigation, orbit, pan, and zoom across four views, maximize with space, frame objects with f, and explore display modes, textures, and lighting.

Learn to create polygon primitives using two methods and modify basic shapes, such as radius, height, and subdivisions, by dragging or entering numeric values for starting game assets.

Learn to save and open files in Maya, including save, save as, and new scene steps. Understand binary vs ASCII saves, overwriting, and versioned saves to manage multiple file versions.

Master object and component selection using various tools: select all, single-click with the select tool, add/subtract with keyboard modifiers, and the lasso for complex selections.

Move, rotate, and scale objects using axis-constrained tools to position parts precisely. Apply single-axis edits with red X, green Y, blue Z, and view orthographic aids via spacebar.

Organize a 3d scene with layers by creating and renaming layers, placing objects inside them, and controlling visibility. Use template and reference modes with color coding for quick layer identification.

learn to hide and show parts of a scene using hide and select methods, last hidden, and hide on selected objects; control visibility of lights and cameras.

Explore the outliner window to organize your scene, seeing cameras, lights, and objects; rename items, create and ungroup groups, and selectively hide or show elements for efficient selection and rigging.

Learn how to use and change the pivot point to control how objects scale, rotate, and move, including snapping to grid, centering pivots, and flipping duplicates.

Group objects to rotate from a pivot and keep pieces moving together. Create groups, explore the hierarchy, and select a group with the up arrow or Ctrl+D in the outliner.

Learn to speed up modeling in Maya using the marking menu hotbox, exploring region-based options, fast view switching, and quick access to outliner, hides, and layouts.

Model the axe center by creating a six-sided cylinder, aligning it to the center line, and shaping it with a reference image in the front view.

Shape the axe by starting from a cube, extrude and scale to form the blade, align edges with the local axis, and refine loops for a clean texture-ready model.

Learn to model the axe back part using the create polygon tool, multi-cat connections, extrude, and open polygon tool, with vertex snapping and center-aligned loops for clean quad geometry.

Model the axe handle by starting with a cylinder, extruding and scaling to form mass and angle. Ensure even quad topology with loops and subdivision for a smooth, accurate mesh.

Finish the axe metal by shaping a cylinder profile and extruding faces along a curve built from control vertices. Adjust radius, divisions, and loops to refine the form.

Learn to model wrapped cotton fabric on a handle by stacking cylinders, duplicating segments, and adjusting normals and history to create a wrapped look.

Finish the axe base mesh by duplicating and flipping parts to both sides, regrouping at the center, and aligning with the grid, then prepare for cleanup and export to zebra.

Export the base mesh for a weapon, configure loops for square faces, set real-world scale in centimeters, freeze history, group geometry, and export to obj for detailing.

Explore ZBrush, the powerful 3D sculpting and painting app used to create characters, props, and vehicles. Discover its role in movies and games, and access texture downloads and free tutorials.

Download Zbrush 2018 trial version by registering or logging in to the Pixel Logic store. Activate with a serial number and access a 45-day trial.

Explore the bus app interface: navigate the canvas workspace, toggle the light box library, use palettes and materials, adjust transparency, and customize themes and layouts.

Learn to navigate the canvas by rotating the model with left or right mouse, zooming with control right mouse drag, panning, framing the object, and memorizing essential shortcuts.

Import the model into zbrush, resize the canvas, convert nonstandard polygons to triangles, switch to edit mode, assign a basic material, split into parts, flip normals, and save.

Learn how to use PureRef to keep reference images on top of your screen, drag and resize them, organize multiple images, and save the setup for weapon modeling and texturing.

Learn to sculpt and refine metal parts for games by smoothing, subdividing with divide (Ctrl+D), working across multiple levels, and using dynamix with symmetry to add scratches and sharp edges.

Learn to rough out a metal weapon part with large planes, use symmetry, and add deliberate imperfections. Organize details on layers and refine edges with trim dynamic for realistic highlights.

Create cracks and scratches on the surface by adding a new layer, using a crack brush, and adjusting brush size and intensity for realistic unevenness.

Add cracks and scratches to metal weapon parts using crack brushes, alpha settings, and subdivision to increase polygons, then refine details and prepare for surface noise in the next lecture.

Create a separate detailing layer and apply surface noise to the mesh, tuning strength, scale, and opacity for textured weapon surfaces.

Learn to sculpt a wood handle for game assets by building the base, closing gaps, adding cracks with brush techniques, layering textures, and preparing for low end baking.

Learn to sculpt a tightly wrapped cloak by building wrinkles with brushes, adjusting subdivision levels, and applying gravity to create natural, varied folds from different angles.

Finish the axe sculpt by filling holes with a dynamic object, subdividing to add polygons, duplicating pieces with symmetry, carving cracks, and preparing for decimation and export to Maya.

Decimate the selected object to reduce polygons while preserving details, using preprocess, target percentages or presets, then export all decimated assets to Maya-friendly formats and wrap up the project.

Set up the scene for retopo by importing a decimated weapon model, combining parts into a single low-poly object, deleting history, and saving the project to prep for retopo.

Retopologize a hard surface axe by building low poly quads over a live high poly model, snapping vertices, and shaping edge loops with relax and extend tools.

Continue retopology on the axe metal part, using hidden options and tab-driven tools to create stripes, adjust polygon size, and refine triangles and quads toward mirroring.

Learn to finish the axe’s metal part with retopology, duplicating and using symmetry to model both sides, align centers, mirror along the axis, and build an eight-segment cylindrical handle.

Retopo the axe handle by starting with a cylinder, extruding, refining subdivisions, conforming the mesh to the handle, and then joining and deleting history for a low-poly final model.

Learn to retopologize small parts by building a low-poly mesh with symmetry, using conform tools and manual vertex placement, duplicating and aligning loops, and refining with relax and border techniques.

Refine the low poly weapon model by smoothing silhouettes and adjusting topology within your polygon budget, using lighting to verify improvements, and cleaning history to finalize the mesh.

Finalize the model by cleaning up inside polygons, removing history, fixing non-manifold geometry, then assign smoothing groups and harden edges for clean normal maps.

Explore the uv editor and toolkit, set up a comfortable workspace, and learn navigation basics inside the 0–1 uv space, with tools accessed from the uv toolkit.

Explore unwrapping practice for simple objects like cylinders, spheres, and cubes. Apply automatic, cylindrical, and plan mapping, edit seams, and unfold to create clean uv maps.

Unwrap the axe handle by selecting its faces, applying cylindrical or planar mapping, adjusting the seam and rotation, and verifying the uv layout for clean texture projection.

Learn how to unwrap the axe metal body for game texturing by isolating faces, applying mapping, projecting UVs, cutting seams, and unfolding for a clean texture map.

Unwraps the small parts by isolating components, applying UV seams, and unfolding the UV maps, then plans a proportional layout to pack all UV shells in space.

Fix improper scaling by adjusting pixel per unit density, apply consistent scaling to all pieces, and pack textures with layout options, padding, and rotation for a clean, space-efficient final model.

Explore a Substance Painter overview, the new interface, and 3D view navigation. Learn to open a sample SBP file and cycle through texture maps with keyboard shortcuts.

Explore how different texture maps—normal, ambient occlusion, and thickness—affect material detail, bake high-poly detail into low-poly normals, and use id maps and color picking to easily select areas.

Export selected objects, adjust normal map settings, and inspect results for overlaps when baking test maps. Separate baking tasks to prevent overlaps and improve map quality.

Bake maps for weapon textures using a PBR metallic roughness template, separating high and low maps. Set source to material color and review normal, occlusion, and color maps.

Apply smart materials to metal parts, use curvature maps to create edge scratches, and employ color ID masks to selectively texture areas with metal details.

Learn how to texture wood quickly using smart materials, rotate texture projection to align texturing, adjust base color and layered textures, and preview lighting from different angles.

Select burlap fabric texture, apply it to the model, adjust its color toward red, and use a multiply occlusion layer to reveal shaded fabric details.

Add a dirt layer to weapon textures using a generator and black mask, adjust dirt levels, then export normal, diffuse, specular, and metallic maps for Maya.

Save your Substance Painter project, open export textures, choose maps such as diffused, roughness, metallic, normal, and height, and export presets for Arnold or Unity pipelines.

Render scenes in Iray, adjust the background, camera settings, aperture, and depth of field, and fine-tune samples, glare, and post effects to produce dramatic, high quality game assets.