Asset Creation Pipeline

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Revision as of 10:52, 20 September 2017 by Joshuak (talk | contribs) (added Values to table)
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Creating Your First 3D Model

Pre-requisites

First off you will need a 3D modelling program, for this example we will be using Blender which is the recommended tool for creating assets for Off Grid

Setting Up Blender

Before we start creating 3D assets we need to set blender up properly. To start we will change Blenders rendering engine to Cycles Render. This can be seen in fig 0.1

fig 0.1










Now that we have the correct render engine selected we must insure that blender is set to the correct units. A single Unity3D Unit is 1m, therefore we must set our unit preset to meters within Blender.This can be done by selecting scene properties and then selecting the drop down box under the units section. This can be seen in fig 0.2

fig 0.2













Once you have done that we just have to clean up our scene by removing the camera and the lamp. This can simply be done by right clicking them in the hierarchy and selecting delete.

Naming Conventions

Now that you have properly set up Blender you are free to create your 3D asset. An Important note while creating your asset is to insure that your 3D Asset follows Off Grids naming conventions:

  • All​ ​asset​ ​names​ ​should​ ​use​ ​UpperCamelCase​ ​and​ ​end​ ​with​ ​the​ ​appropriate​ ​number​ ​scheme _01,​ ​_02,​ ​_03
  • If​ ​an​ ​asset​ ​is​ ​completely​ ​specific​ ​to​ ​a​ ​location,​ ​for​ ​example​ ​a​ ​sign​ ​for​ ​a​ ​company​ ​building then​ ​the​ ​format​ ​to​ ​follow​ ​would​ ​be:
ObjectName-ObjectLocation_0X 
E.G​ ​-​ ​CompanySign-Bank_01
  • If​ ​there​ ​are​ ​multiple​ ​variants​ ​of​ ​the​ ​asset​ ​and​ ​you​ ​feel​ ​that​ ​the​ ​asset​ ​needs​ ​further description​ ​then​ ​you​ ​should​ ​use​ ​the​ ​following​ ​format:
ObjectName-Adjective-ObjectLocation_0X

​​ or

​ObjectName-Adjective_0X 
E.G​ ​CompanySign-Big-Bank_01,​ ​CompanySign-Small-Bank_01,​ ​Fence-Mesh_01, Fence-Wooden_01 
  • All​ ​mesh​ ​objects​ ​in​ ​Blender​ ​or​ ​your​ ​3D​ ​application​ ​of​ ​choice​ ​should​ ​use​ ​the​ ​postfix​ ​​_mesh
E.G​ ​CompanySign-Big-Bank_01_mesh,​ ​Fence-Mesh_01_mesh

Example of the correct hierarchy in Blender:

fig 0.3






Mesh Cleanup

Now that you have created your asset it is important to clean up any unnecessary Tris and insure the normals are facing outwards. Important - Your asset ​should​ ​not​ ​exceed​ ​max​ ​150​ ​tris​ ​for an​ ​average​ ​model​ ​(dependant​ ​on​ ​scale​ ​of object)

To check the Tris count of your asset all you need to do is select your asset and look at the top bar as shown in fig 0.4

fig 0.4







Normals

To check the normals of an asset while in the perspective window you must press N which will open a new panel scroll to the bottom of the panel until you find the Shading section. Once at the shading section toggle Backface Culling as shown in fig 0.5

fig 0.5


















Now that this option has been selected you may find parts of your asset are invisible like the cube on the left shown in fig 0.5, this is because the normals of the object are facing the incorrect way. To fix this you must flip the normals.To fix the normals you must be in edit mode and preferably in face selection mode. Now select the faces that need fixing.Navigate to the left panel shown in fig 0.6 if this is missing for you make sure you select the perspective window and press T. Select the Shading/UVs tab and click the button Flip Direction as shown in fig 0.6

fig 0.6




















Vertex Painting

Now we need to add some colour to our asset. To do this we use Vertex painting. To apply vertex paint to your asset all you need to do is select Vertex paint from the interaction mode drop-down box as shown in fig 0.7

fig 0.7



















To start painting your model just select the white bar below the colour wheel.(In fig 0.7 this bar is green) which will then bring up a new window as seen in fig 0.8


fig 0.8

















Here you can select any colour you wish using the colour wheel or you can select the Hex button to use hex codes to find a specific colour. Using the hex codes in the table below will allow you to match colours used within Off Grid.

Vertex Colours(base)

Hex code Preview Description
#FFFBF0 white​ ​walls​ ​etc.
#CCCCCC Concrete,​ ​grey​ ​floors
#F0FAFF window​ ​glass
#FFF7E8 incandescent​ ​lights

Vertex Colours(Other)

Hex code Preview Description
#4E4B4B Tarmac
#82817E Paving
#ADB2BD Aluminium
#8393B0 Pale​ ​Painted​ ​Blue
#232426 Bakelite​ ​Black​ ​Plastic
#414540 Hangar​ ​Roof​ ​Runners​ ​dark​ ​Plastic
#c6c6b2 Painted​ ​Metal​ ​(white)
#e9f0ff White​ ​Plastic
#FFF142 Yellow​ ​Paint
#2E221B Electric​ ​Cables
#5E4D2E Rope
#D41414 Red​ ​Valves
#196EB4 Blue​ ​Painted​ ​(waterworks​ ​machines/pumps)
#BD5C2E LightWood1​ ​-​ ​use​ ​for​ ​stairways​ ​(wooden)
#8B4627 DarkWood1​ ​-​ ​mainly​ ​used​ ​for​ ​all​ ​woods
#753A1A MediumWood
#53260F DarkMahogany​ ​-​ ​Use​ ​for​ ​handrails​ ​(wooden)
#A97537 Brass​ ​(Metal)
#3E752C GreenFelt​ ​-​ ​Use​ ​for​ ​carpet​ ​/​ ​stairway​ ​carpet​ ​initially
#BD9364 Cardboard
#9FADAC ShrinkWrap​ ​/​ ​Light​ ​or​ ​thin​ ​plastic
#e01616 Container​ ​-​ ​Red
#842404 Container​ ​-​ ​Burgundy
#fc921a Container​ ​-​ ​Orange
#fff32c Container​ ​-​ ​Yellow
#26381d Container​ ​-​ ​Dark​ ​Green
#10b930 Container​ ​-​ ​Green
#2888c7 Container​ ​-​ ​Blue

Off Grid Materials

Material name Description Has 2 sided
Diffuse-Vertex Simple​ ​diffuse​ ​shader Yes
Specular-Vertex Specular​ ​reflections​ ​(Mainly​ ​used​ ​for​ ​plastic) Yes
Metallic-Vertex Specular​ ​reflections​ ​for​ ​metal Yes
Glass-Vertex Transparent​ ​+​ ​Specular​ ​for​ ​glass Yes
Illuminated-Vertex Objects​ ​that​ ​illuminate​ ​such​ ​as​ ​screens​ ​and​ ​lights Yes
ScriptControlledLamp Screens,​ ​Lamps,​ ​etc​ ​that​ ​have​ ​their​ ​color​ ​& emission​ ​controlled​ ​by​ ​code. No

Preparing To Export

Before you export your asset, it is important to ensure that you perform the following checks:

  • Check that the scale is correct – This can be done by selecting the object and pressing N, which will allow you to verify that the scale is 1.0,1.0,1.0
  • Check that the pivot is set to the correct place. The default place for setting your pivot should be the centre of the object unless the object is being placed on the ground in which case it would be Bottom centre.
  • Check that edges are set to hard/sharp
  • Check naming conventions are correct. See naming conventions
  • Check Export Settings are correct – see fig 0.7

Importing Your Model

To import into Unity, you can drag and drop your FBX file into the appropriate folder. Once you have the asset in Unity it is important to check the import settings of your asset. To ensure your model displays correctly within unity make sure that:

  • Material Naming is set to From Models material
  • Material Search is set to Project-wide

Once set, your asset should display with the correct colours and materials that you have set in Blender.