Useful Techniques
This doc will go over some other useful tools that blender has to help with your 3D Creation process...
Last updated
This doc will go over some other useful tools that blender has to help with your 3D Creation process...
Last updated
The Asset currently has very clear lines at all the edges of our asset which may not be ideal unless you are aiming for a low poly style.
In 'Object Mode' select 'Object Menu > Shade Smooth' to smooth the entire object.
Go into 'Edit Mode' and select all the edges [2] you would like to crease.
In the video above this step was skipped for time.
Use [Ctrl + Left Click] to select all edges between two selections.
Right click and select 'Mark Sharp'.
Use Right Click > 'Clear Sharp' if you want to remove it.
There are other approaches to this using Modifiers but these will be covered in a future tutorial. This approach has a lot of control with a very simple approach.
As noted, the polycount is important. You can enable the statistics of the selected asset in the viewport.
Select the pulldown on the 'Overlays' icon at the top right.
Toggle 'Statistics' in order to see the details of the asset.
The Statistics will be in Triangles for higher accuracy as polycount can include tris, polygons, and nGons. For a rough idea of polycount, double the triangle count.
The best number of polygons in your asset is reliant on many elements such as platform, device, and importance of the asset.
Platforms range from Steam games, WebGL, to Consoles and Mobile.
Most AAA games for high end gaming devices such as desktop PCs, the latest Playstation or Xbox will have considerably higher polycounts than a game for Mobile or a Standalone VR/XR experience.
The importance of the asset and how close the asset will get to the camera also plays a part. A Main Character that will get up close to a character in a cutscene will require more polygons than a crate in the background.
As noted, this is less important now if you are just learning to create assets, but in the following tutorials we will look at all the ways you can create your asset with optimization in mind.
Every model has a point in space that the object will be moved, rotated, or scaled by. This point is called a Pivot.
The Pivot can be placed at 0,0,0 easily. Move the asset relative to where you would like the pivot at 0,0,0 and press [Ctrl + A] and select 'Location'.
In 'Object Mode', right click and select 'Set Origin > Origin to Geometry' to centre the pivot to the object.
The best pivot location depends on the asset. If it is something that always faces up, then you may want the pivot at the base of the asset. As a crate may be placed any way up, the centre is better. Just note that wherever the pivot is, the asset will move, rotate, and scale from that location (if the settings apply to the pivot).
Backface Culling is a feature that allows you to see the effect of single sided polygons in Blender rather than waiting for the result in the game engine. The approach to this depends on which of the two Renderers you are using : Eevee or Cycles.
Both approaches are applied to the material, so it is possible to have some materials be solid on both sides, and others only display the correct normals.
Eevee is the default renderer which is faster but less accurate. It is recommended for asset creation due to its ability to give good quality results without needing to load the frame.
If 'Eevee' is the Renderer in the Render Properties tab :
Go to the Materials Properties panel.
Select 'Settings > Surface > Backface Culling > Camera'.
Cycles is a slower renderer, but has more accurate render results in regards to lighting, VFX etc. This is usually used if you are rendering final images or animations within Blender.
If 'Cycles' is the Renderer in the Render Properties tab :
Go to the Materials Properties panel.
Toggle 'Viewport Settings > Settings > Backface Culling'.
Generally speaking, its recommended to stick with the Eevee renderer.
