Masterclass: Modeling 3D Props for AAA Games

with 3ds Max and Substance Painter

As well as hands-on modeling, you'll also learn how to approach the process as a professional artist: using a reliable pipeline and techniques that you can apply to any project, guaranteeing quality results on time, every time.

We'll also discuss the best use of edge-flow, how to avoid and correct construction errors, and real-time specific considerations. Because we're aiming at high end AAA games, we want to bring the model to the high level of quality that's expected of game productions today, while keeping our polycount efficient - something that many professional game artists struggle with as we transition from props that used to have on average 1000-3000 triangles on the first LOD, to props that now have around 5000 triangles or more - as is the case with Witcher 3.

When texturing, we'll take advantage of Substance Painter, a 3D painting application that's quickly becoming standard in the games industry for hard-surface models, such as this crossbow. We'll easily create blends between various finishes of metal - polished, scratched and hammered - while at the same time adding details to the normal map, ensuring that all maps align and complement each other. And because Substance Painter is geared towards PBR materials, the creation of metallic and roughness maps is both easy and intuitive.