Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/17873
n n n n Gaming Poznanski. Next, the artists make proper or- thogonal drawings of the character in a default pose, and then make necessary adjustments to ensure that the new character will work well with the studio’s standard skeletal rig for animation. “It’s important and lets us reuse all typical animations for our humanoid charac- ters,” he adds. A 3D modeler then builds a base mesh, which is quickly rigged, and the person ap- plies some temporary textures and exports the character to the Unreal engine so that the team can get an early feel of the character. Once the base mesh is approved, it is used for the cre- ation of a medium-resolution model. People Can Fly employs Pixologic’s ZBrush for this hundreds of additional textures are layered in [Adobe’s] Photoshop,” says Poznanski. “A large part of the final effect can be attributed to Un- real’s powerful shader capabilities. We also can use the Fresnel effect, and breathe life into skin textures by emulating subsurface light scatter- ing, and create more 3D models using bump offset mapping, and even animate geometry using vertex shaders.” At each step of the way, the character is tested in the game environment because it’s only after the artists see the character in the level with in- game lighting during actual gameplay that final adjustments and fixes can be tweaked. “Does the character look distinctive? Does it have screen presence? Does it work well in to 4000 by 2000, not only in cut-scenes, but within the game itself. Some of our high-resolu- tion meshes went beyond the 100 million mark, which can be a challenge to work with. Despite all those numbers, the quality and believability of the final product purely comes down to what the artist is able to deliver.” Naughty Dog begins with a concept that out- lines the major attributes of the character. For the characters’ faces, the artists use a mixture of concepts, reference photos, and photos of actors. Giving the game characters a rough resemblance of their actor counterparts helps with delivering a solid performance across the board. When it comes to the look and personality of the characters, the artists work closely with creative director and writer Amy Hennig. In the end, it’s all about creating a character that fits and works with the story, notes Hagedorn. Te Naughty Dog group uses motion capture as the base for the characters’ body animations, but all the facial performances are still 100 percent hand animated. “We’re actually proud of that fact,” he says. “Hand-animating facial movements goes along great with the stylized look of our characters and helps us avoid the biggest issues of the Uncanny Valley.” When it comes to sculpting, the majority To build characters in its title Bulletstorm, the team at People Can Fly use a range of software, includ- ing ZBrush, Modo, Maya, and 3ds Max. stage, and then uses re-topology tools before exporting the character to either Luxology’s Modo or Autodesk’s Maya or 3ds Max for fur- ther modeling. At People Can Fly, the art team usually juggles the software of choice a num- ber of times, depending on the specific task at hand or the artist’s personal preference. Once the medium-res model is complete, the group again uses ZBrush to create a high-resolution pass. Te art team mixes default brushes with custom alphas, utilizing layers, morph targets, projections, Z spheres, and a 2.5D tool set. At this stage, the mesh often reaches 30 million to 40 million polygons, which are trimmed to about four million to five million polys using Pixologic’s Decimation Master plug-in. An artist turns this medium-sized mesh into a low-res mesh using ZBrush’s re- topology tool, with all the details baked into it. Next, a character undergoes the time-consum- ing UV layout, an important technical step in creating a sharp and detailed protagonist. “Normal map, base color, and ambient oc- clusion are derived from the hi-res mesh, and 20 August/September 2010 fast motion? Do detailed features work from a distance, or do they become meaningless noise?” asks Poznanski. “We are often forced to make significant changes at that stage, but when we’re done with them, then, and only then, can we finally say, ‘We no longer have just a character; we have a game character.’ ” Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America Developer Naughty Dog has pushed the idea of an interactive Hollywood action flick into new territory with the critically acclaimed Uncharted 2: Among Tieves. Te group’s goal, says Hanno Hagedorn, lead artist at Naughty Dog, is to bring cinematic characters to life. Te key focus is for these characters to deliver a believable performance in every way possible while meeting the studio’s high standards. “An extremely high level of detail in our char- acters is crucial,” says Hagedorn. “Polygon counts can go up to 45,000, and texture resolutions up of the team use ZBrush, but some of the guys stick with Autodesk’s Mudbox. In the end, each artist picks his or her weapon of choice to deliver the best performance. For textur- ing, the artists at Naughty Dog use a mixture of Mudbox and Photoshop, and a little bit of ZBrush’s Polypaint once in a while. Te abil- ity of Mudbox to display and paint on normal and specular maps can be a great help, too, Hagedorn adds. “In general, we put a big emphasis on maintaining an artistic, hand-painted look,” says Hagedorn. “Terefore, using photos as textures is not the path that works for us the majority of the time.” However, the artists sometimes use photo- realistic textures for minor surfaces, such as fabric patterns. Te company’s shader system is hooked into Maya, enabling the artists to get a real-time preview of their shaders within Maya itself. Te preview doesn’t take any post- processing effects into account, but it is close enough to ensure a sophisticated workflow, Hagedorn maintains. It also allows the group to dynamically select the resolution for each texture separately without having to re-export any assets. “Using this feature is a great help in optimizing our assets,” he adds. To satisfy the technical directors and to get better skinning results, Naughty Dog uses quad-heavy in-game meshes. One side effect is