• Back to the Basics

    map_iconModo 601 is a powerful application that will allow you to quickly model, texture, animate and render your 3D scenes. Due to it's extraordinary strength in Modeling, UV map generation and rendering, Modo has become a major contributor in the video game industry. Many large game studios, like Sega and Valve, have adopted Modo as their primary modeling and texturing application, so we are going to be focusing on how to use Modo 601 in the game art pipeline.

    The most recent version of the application, Modo 601, has raised the level of performance of the application as well as including new tools and workflows. Its been a couple of months since you have last worked inside of of Modo so it is time to dust off the cob webs, and get our hands dirty inside of Modo. This week, we are going to familiarize ourselves with the application through building a few small models and then creating a couple of nice looking renders. Let's jump in!

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  • Game Dice (50pts)

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    Project Due: Week 03

    In this exercise, you will learn the basics of working in a 3-Dimensional environment while creating a simple set of game dice. Through this project you will learn the basics of using the application's interface, hard-surface modeling tools, basic rendering, material set-up and rendering. The end result should be a photo-realistic render of set of game dice. Feel free to create any type of game dice that you want! D6 or D20; don't edit your creativity! Use this project to get back up to speed in working with Modo. Please ensure your project includes the following required elements before you complete this assignment:
    • Geometry for Game Dice x 2
    • Geometry for a simple scene
    • Materials for all items and scene elements
    • HDR Environment Reflection Map = YES!
    • Global Illumination = ON
    • Final Render Frame Size = 1280 x 720 pixels
    • Final Render File Type = JPEG

    Examples of Successful Projects

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    Check out these awesome projects! The images below are example of successful student projects. Use the following images to help guide you to your end results. Notice that all of these images include a high degree of detail on the surface of the geometry, accurate materials/textures, and stellar lighting set-ups. In addition, each of these images properly showcase the model, the focal point of the render, by utilizing a good sense of composition and framing. Great work!
    Created by Angelo Jefferson
    Created by Kim Aparicio
    Craeted by Alex Tai

    All Finished with your Homework?

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    After you have saved the project file on your personal external storage device (like a thumb drive), please upload your Luxology Scene File (.lxo) and your rendered image (.JPEG) to the Game Dice dropbox on D2L.

    Before you upload your files to D2L, please ensure your files meet the following naming conventions:

    • lastname_gcom_424_game_dice.lxo
    • lastname_gcom_424_game_dice.jpeg
    Submit Your Assignment

  • Polycount: Online Game Art Community

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    Online learning communities of the game art industry are few and far between. The mother ship, if you will, of online game art communities is an awesome website called Polycount. Welcome to your new home away from home. Polycount, in many ways, represents the largest collection of game art techniques, industry insiders and community resources. Starting today, you need to bookmark this site and get accustomed to visiting this fantastic online resource.

    Spend some time today, during your lab, to explore the site. The Polycount Forums are a treasure trove of tutorials, tricks, tips and advice from some of the best game artists around the world. Visit them often. There will serve as a fantastic supplement to everything we will be discussing in this course. In addition, I can't encourage you enough to participate in the Polycount forums. There, you'll get some of the best feedback and critiques from working artists in the game industry.

    Visit Polycount

  • Important Documents

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    Check out these awesome learning resources! I've collected a number of assets that I think will help you conquer this week's homework and laboratory assignment. Please download the following materials to your local hard disk or flash storage device (AKA thumb drive).

    Links

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    Here are some important links for this week's learning materials. Make sure you add these important assets into your personal library by bookmarking them!