Designing with a Z[-axis]

Some of these posts will be thoughts and advice on topics, while others will be updates on current projects. This post serves as much as a journal for my project as it does an introduction to the world of 3D design. I am currently working on a project for a class that involves 3D modeling and importing that into a 3D gaming engine. As designers, many of us stay in the 2D plane and leave the 3D worlds for game designers and designers working on cinematic projects. Here’s an introduction to this new axis.

Programs

To get started in the 3D world we have to choose what program we need to use. We are probably going to need to do some modeling at first, although you can probably find some pre-made models if that is all you need. There are three main choices for this , but Maya is the only one I have experience in.

1. Maya
2. 3D Studio Max (Windows only)
3. Blender (free)

There are certainly other choices as well, but these are the three I hear about most often around the Georgia Tech campus. CAD is a another choice, but it is typically used by architects and engineers. Programming 3D using OpenGL and other techniques is also an option but many designers are not advanced enough in their coding skills to take on this type of challenge. If you feel your skills are more suited for one of these types of 3D programs then by all means check them out and expand your knowledge.

If you want to then take these models and put them into an interactive environment then there are many choices. I am currently using the Unreal Editor packaged with Unreal Tournament 2k4. Other popular choices are the Half-Life 2 engine, Team Fortress engine, and other engines that are typically packaged with popular First Person Shooter games. Keep in mind that many game engines are properties of their respective companies and are not commercially available. Also, remember that objects you modelled in the 3D modelling program will need to be exported for import into one of these engines and that their may be specific difficulties that accompany that transfer. Make sure to get a hold of documentation on your selected engine to ensure this process goes as smoothly as possible.

Scaling

Within the 3D modeling program scaling is a little bit easier to handle than it is in an interactive engine. Most of it within the 3D modeling program can be done with scalers or by manually editing an object’s properties. Manual editing is more suited for fine tuning or making sure an object is exactly to scale of a tangible counterpart. It is important that the scaling is examined before finalizing the model. Making sure a door is the right size on a house is critical for making sure the model is realistic (if that is the desired effect) before bringing the model into another environment.

Ideally models imported into 3D engines would be the exact size you need and that may be the case for some instances, but it does not always work that way. In my project, I need to import Maya models into the Unreal editor. Unless you made the models to be what seems insanely large in Maya then they come over extremely small in Unreal. I had a hard time even finding some of them once I placed them on the stage environment. You must then use the engine’s scaler/attribute editor to scale up the model to the size needed. Make sure you test the size out to make sure it looks right once you’ve actually entered the interactive environment. It may look different in the editor than it would to a player/user of the environment.

Textures

Textures are immensely important in 3D design. If they are not right then your model looks completely wrong and out of place. If on my house the vinyl siding appears to be half the height of the house then the house no longer begins to resemble a house. The actually method for applying textures varies from program to program, but mapping the textures to UV coordinates on the object is the key to good modeling. I won’t claim to know all the details of UV mapping, but suffice it to say that it can grow quite complicated depending on the complexity of your model and the complexity of the texture you are trying to map onto the object.

Texturing in a game engine is a completely different monster. Typically objects built within the engine are textured using the engine. Models imported should have their textures imported as well and, at least in the case of Unreal, the textures are still appropriately associated if imported correctly. UV editing should still be available in the game engine and you can edit your textures in there as well.

Texturing can make a flat surface feel alive. It creates the environment and the user’s perception of that space. I can create a cube with a rock texture and make it look a cave and then go create that same cube, slap on a glass texture and the room feels completely different. Photoshop and other image-editing software can be great texture creation tools if you are unable to find pre-made ones that fit your needs.

Lighting

Lighting, while important in the modeling process, is crucial during the interactive building. It can make or break the interaction elements. Bad lighting can throw a player/user off and bring them out of their immersive state with the installation. Too dark and the user may have a hard time seeing or knowing where to go. Too bright and elements begin to lose their qualities and users have a hard time seeing clearly. Using lighting cleverly and intelligently can bring an interactive environment to life and make it a character in and of itself.

Sound

Sound can also add a lot to an interactive 3D environment. Obviously, this step is absent during the modeling phase, but can be vital to the interactivity. Sound effects cue players that things are working correctly or that something is happening around them. Music can completely change the mood of the player/user. I unfortunately did not get to implement sound into my project, but thought of many uses for sound within my installation.

Conclusion

3D design seems like a very different beast than 2D design. However, many of its design elements are closely related with those of 2D design. If you are looking to get into 3D design then take some time and sit down with some tutorials for the programs you want to use. They are often very complex and take considerable time to learn all their intricacies. Even control schemes vary from program to program so gaining familiarity with them before you start you project should prove quite useful.