Hi folks
I am building my models for my game idea in Blender and I was wondering how other folks go around managing their model files. Till now, I was exporting each object as a separate FBX and was using a single Blender project to model all my assets. One advantage I have is that it helps me to quickly compare the models with each other but I have an inkling that this might be a bad workflow.
How do other folks do this? Do you have separate files for each models? Do you group some models like different types of walls together?
I model everything with very basic shapes inside the same project/file (I use Modo and Maya), without really worrying about naming convention or material IDs. The goal here is to fast iterate and conceptualize a scene that I can import inside unreal.
Upon importing, I make sure I’m separating every geometry, by unchecking Combine Meshes from the Importing Window that can be find in the Advanced section of the Mesh options. That will make so every geo is a separated object with their own settings, but they are all sharing the SAME PIVOT LOCATION.
With that Done, I can just continue to work and keep exporting and updating the geo until I’m happy and ready to start working on assets.
.
. WORKING ON ASSET DETAILS
When I’m ready to work on individual assets, I break away from the main scene and I create a new project/file in a new folder, that will include my work-file, my textures and substance files, and a export folder where all my versions will go in.
I model the asset in the x0 y0 z0 position of the grid, so when I import inside Unreal I can easily place it inside my scene.
Thanks for explaining your workflow. A few questions if you don’t mind,
When you say “Scene”, what kind of geos are you talking about? Like you later talk about “Assets”. If I had to guess, by “Scene” you mean the static environment geos and “Assets” as the geos that can move.
Why is this important?
When you are making assets such as say a gun, do you ensure that you join all the meshes of the asset? If the asset consists of multiple objects, say trigger is a separate object, do you ensure that the pivot of the trigger is the same as the rest of the gun?
Right now, I am not doing so. All the pivots of the many objects that comprises my guns are near to those objects. This helps me in positioning them easily.
Scene is everything that makes up the environment, geometry wise.
At this stage you’re not doing any animation or complex shader networks, because it’s all proxy geo.
The pivot location is important because it is where the move, rotate, scale gizmo will be placed and if you scale or rotate or move, its from that point the operation will happen. Usually you want the gizmo to be at the base of the geo.
Depends on the intent use of the asset, for the gun, will I be animating each part? Then if that’s the case I leave the pivots where the bones would be.
If it’s going to be all combined into one geo, it doesn’t matter. The pivot near the grip is what matters.
WHEN DESIGNING THE SCENE