[SOLVED] Model Scale ?

[ScrotieFlapWack]

Just a quick post in regards to the measurements and the scale of your models. Basically I would like to know when working in 3D Coat and doing a model that you plan on using as a prefab in a game engine (something like a wall, floor, ceiling) how are you supposed to know the scale of your object and how it will look in the game engine?

 

As an example, I am currently trying to model prefabs for a game I am planning on making in the Unity engine. I started first by making a small cube flat then adding some bumps and cracks using an alpha brush just to get the general effect of a rocky floor. When I did retopo on my model I hit some issues, firstly after completing the retopo of my model when it was brought into the paint room it didn't look normal, I had alot of problems with black parts of my model and for some reason it would sometimes be vertical instead of horizontal (the way I modelled it in the voxel room) continuing on I exported my model as a OBJ file and then imported it as a prefab into Unity 4. When bringing the model into the scene view I could see that it was very big in scale and all the detail that I had put in on 3D Coat was missing it just looked like a shiny square tile (that might be cos I didn't export the normal map? I'm not sure). What I would like to know is if there are any people modelling prefabs for use in game engines how do you work in 3D Coat with the size of your model? Sorry if this post doesn't make sense I am new to all this and don't know if I am explaining my problem in the correct way. 

[Taros]

Just create a cube inside your game engine, that represet a measure. If you can't create the cube there, do it in a animation tool like blender.

Lets say  the cube is 1 metre or foot in blender. Then take this cube as a reference for creating all your game models. Export the cube into 3D Coat and use it a a reference there. Don't delete the cube or use it as a base mesh, just keep it in a seperate layer to have a size reference.

 

No more is needed. This is the easiest way, I guess. We use Maya for our work and use the maya values for all objects. Means: a cube that is in maya 1 by 1 in size, is always a metre in the game.

 

The point is: Use your target engine to define the size or an animation tool like blender, not 3D Coat itself.

 

When we work with external artists, we give them a template scene to describe the sizes for our games. Mostly we work with fbx files to keep the compatibility between the people.

 

And about Unity: In Unity it is not very important how big a model is, because you can set an individual size to every object. When you rewrite your model once you importet it into unity, unity will refresh it automatically. And because the missing details: No idea. But in most cases it is an user fault... I've modeled my objects in softimage, and painted them in 3D-Coat. All worked well in Unity.

 

Best wishes

Chris

[ScrotieFlapWack]

Awesome thanks Chris! I didn't really think of doing this. I thought like Maya there was a way you could measure your objects in 3D Coat. I will try this though and see how I get on

 

As for the issues I'm having with the black parts on my model when painting, I think this is me doing something wrong during the AUTOPO stages :P

 

Thanks again!

[TimmyZDesign]

You might want to try and find some tutorials about making "modular" game models. The keyword is "modular". Also, the Polycount forum has game environment modeling competitions. If you participate, you will likely learn a lot, and you can ask the experienced forum members there for help/advice too along the way.

[ScrotieFlapWack]

Thanks Timmy, I think I'll try the way Chris said first and failing that I go and check out the Polycount forum  

 

I feel I need to first learn 3D Coat in general before jumping ahead of myself 

 

Many thanks!