Hey everyone, i’v sort of got my prologue going and currently finishing up my story…
One question i have though, how do all of you go about making 3d character model for your games?
do you use external software, plugins…or anything else??
Currently i’m using 3ds max, great for everything… everything except 3d characters.
Don’t get me wrong, it really works great and all… but **** it takes a lot of time:hushed:
So any suggestions as to how I can model 3d characters effectively and with more speed??
if you have an Autodesk account you can create characters online, look for character creator. It exports to Unity FBX (fully rigged) as well (https://charactergenerator.autodesk.com) . Or search google for MakeHuman a open source free package, but limited clothes, but fantastic modeling options.
I was just checking out makehuman when you posted:p
Anyway, so basically just make my models in make human… export them to max, then add the finer details?
And my only other question, how exactly do everyone make hair for their characters, this is like the only thing i can’t get right??
Go look on YouTube and search for videos on making hair in Blender or your 3d program of choice. There are tons of them. It doesn’t look easy to me though.
Your other option is to use UMA and buy some packs on the Asset Store. JustB has a hair pack that works only with UMA characters.
Also, Mixamo has Fuse. It will cost you though.
There are lots of characters on the asset store, some free, some pay.
I have Poser and all that… Lot’s of options but not intended for games and a chore to get into Unity. Generally the figures are way too high-poly, and I still had to go through Blender to create the morphs, etc.
I bought Mixamo Fuse and I like it. There are never enough clothes and hair options, but it outputs 2 game-ready figures a week without paying for any subscription (I’m trying to stay ahead and have figures ready to go, but honestly I have missed a few. 2-per-week doesn’t sound like much, but it takes time to get a figure looking unique and well textured). Figures are medium-poly and have face morphs built in (option) and also options for simplified rigs with fewer joints… I like Fuse because it “just works”. Download the rigged figure and plop in a game, the end. They hold up in close up, and can probably survive a decimation pass for mobs and LOD…
Beautiful!! Unfortunately, I need lower poly than Fuse can give me and the in-game character creation capability. UMA’s other strength is how easy it is for players to modify the characters in-game. They are not nearly as lovely as the one you made above though.
If I were making a different game, I would go with Fuse.
I use DAZ figures. Lots of options should you be able to afford the steep cost of entry (like $500+ the cost of the models) and have some decent poly reduction software. I’ve been collecting their stuff for many years and got a deal on the license so it was totally worth it to me.
Yeah, MakeHuman is pretty great for getting some basic human-based meshes cranked out quickly. Hair is a bit trickier. A common practice for many game developers is to only do shorter hairstyles that are easier to animate. The longer hair is on your characters, the more the player will expect it to animate. And that’s another can of worms entirely.
If you’re importing your MakeHuman meshes into ZBrush, than you’re already on your way for the hair. Just use a little Z-Brush sculpting to extrude the heads of your meshes in order to sculpt out whatever hairstyle strikes your fancy.
I just watched a vid on how to do what you said and damn! so much easier than working with max:hushed:
Making some characters then ill post a pic:smile:
Well, you can still use the base mesh from MakeHuman for the in-game model. But Z-Brush and other similar sculpting programs are usually best for high-detail sculpting work. And making hair usually falls into that category. It’s a good idea to keep a copy of your original lower-poly mesh from MakeHuman. After you’re done in Z-Brush, you can use a little retopology to re-create your newly-sculpted hair in a low-poly version on the MakeHuman model. Then you can bake a normal map from the high-poly sculpt. That will give you a really detailed and complete in-game model to use in Unity.
The general polycount of a standard MakeHuman model should be about in the range that you want for an in-game model. Those exported MakeHuman models aren’t super-optimized, but they are low-poly enough to be reasonable.
You’ll want to do a retopology pass to add low-poly details that correspond to any additional outstanding details that you added in sculpting. And I mean “outstanding” quite literally. You don’t need any more polys for minute details, like wrinkles or creases. But for any changes you made in the sculpt that significantly “stand-out” from the rest of the model, or even “sink-in” to the model in a noticeable fashion, you will need to alter the low-poly model to take those into account. For a standard MakeHuman-based sculpt, this will generally include hair and clothes. (two elements noticeably absent from the average MakeHuman model)
One of the more difficult elements will be UV-mapping your model once all of your modeling is done. That can be a bit time-intensive, depending on the method. Thankfully, most 3D software packages these days include some manner of tool for automating more of that process. It used to take forever.
