Content Creation & Character Design

Course Overview

• 3dsMax & Maya versions also available

Using Noesis Interactive’s ‘Content Creation / Character Design’ video courseware, students will learn the fundamental skills of Autodesk|Softimage®, an industry standard 3D software, to design and create video game art assets including custom props and characters. Specific attention will be given to the software interface and the core modeling, texturing and rigging toolsets to generate low polygon models. Students will learn to create skeletons for their models which conform to Source® game engine specifications and compile their assets utilizing existing animation data to generate content for a small custom game modification.

Objective

Create a custom game prop and character and compile the new assets into Source® using the Model Viewer application to check lighting and animation as details are added through incremental adjustments/changes.

Supplemental Materials

The recommended Noesis materials, class discussions and video courseware assignments can be augmented as necessary to integrate with existing course outlines. Likewise, additional professor selected readings or research assignments may benefit students during the practical lesson projects above.

Week 1: Course Introduction

Course begins with an explanation of class format and required material as well as discussion of 3d software’s role in modern game design. Outline final project and intermediary steps required for completion along with Noesis lesson curriculum and any additional materials or readings.

Week 2: Softimage Mod Tool Fundamentals

3D Content Creation – Section 1 (intro)

3D Content Creation – Section 2 (Softimage Interface)

Class discussion regarding basic 3d concepts, common traits of 3d design software and its uses in gaming today. Detail first phase on final project: creating a typically proportioned biped character for use as a NPC within a first person shooter.

[Students learn the fundamental software skills to navigate in 3d space, create primitive geometrical objects and select/adjust their various components]

Week 3: Modeling

3D Content Creation – Section 3 (Modeling Tools)

Discuss the dissecting of common objects into primitive shapes through photo viewing exercise. Compare orthographic and isometric projections. Explain extruding along curves aka ‘Lofting’ and subdivision surfaces.

[Students learn basic 3d construction skills including transforming primitive geometric shapes and extruding shapes from simple curves. Creating high resolution meshes from lower resolution objects using subdivision modeling is also covered]

Week 4: Texturing and Practical Prop Modeling

3D Content Creation – Section 4 (UV Texture Mapping)

3D Content Creation – Section 5 (Rotoscope & Curves)

Illustrate basics of UVW mapping and its benefits. Discuss usefulness of reference images both for modeling (rotoscope) and texturing models.

[Students learn to use reference images to aid in their prop modeling and texturing. Techniques from previous weeks are combined for a practical demonstration of prop design techniques / workflow]

Week 5: Character Modeling Exercise

3D Content Creation – Section 6 (Robot Modeling)

Discuss character design methodologies and outline advantages in weighting and animating conventional robotic characters over organic ones.

[Students employ skills learned in previous weeks to model and texture a robotic biped character of human proportions. This character can later be rigged and animated for use in game.]

Week 6: Source® SDK Introduction

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 2 (HL2 Mod Workflow)

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 3 (Valve Source SDK)

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 4 (Facemap Texture Replacement)

Discuss the role of a game engine and the basic components required to modify an existing game. Describe the differences between ‘partial’ and ‘total’ conversion mods and the typical commercial game development workflow. Introduce the Source SDK or Software Development Kit.

[Students are introduced to the Source SDK which allows the creation of custom elements to interface with existing game assets. Default specifications are discussed as are specific tools required to successfully compile newly created art assets. These tools are put into practice as students replace existing game character facial textures with their own and test in game]

Week 7: Character Rigging for Source

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 5 (Softimage Character Tools)

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 6 (Rigging)

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 7 (Character Rigging for HL2)

Describe process of rigging and the usage of rigs in 3d animation. Discuss importance of understanding any proprietary specifications prior to undertaking time consuming tasks. Loop discussion back to usefulness of SDK and importance of workflow tools in any production.

[Students learn the basic s of animation rigs and their components as well as how to attach their models to the rig to control deformation. Tools to quickly create common as well as Source engine specific rigs are also utilized. Students prep their characters for game export, where existing animation data will be utilized]

Week 8: Exporting & Compiling Character Assets

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 8 (Exporting Assets)

Source Character Design & Integration – Section 9 (Trouble Shooting)

Class should actively discuss Source engine specific file types, naming conventions, and organizational conventions as these may be confusing for students as they export seemingly obtuse intermediary file formats in route to compile playable game characters.

[Students export both 3d model data from Softimage as well as 2d graphic texture data to specific directories within the SDK, then combine those elements to produce game ready assets via proprietary compilation scripts. Visually troubleshooting common errors is also covered]

Week 9: Vertex Facial Setup

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 1 (Introduction)

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 2 (Project Setup)

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 3 (Character Setup)

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 4 (Point Clusters)

Compare vertex and skeletal animation basics. Discuss emotion and its classical facial representations or “expressions”. Remind students about final project and urge them to finalize their character’s geometry as later changes may prove problematic to any facial work.

[Students learn the Source facial expression system and how to set up a model for shape animation in Softimage. In game examples are used]

Week 10: Shape Animation

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 5 (Export Tests)

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 6 (Shape Animation)

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 8 (Compiling Facial Shapes)

Overview vertex blending and its implementation in Source animation (sequences, gestures, postures, flexes). Outline math behind ‘flex rules’. Discuss the shape manager and layered animation in Softimage.

[Students tackle creating multiple (40+) expression shapes in Softimage and exporting them as a single .VTA file along with their existing character assets. Modifications are made to their compilation scripts to support custom facial data and the compiled results may be tested via sliders in the Source Model Viewer]

Week 11: FacePoser Flex Animation

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 9 (FacePoser Basics)

Source Facial Setup & Animation – Section 10 (Lip Syncing)

Further discuss facial ‘flex’ animation and the SDK FacePoser used to create facial animation sequences. Talk about phonemes and lip syncing and stress the importance of facial as well as vocal emotion while communicating.

[Students learn the basics of lip syncing in FacePoser so they may animate their final character speaking a short line of dialog as their final project.]

Week 12: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 13: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 14: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 15: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Assessments

1) 10% - A first online quiz will be given at the end of week four to assess student knowledge of 3D content creation principles in Softimage Mod Tool

2) 30% - A midterm assessment in the form of an online test will be given in week nine and will encompass both 3D and Source® related topics

3) 60% - A final project in the form of a FacePoser project (or screen recording) containing a rigged custom biped character delivering a short line of dialog with facial emotion. All character source and compiled files must be included in their relative file directory structure.

Evaluation Policy

This course emphasizes conceptual understanding, creativity and execution. 3D art and design skills are not the dominant factor during student evaluation. The first online quiz will account for 10% of your total graded assessment. The open book midterm will account for 30% of your total grade, and the final is worth 60%.