ENVIRONMENT MODELING
TIPS AND TRICKS
Chamfered and Bevelled Edges
For Games
Exaggerate Your
Bevels…But Not Too
Much!
When adding chamfered details to your high poly or low poly think
about making them a little thicker than usual (even if you are trying to
be accurate in terms of real world reference).
When a player character is far away from your prop the ideal scenario is
that you still want to be able to see bevelled edges from a fair distance
away.
If you don’t see a highlighted edge from a few yards away then chances
are your chamfers and bevels are too tight. That being said, do not
overdo it or your props will look too cartoony.
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Exaggerate Details
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Carefully Observing The Spacing and Relationship of Details
In order to create a more believable and
beautiful environment, it’s essential to
carefully observe your reference and
especially the relationship between your
details. Stop and examine your details and
the spacing between the other details.
Look at scale and positioning and then go
back and observe again with a fine tooth
comb as you are modeling.
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Build the high poly the same as they would build it in real life.
If it’s built a certain way in
real life, build it that way in
your high poly.
In order to improve the believability of your assets, especially things like furniture, it’s
ideal to build your high poly assets out of separate pieces.
Think about how they would build it in the factory and try to replicate that for your high
poly. your low poly can still be one or more optimized pieces. As long as the high poly
details bake in.
In the example on the right you can see this cabinet is built out of the separate boards
that make up the entirety of the cabinet.
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What We Do
We Deliver Dream
Mind the direction of wood grain
on furniture.
Another common mistake I see new people making is not paying attention to the direction of wood
grain on wooden props, always think about how they cut the planks of wood when in the
manufacturing process and what kind of planks would be easier to cut out of a tree.
If you make the wood grain go in the wrong direction it can make your prop look fake. And
unbelievable.
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Texture resolution
High Fidelity Environments
Avoid Blurry,
Low Res Textures
And Stark
Contrast
Keep your textures high res and avoid blurry
low resolution textures, In this boot-camp
the aim is to create high-fidelity, sharp
looking environments. Think 4k instead of 2k
Keep the contrast of your textures fairly low
and avoid dark splotches of things like
grunge and dirt.
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Avoid the Chunk
Medium Res Assets
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Cylindrical Details
"Nullam id dolor id nibh Avoid the mistake of thinking you have
ultricies vehicula ut id elit. to make everything low poly. I especially
Vestibulum id ligula porta felis see beginner environment artists making
euismod semper. Aenean this mistake.
lacinia Nullam id dolor id nibh
ultricies vehicula ut id elit." I see this especially with cylinders and
cylindrical details… make sure you are
using enough sides that you no longer
see a “chunky” Silhouette.
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Medium / High Res Assets
Because this is a portfolio piece you should take more liberty with your polycount, don’t be afraid to spend polygons to get a great silhouette and details.
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Don’t be lazy!
Model everything!
Don’t be Lazy! Model
every single detail in
your reference!
If you see a screw, model it, a bracket? model it! a seam?
Model it! Scour your reference for every single little detail
and put it into your high poly model, beauty is in the details.
I’ve seen so many talented artists get lazy and skip over the
small details, even though they may seem trivial, they
actually all add up to the final visual impact of the entire
scene.
best services
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09
“CG” Edges
Avoid long, “hard” CG
edges.
A CG edge is a part of a model that looks like it’s been created by a
computer, in reality super hard edges don’t exist.
Unchamfered, long polygons can really detract from the believability of
a scene.
To avoid this you can either chamfer the edge or you can place a prop in
front of the edge to cause a “break” in the visual illusion of a too straight
edge.
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Visual Interest
Keep the eye busy
One of the surest ways to make a successful environment is to pack certain areas with a
lot of stuff or lots of details. You always want to keep the viewers eye busy and
engaged. A busy eye is a happy eye!
You can keep the eye busy by using…
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Pathways
Understanding the Navmesh
Make sure the character can walk
freely around your props
Even though this is a portfolio piece and not an actual level from a game it’s important to check and to
make sure the character can freely move around the objects in your scene.
This will ensure that the space FEELS correct and shows prospective employer's that you are thinking
about player movement.
Later on when you get hired in a game studio this will be the job of the level designer. Who will ensure
the player can move around the environment without getting snagged on any props.
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Zbrush Pass
Do a quick ZBrush pass to add
visual interest and avoid hard
CG lines.
Doing a quick 10 – 15 minute zbrush pass on your props can make a world of difference and
add A lot of realism to your props and objects in your scene.
Environment Modeling Tips and Tricks