What can you learn from successful 3D modeling in gaming?

One thing I have found very useful in learning 3D modeling is to create something you hate. When I first learned ZBrush at a community college, part of the schedule we to create a character, unfortunately it was a character I hated, but, had to do it. At the end of the course, I really learned a lot about using ZBrush, and created an awesome aweful character.

Almost every 3D content creation tool can produce very similar end results. Having picked up your tool of choice, what is most important for an artist is understanding the asset's place in the game world. Planning and forethought. Every game object has its own purpose to fulfill. Is it a background or hero asset? Can the player get close to it or even hold it? Is it static or animated? Examining an object's purpose inside the game world defines the overall "budget" an artist should spend on the model, meaning it's polygon and texture density, and overall the work hours that one has to dedicate to complete it. Getting a proper feeling for the asset to be made helps the artist choose the right tools and techniques.

I believe it's a good thing to specialize and acquire knowledge in a specific tool, but I feel it's a double-edged sword. In the long run, you may encounter potential obstacles because continuous specialization in a single tool can lead to frustration after a sudden loss of the workflow you were familiar with. I'm not saying that you should now use the entire suite of tools available to have a general knowledge, but whether a company forces you to use Maya, ZBrush, or if your favorite software company closes or decides to change its monetization policies, you need to have a broad and general understanding of 3D model optimization for video games. Gaining a general understanding will help you adapt more quickly to challenging changes.

Regarding styles, I have to say that, in my opinion, this is the most challenging aspect when considering the overall artistic style of your game. I can only say that if you played a game or watched an animated series in your childhood that you fell in love with, that put you in the shoes of its characters and made you believe in its world, imagine what it would be like to have that same style that captivated you in your childhood infused into your game and think about how you would replicate it. Not everything that is realistic needs to have high polygon counts, so to speak. There can be a game with low-polygon models that still has a strong game feel, a convincing atmosphere, and a narrative that immerses the player.

Experiment early on in career to decide which kind of art style you are more inclined to do. High and Low poly baking will always be involved in both styles regardless.

There are 2 major styles: realistic and stylized. The main difference between the two is that stylized genre heavily emphasizes mostly simple (low polygon count) assets and shaders with basic colors and a uniform, high value roughness map to make surfaces non-shiny. On the other hand, the realistic genre almost always focuses on mid-high poly workflows with the PBR pipeline (renders the scene with realistic material and lighting behavior). However, both genres use sculpting and high to low poly normal map baking, which makes it a high priority skill.

Identify key elements such as composition, texture, lighting, and level of detail. Next, experiment with various software tools for 3D modeling and rendering to gain hands-on experience. Focus on industry-standard software like Maya or Blender. Develop a systematic approach to recreate and modify the successful game models, paying attention to procedural techniques and optimization. Collaborate with experienced 3D artists or join online communities to seek feedback and guidance. Document your progress and learnings, and iterate on your techniques to refine your skills. By following this workflow, you can effectively learn from successful 3D modeling in gaming and develop your own unique style and expertise.

It's important to familiarise yourself with game engines in order to understand the modeling requirements of each, as this can affect how you export your assets and materials.

Every studio will have their own production pipeline so be willing to adapt and learn new workflows. Focus on core skills (modelling, texturing, lighting, composition, shape flow, topology, optimization etc)

One of the earliest key points you can learn from creating assets for games is optimization. This includes mirroring parts of a mesh with the goal of conserving texel density for textures, removing all non-edge defining geometry and embracing the so called "smoke and mirrors" philosophy - using every trick at your disposal to make the best looking assets with the least amount of polygons/texture resolutions.

Creo que esta es una parte muy importante a considerar si quieres mejorar tu ojo artístico y la velocidad con la que produces el contenido. La mayoría de las veces el que alguien con ojos frescos vea tu trabajo (incluso siendo wip) ayuda a qué detectes áreas de oportunidad que uno no ve al convivir con el modelo por mucho tiempo. Una de la mejores maneras de trabajar, es siempre tener referencias a la mano, con esto respaldas lo realizado y desarrollas una librería mental a futuro. Es importante entender que el recibir feedback no es una cuestión de orgullo, es una cuestión de mejora.

If you ever feel like you yourself aren't improving with modeling. Look at some of your older projects, look at the differences, where you see your old errors and flaws. If you're still making those same errors, seek out others in the industry. Pick their brains, ask for their input, see if you can't help them in any areas where they are struggling. Building a community or friend group is a highly valuable and important thing to have.

Today's business is focused on customer (user) & data. So, in my opinion (from entrepreneur & player's perspective), feedback & continous improvement will support other aspects when developing a game. Specially in 3D modelling.

For mobile development that is really important to take into account performance of mobile devices. You have to define your high tier and low tier devices and their limits of GPU with max count of triangles per one game scene . And do not exceed this limits that is important to ask your 3d specialist provide high-Poly for high tier devices and low-Poly 3d models to fit your max limits per model and use them on low tier devices . Also Ideally you have automated performance tests to check not degradation of performance of your new release . From my experience I met the beautiful 3d models with super extra minor details but this details can be noticed only with x20 zoom. And zero players will able to evaluate such great level of details

Don't run after tools and develop understanding of different kinds of modelling (CAD, SubD, Pro Boolean, Spline to Surface etc) Learn about controlling shading behaviour with less edges, using existing loops to your advantage. Less is more.