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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Creating video game environments similar to the best 3D games on the market is now within the capability of hobbyists for the first time, with the free availability of game development software such as Unity 3D, and the ease with which groups of enthusiasts can get together to pool their skills for a game project. The sheer number of these independent game projects springing up means there is a constant need for game art, the physical 3D environment and objects that inhabit these game worlds. Now thanks to Google there is an easy, fun way to create professional game art, levels and props.Google SketchUp is the natural choice for beginners to game design. This book provides you with the workflow to quickly build realistic 3D environments, levels, and props to fill your game world. In simple steps you will model terrain, buildings, vehicles, and much more.Google SketchUp is the ideal entry level modeling tool for game design, allowing you to take digital photographs and turn them into 3D objects for quick, fun, game creation. SketchUp for Game Design takes you through the modeling of a game level with SketchUp and Unity 3D, complete with all game art, textures and props. You will learn how to create cars, buildings, terrain, tools and standard level props such as barrels, fencing and wooden pallets. You will set up your game level in Unity 3D to create a fully functional first person walk-around level to email to your friends or future employers.When you have completed the projects in this book, you will be comfortable creating 3D worlds, whether for games, visualization, or films.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
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Table of Contents
Google SketchUp for Game Design
Beginner's Guide
Google SketchUp for Game Design
Beginner's Guide
Copyright © 2011 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: December 2011
Production Reference: 2071211
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-84969-134-5
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by Robin de Jongh (<[email protected]>)
Credits
Author
Robin de Jongh
Reviewers
Colin Holgate
Thomas Bleicher
Acquisition Editors
David Barnes
Wilson D'Souza
Development Editor
Hyacintha D'Souza
Technical Editor
Mohd. Sahil
Project Coordinator
Kushal Bhardwaj
Proofreader
Josh Toth
Indexer
Tejal Daruwale
Production Coordinator
Prachali Bhiwandkar
Cover Work
Prachali Bhiwandkar
About the Author
Robin de Jongh worked for many years as a Design Engineer and 3D modeler, where he became an early advocate of SketchUp. He has a degree in Computer-Aided Product Design from Nottingham Trent University, and is the author of SketchUp for Architectural Visualization: Beginner's Guide. He lives in England where works as an editor of computer software and video games' books.
I would like to thank my wonderful wife for all her support. Thanks to my technical reviewers and everyone at Packt who has worked hard to make this book a success.
About the Reviewers
Colin Holgate has been a programming for 30 years, using a variety of multimedia authoring tools, including HyperCard, LiveCode, Adobe Director, Adobe Flash, and Unity 3D. He has been a SketchUp Pro user since 2004, and has used SketchUp alongside Unity 3D to make a virtual walkthrough of the new World Trade Center site. The walkthrough is located at http://www.wtctwo.com/.
Colin was one of the two reviewers for the Packt book, SketchUp 7.1 for Architectural Visualization. Thomas Bleicher was the other reviewer.
Thomas Bleicher is a trained architect with a soft spot for daylight and computer simulation. He has worked as an architect and consultant in Germany and UK. In his spare time, he develops software for SketchUp and daylight analysis.
Currently, he lives in the Cayman Islands.
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Preface
Creating video game environments similar to the best 3D games in the market is now within the reach of hobbyists for the first time, with free availability of game development software such as Unity 3D, added to the ease with which groups of enthusiasts can get together to pool their skills for a game project. The sheer number of these independent game projects springing up means that there is a constant need for game art, physical 3D environments, and the objects that inhabit these game worlds. Thanks to Google there is an easy, fun way to create professional game art, levels, and props.
Google SketchUp is a natural choice for beginners for game designing. This book provides you with the workflow to build realistic 3D environments, levels, and props to fill your game world quickly. In simple steps, you will model terrains, buildings, vehicles, and much more.
Google SketchUp is an ideal entry-level modeling tool for game design, allowing you to take digital photographs and turn them into 3D objects for quick and fun game creation. SketchUp for Game Design takes you through the modeling of a game level with SketchUp and Unity 3D, complete with all game art, textures, and props. You will learn how to create cars, buildings, terrain, tools, and standard level props, such as barrels, fencing, and wooden pallets. You will set up your game level in Unity 3D to create a fully functional first-person walk-around level to e-mail your friends or future employers.
When you have completed the projects in this book, you will be comfortable creating 3D worlds, be it for games, visualization, or films.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Why Use SketchUp?, is our introduction to Google SketchUp as an indispensable game development tool. Google SketchUp is the ideal entry-level game design tool for rapid generation of levels and props. This chapter gives an introduction to SketchUp and tells us why it's the easiest, most dependable software for rapidly creating levels and props for your 3D games.
Chapter 2, Tools that Grow on Trees, describes the tools that you need to create your own AAA game creation studio—and it's entirely free! We also do some research into what game assets sell the most, and where you can find online stores to make some money yourself.
Chapter 3, Wooden Pallet: Texture Creation, tells us how to create a realistic game texture from a photo, using GIMP, the free fully-featured image editing studio.
Chapter 4, Wooden Pallet: Simple Texturing Techniques, details about the most useful SketchUp toolset by creating a high-detail, low-polygon game prop.
Chapter 5, Game Levels in SketchUp, allows you to create a game level complete with terrain, realistic textures, and shadows using SketchUp's amazing Sandbox sculpting tools.
Chapter 6, Import to a Professional Game Application: Unity 3D, allows you to create a game level complete with terrain, realistic textures, and shadows using SketchUp's amazing Sandbox sculpting tools.
Chapter 7, Quick Standard Assets, helps you create a rusty fence, a barrel, a wrench, some quick buildings, and more, using SketchUp tools.
Chapter 8, Advanced Modeling: Create a Realistic Car in Easy Steps, describes the amazing modeling capabilities of SketchUp for game design. It also allows you to create a game level complete with terrain, realistic textures, and shadows using SketchUp's amazing Sandbox sculpting tools.
Chapter 9, The Main Building - Inside and Out, brings together all your skills into a single game, setting up the game environment including a backdrop, sky, and fog. You will create your detailed main building complete with maze-like interior and export an executable fully-playable game to send to your friends or to show off on the Web.
Appendix A, MakeHuman, makes use of the MakeHuman software to create a textured, high-polygon human model, and then shows you how to use MeshLab to reduce polygons.
What you need for this book
All you need is a PC or Mac with an Internet connection. A 3-button mouse with a scroll wheel is also beneficial.
Who this book is for
This book is designed for anyone who wants to create the entire 3D worlds into use in freely available game engines such as Unity 3D, CryEngine, Ogre, Panda3D, Unreal Engine, or Blender Game Engine. The book is also for all those of you who wish to create new levels and assets to sell in-game asset stores or to use in visualization or animation.
Conventions
In this book, you will find several headings appearing frequently.
To give clear instructions of how to complete a procedure or task, we use:
Time for action – heading
Instructions often need some extra explanation so that they make sense, so they are followed with:
What just happened?
This heading explains the working of tasks or instructions that you have just completed.
You will also find some other learning aids in the book, including:
Pop quiz – heading
These are short multiple choice questions intended to help you test your own understanding.
Have a go hero – heading
These set practical challenges and give you ideas for experimenting with what you have learned.
You will also find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "Save the image as a PNG file named Map_Selection.png."
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Go to Members ¦ Login and use your new username and password to log in to the website."
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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Chapter 1. Why Use SketchUp?
Imagine you're in Los Angeles. You're sitting at a round table covered with expensive champagne and caviar. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are sitting opposite you, and you've been getting on like old friends. That's natural—you spent four months with them last Summer. On stage, Kevin Spacey announces the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Director. It's you. As you stand and make your way to the podium you feel familiar nerves. You begin your acceptance speech, "This is really embarrassing for me as I'm not even a film director, and I'm really running out of things to say now—I've already been up here seven times. So, I'll tell you how this whole amazing journey started for me. It started with a book called SketchUp for Game Design."
You might think that the journey you're starting with this book will end with only some mods on your favorite game. Or you might expect, at the most, to sell some game assets on the Internet. You may not have bargained for this introduction. However, it is well within the realm of possibility. Last time you unwrapped and installed a new 3D game, you probably noticed the unbelievable realism that is now achieved in game design. This realism is due to the assets contained in the game, as well as the effects provided by the game engine. Due to the magnificent computational power hidden in just an average gaming computer, these assets are now approaching the same detail level of those used in film animation. In other words, CG film and game assets will no longer be any different.
When you have completed the projects in this book, you will be able to create 3D worlds— whether for games, visualization, or film. Your assets will be indistinguishable from real world artifacts. You will be documenting the world in 3D computer space. Given that it is said the future of film and gaming will ultimately bring the two together, you could find yourself becoming a master of both!
Commitment brings rewards
I want to talk to you from the outset about passion and commitment. If you commit to this book, it will commit to you. If you passionately apply what it tells you, in both the tutorials and principles discussed, you will find yourself on the road to stardom. It may be stardom in a small gaming company in your own neighborhood. It may be superstardom both in game and big screen. Still, passion and commitment are required for both these outcomes. The methods shown in this book are not hard to apply. Best of all, they do not require talent. The entry level for this profession is reachable, and you can make it. I would liken it to a brand new Olympic event running for the first year. There aren't many pros out there because the event is so new. Given that you train for the next four years you are almost guaranteed a place in your national team. Do you remember the film Cool Runnings? It's like that! Once you're in the team you will make what you can of it.
Creating assets for game and film is simply a matter of documenting the world around you. SketchUp gives you the tools to do that. You could spend ten or twenty times more than the price of SketchUp Pro and you wouldn't be any better off. In fact, you'd be worse off in the long run. Why? Because SketchUp users will create assets ten times faster than you can and, before you know it, you will have to start using SketchUp anyway. Here's a quote from a professional game designer who uses SketchUp. This is Ken Nguyen, a concept artist in the game and movie industries:
"I can build low and high detailed models (architecture and props) much faster than someone using for example Maya or Max. Moreover, if the game engine allows you to upload the models, one can see in a few minutes or hours if the models work or not, if the sizes are right instead of waiting a day or more for the models to be finished by a Maya/Max modeler."
There it is from the horse's mouth. What are you waiting for?
Is this book for me?
If you work (or want to work) in any industry that uses 3D assets, this book is for you. If you are an enthusiast, it's for you, too. You can follow everything in here, either on a PC or Mac. You can do it completely for free with the free version of SketchUp and free file converters. Best of all, the game engines you'll be using are also free. See the next chapter for more details about Unity 3D. As well as these obvious industries, web designers are catching on, too. There will be a large market for asset designers for Google Earth now that you can explore inside a building as well as outside it. The potential for replicating every store, museum, and park within Google Earth is immense, and so is the possibility for advertising revenue. Will Google shift their entire search engine into 3D web space? What if it does?
Can I really become a professional in the game and film industry?
As you've already seen, there is enormous crossover between the two industries. In the future, there will be no difference between the 3D assets used in the film and the game spin-off. Gamers will walk around the same sets that were used in the film, simply because the film sets will be entirely digital assets. This also means that the bar for entry into the film industry is lowered significantly. If you are a skilful SketchUp asset creator, you will be able to create a set for a fraction of the cost of the real thing. This means as long as you can afford a couple of actors and a blue screen setup, you're well away to being an Indie Film Director. Okay, that's simplifying it too much. It may take a larger team than just you to create a full-length film, but there's no reason why you can't be a spoke in a bigger wheel, or even the hub itself.
What's SketchUp really good at?
There are a multitude of things that SketchUp is good at. In fact, there are a multitude of things SketchUp is world-class at, though there are only two things that it is so good at that there's no direct competition.
There's also two things that are easily the most important considerations when creating 3D assets.
Not surprisingly, these two things coincide with game asset design.
Leaving everything else aside, if you concentrate on these two you will win with asset creation. This is why you should use SketchUp, and why it is ludicrous to use Max or Maya which are designed to be used for all sorts of other things too. They're a jack of all trades, masters of none. SketchUp is a master of these two attributes, which are most necessary to asset creation.
How will this book help?
I've written this book honestly. I've kept my feet on the ground. That's what will help you where other books have failed you. I must confess that I've leafed through a lot of books on 3D modeling over the years and I have been absolutely disgusted with the dishonesty of those authors. I mean, you pick up a book with the promise on the cover that goes something like "Master complete figure modeling and rigging" backed up by a beautifully textured and rendered figure on the cover. When you get the book home and labor over it for a couple of hours, you realize that the only way of creating that figure on the cover is by loading the example files from the attached CD.
In most of these books, the tutorials are not realistic, which means that you, the reader, cannot replicate what's being offered. They have steps such as "continue editing vertices until your face takes shape." Hang on there! A face? A human face? There are seven billion human beings in the world all with subtly different faces so that we can recognize each one. Such is the level of detail in the face. You expect me to sculpt it in Zbrush with just a paragraph of explanation? Well yes, apparently!
The same goes for tutorials in magazines. I recently saw a tutorial on character modeling where the artist even claimed to have sculpted the finely muscled hero in four easy steps, when the model by all accounts appeared to be imported from Poser or Daz. Maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but this kind of dishonesty really bugs me because, like you, I just want to learn the skills. I'd rather learn how to model an Aardvark really well than be promised a finely muscled human and end up with a blob that looks more like an anthill.
My promise to you as an author and someone who has had just as much frustration learning the skills as you have, is that I will only present the things I know you can, and will, model successfully. The upshot of this is that the front cover might not look as spangled and promising as the dishonest books. Neither will this book cover every single 3D modeling subject that each need a book by themselves, but it will provide a solid foundation to build on. I think that's a trade off that I know you're going to be fine with. In this book, we're interested in assets that will sell or make a difference in your games or movie sets.
Note
You can get the tutorial models and source textures for this book by going to http://www.packtpub.com and selecting this book title. Scroll down and click on Code Bundle and enter your e-mail address to receive the download link.
Some limitations
Because we're talking about being honest, I'll admit one or two things. While SketchUp is the best you can get by a long way, SketchUp is not perfect. There are currently some limitations with the way images map onto geometry that sometimes requires you to import to the other software to finish the job quicker. Such as when you are texturing a highly-detailed model and need to use texture unwrapping. Modeling is also frustrating when there's a hole in your geometry and you just can't get it to plug up! These are things that I hope you'll get used to over time and you'll find ways of working through them. I can't list fixes for them all here, so it's best just to remind you that the various SketchUp user forums are some of the most helpful on the Internet. Also, if you've bought a license of SketchUp Pro, don't forget it comes with free e-mail support.
Making bags of cash selling assets
Can I really make money selling assets created in SketchUp? Let's take a look. Here's a screenshot from the online asset store for Vue users at http://www.cornucopia3d.com. Vue is primarily used for outdoor virtual photography (rendering outdoor scenes) and so the Vue users are always in need of buildings and props.
There you have it, a beautifully detailed model of the triumphal arch in Rome, $10.95 and it's simply cannon fodder for SketchUp users. Now, that's at the cheap end of the market because Cornucopia is used mostly by hobbyists. Shown next is another model of the same monument, this time, at the professional end of the scale at http://www.Turbosquid.com.
This one's up at $100 for each and every download. A lot of money for an asset, you might say? But if you scroll down you can see it's got 4 ratings from customers, proving it's bagged at least $400 for this asset creator, probably more. Now that's not bad for a few days' modeling, is it? The model has been up since 2005 but it hasn't cost the creator a penny to leave it there generating currency for his or her holiday fund.
Yes, you can sell your assets created in SketchUp, if you follow this book and put some effort into your work.
Pop quiz
Here's a really quick quiz to get you into the Beginner's Guide way of learning.
a. High polygon counts and high-resolution texturing
b. High-level modeling and rendering tools
c. Fast modeling and fast texturing capabilities
Can I sell the assets I created with SketchUp online?a. No, the quality from SketchUp is too low
b. Absolutely, as long as I take the learning experience seriously
c. Yes, but I won't make much money
The envy of the gaming community: creating custom levels
People all over the world play games. They've been doing it for ages. People always long to play alongside other people, rather than on their own, and it's the same with computer games. Virtual gaming worlds have sprung up with immense success. Games where teams can work together or against human opponents, such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, Halo, games where teams can work together, or against human opponents. Gaming brings people together in virtual worlds who would never get to meet in person. Games cross the boundaries of language and culture. When you start to take part in a community like, this you start to gain approval. After a while this turns to kudos, then adoration, and a following can develop. In the end, you have your own fan base. I have seen this happen time and again for extra-helpful forum members, game level creators, or tutorial writers. This kind of kudos can be the biggest reward available, much more satisfying than financial rewards.
If thanks and kudos are what motivates you, you've come to the right place. With this book, you will be able to mod your favorite games. You will be able to create the new game levels and release them for free to the community. You will be able to churn out detailed and professional assets for your friends to use. Just remember one rule: Do it for free, and don't be needy in your pursuit of praise. If you're good and you're consistent, it will come.
In-game level design tools
Many games come bundled with a level or map editor. Some have gone so far as to release the whole game development kit with the game, and you might be able to use this with SketchUp as your asset modeling tool. Find a good example of this and stick with it for a while. Learn the ins and outs of the game and the editor. Use the skills you learn in this book to create new game levels or customize the existing ones. If you are able to show that your levels are downloaded and popular, this will be an excellent portfolio to use in approaching a game company. Furthermore, the feedback you get from those playing your levels (good and bad) will help you hone your skills like nothing else.
Modding assets
Even if your favorite game doesn't have a level editor bundled with it, you can still make an impact with your new asset creation skills. Texture maps on your computer are usually saved somewhere accessible to you, so at the least you can take these and modify them to your own preferences. I once took great delight in mapping a photo of my own face on my gaming character, then running around creating mayhem.
What have I learned?
In this chapter, you have learned a little about SketchUp and how it excels at game asset modeling:
In the next chapter, you will find out what software you need to make game level and asset creation a swift and easy process.
Chapter 2. Tools that Grow on Trees
Did you ever dream as a kid that you'd stumble across a house made entirely of sweets and cake? You ate some of the door as you walked in, broke off bits of the table to shove in your bulging pockets, then you woke up and your wicked step mom told you that places like that didn't exist.
She was wrong! They do exist, and they are a lot bigger and better than you ever dreamt of as a child. Where is it? Down the phone line from your computer. It's the Internet. Just like the wicked witch in the story of Hansel and Gretel, the software companies that populate the Internet feel that giving away things for free is the only way to get customers to drop by. This actually encourages their competitors do the same, and in time the giveaways become bigger and better. A good example is Google SketchUp. Google decided that in order to increase the number of people worldwide creating 3D building assets for Google Earth, it would release the best asset creation software ever for free. Now the best marketing company ever is marketing the best asset modeling software ever and has linked it in to the biggest 3D environment ever which, by the way, it has also released for free. It's best to not overthink the possibilities, rather jump in and start using it. And that's what we'll do.
3D Warehouse
Google's 3D Warehouse is the place where anyone can upload a 3D model for others to download. It's like YouTube for 3D assets. It's worth familiarizing yourself with the 3D Warehouse right at the start because you'll find it an integral part of your game-level creation process. After all, you don't need to make everything yourself, especially if there are bags of good examples already out there. Next, looking at what other people have done well (and badly) helps you to hone your skills. Finally, you need to get an idea of what's popular and what's not if you are to sell your assets, and 3D Warehouse is a good place to do that research because you can see a lot of usage statistics.
