October 2005 Report:

TAMING THE DRAGON:
Next-Generation Asset Creation for PS3

Guest Speaker: Matthias Worch, Factor 5

By: Derek Brady

Thanks to the 200+ folks who attended our October 2005 meeting! Factor 5’s Matthias Worch spoke to a packed room on October 4 about the requirements and possibilities that the next generation pipeline will have. His subjects included the polygon counts of actual low polygon cages, high resolution polygon extracted normal maps, Zbrush, and much more. To illustrate his numbers and ideas into a real world situation, Worch used Factor 5’s upcoming title for the PS3, Lair.

Unlike most next generation titles, Lair uses a low polygon cage of approximately 100,000 polygons and a high resolution normal map of up to several million polygons for its hero dragons. Each dragon includes ten texture maps each (about 4096 x 4096 ppi). To create these highly detailed models, Factor 5 used both traditional sculpting methods that must then be scanned digitally, as well as building the entire model from scratch. Obviously, this gave Worch a wider perspective on the debate between whether to use full digital methods or sculpting. He seemed to be quite pleased with the results he witnessed from the maquettes, and praised their use as long as it is done properly. This is not to say that Worch did not approve of an entirely digital process; he showed some of the techniques that might be used to create some amazingly fine detail within Zbrush.

He spent the later portion of his presentation going over Zbrush and how necessary it is for anyone attempting to manipulate scanned data or create entirely new models. There was also an introduction to some new features that Zbrush will be releasing in the coming months, and they look as if they will certainly help Zbrush maintain its hold over the high resolution modeling market.

For additional coverage of our October 2005 meeting,
check out the article at Gamasutra.com

For supplemental downloads: http://www.langsuyar.com/gdc/

After the meeting, attendees headed over to LJ's Martini Club and Grille in the Metreon for drinks and networking.

Matthias Worch

About the Speaker:
Matthias Worch is Technical Art Director at Factor 5 in San Rafael, where he was responsible for setting up the company's next-gen asset creation pipeline. During his seven years in the industry he has been credited with the roles of game/level design, art and programming on several well-known 3D games, including Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - Rebel Strike, Unreal 2 and The Wheel of Time. He is currently working on Lair, Factor 5's PlayStation 3 title. More information can be found on Matthias' personal homepage: http://www.matthiasworch.com.



Special thanks to our October Sponsors:
Avid CG

A core component at the heart of Avid Computer Graphics solutions, XSI v.5.0 allows 3-D art teams to achieve richer results more quickly. Combined with Alienbrain® Studio, the scalable asset management system and powerful Avid editing and compositing workstations, the flexibility of Avid Computer Graphics solutions make it easier and more affordable to bring order to complicated creative workflows.
http://www.softimage.com/Products/Xsi/v5/industry_solutions/games/

Mary-Margaret.com

Mary-Margaret.com is a leading recruitment firm in entertainment software, representing top clients and creative leaders in the games software and hardware industries. With offices in Los Angeles, Boston, Austin, Washington D.C., Miami and London, Mary-Margaret.com is continually seeking and placing highly-qualified creative, executive and technical talent for clients in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe, Japan and Australia.

Meeting space generously provided by: