Light at the End of the Tunnel
Well, it sure has been dead around here on the blog. I apologize to those who have enjoyed reading. I have been so busy writing, that I have zero time to post any updates or news. I'm still alive and the book is going very well. I have 3 chapters left to write and I'm beginning to see some light and the end of the tunnel.
The manuscript has to be done by July 29th. Then, in August, I will begin work on the book's iPhone / iPad app. Basically, I will have about 2 weeks to create the app and submit to Apple. My goal is to first create app as iPad only. The goal is to get the app completed and approved by Apple as quickly as possible so we can add some marketing for the app on the book's back cover. By targeting the iPad, I don't have to worry about iOS 4. The goal is to just get the app approved, which can become very tricky as you may know.
The creation of the book's website will begin in September. I will be creating a dedicated site and video tutorials. I will also begin to complete the book's app by making a universal build for iPhone 4, 3GS and iPad. The book is set to be available on October 29th.
Ultimately, this was a very tough project. With this project, Apple released 2 new devices, Unity will be releasing a major software update, Apple changes ToS 3.3.1 and the Unity 3 Beta wasn't available until early June. It's been a tough road. However, I am very happy with the way the book is shaping up. Honestly, I think its awesome and I'm very proud of it : ) I sure hope you like it as well.
The 3D Ninja Blog will continue and thrive again! In fact, I'm planning a major over-haul when I begin work on the book's website. There will be a new theme and full HTML 5 video support so all videos can be watched from iPhone and iPad. I'm going to be moving away from using Flash Video as it's currently used on the site.
Stay Tuned...
Creating a Game Level
Here is a screen shot on the game level for my new "Creating 3D Game Art for the iPhone" book. This is a simple level design that will showcase all of the important factors to building optimized content for the iPhone. The scene isn't 100% complete yet. I'm currently working on the skybox so it will only need 1 draw call.
Click to Enlarge
SCENE STATISTICS:
10 Draw Calls!
130 Objects
2.5K verts
3GS performance = Solid 30 FPS
iPad performance = Solid 30 FPS
Production Diary 7 – 6/7/2010
Production Diary 7 - 6/7/2010
Hello! Still working around the clock on the book. The introduction and chapters 1, 2 and 3 have been tech-edited and ready for my first round edits. However, I'm going to need to go back and re-work several areas due to the latest Apple announcements on the iPhone 4 before I merge the tech-edit comments. The book is being tech-edited by Unity Team Member
Oleg Pridiuk: iPhone/Wii Quality Assurance. He's been very instrumental in the writing process and is extremely knowledgeable in the field of game development.
The new iPhone is going to be awesome for game development and I can't wait to get my hands on one. In fact, I'm going to have to get one for the book, so I'll definitely be pre-ordering on June 15th.
Tonight, I did a quick layout sketch for the environment that will be created in chapter 4. The environment is Tater's training grounds, where in the game demo, you'll be able to run through and obliterate targets using Thumper! Here's the sketch that was created using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop. Creating a quick sketch of the layout and working out dimensions is instrumental to building a level. The next step is to determine the vertex and texture budgets so that I'll know my geometry limitations when modeling in modo.
Click to Enlarge
The book is coming along very well and it's full of technical information. This book is going to be different from the other game books out there because it's focus is on the real principles behind creating game content. It showcases the "why" behind the process, which is important when it comes to building your own projects.
Best Regards,
Wes
Production Diary 6 – 4/24/2010
Production Diary 6 - 4/17/2010
Well, it's been awhile since my last post. The book has kept me insanely busy along with a full time job and 2 little kids! So here's what I've been up to lately...
I've mentioned that the book is about creating game art for the iPhone using Unity iPhone. I've been doing a lot of testing and I will also be including the iPad in the book as well. I was able to get my hands on an iPad and have been able to successfully build universal apps for both devices. The iPad is very powerful, but there's still some important optimizations that need to take place for games.
MEET TATER!
Click to Enlarge
In this post, I'm excited to introduce you to Tater! Tater is a character that I developed with the help of an awesome Character Artist and Illustrator named Warner McGee! Warner has been instrumental in helping me to realize Tater into a full character and it's simply amazing what he's done with the concept. The following is an excerpt from the book's introduction.
Tater is a reluctant hero from a game franchise I’ve been working on called “Dead Bang.” In Dead Bang Chapter One, Tater is the only surviving member of a small country town in a zombie apocalyptic nightmare caused by peculiar device called the “Brain Masher.” Armed with his trusty sidekick, “Thumper,” a lethal modified shotgun that Tater yields with a surgical like accuracy, decapitating the heads of the walking dead with each pull of the trigger, Tater scourges the land looking to rid his hometown of the unwelcomed guests and to disable the Brain Masher device. The only thing that Tater likes more than disintegrating zombie heads, which he affectionately refers to as “Thumpn’ Noggins,” is devouring a fresh bag of “Bernie’s BBQ Potato Chips”, which earned him the nickname, “Tater.”
Throughout the book, we’ll be taking a look some elements from Tater’s world to illustrate the topics covered in the book. We’ll look at the creation of Tater and Thumper as well as an environment from his hometown. Finally, we bring everything together into Unity iPhone.
After the book is completed, I'll be moving back into production on Dead Bang The Game. I am also working on the book's iPhone/iPad app in parallel to the writing. So far, the menu screen is coming along awesome and I'll place a demo on the blog when it's finished.
I've just completed a lot of writing today and will finish up a chapter this weekend, which will then be handed off the the book's tech editor.
Production Diary – 5 4/17/2010
Production Diary - 5
4/17/2010
Well, it's been a while since I've posted on the blog. I've been so busy working on the book. There has been so many things I've wanted to post. There's been a lot going on not just with the book, but in the industry as well.
Today I finished the intro for the book. I will soon be starting on ch 1 which will discuss the iPhone OS and the Unity game engine.
I've also been hard at work creating the game content for the book. The book's main character, Tater, is just about finished. I've been working with Warner McGee to develop the character and we've finalized the character. Warner is currently working on the final illustration that will appear in the book and on the book's iPhone / iPad app. I will be doing an official reveal of Tater on the blog when Warner finishes the finalized illustration. You're definitely going to love it!
I've also been working on the demo game and have been running code on both the iPhone 3G and iPad. Now that I've been able to get my hands on an iPad and have successfully been able to build Unity projects on it, I can now say that the book will officially cover the iPad as well as the iPhone.
I recently won a new iPod touch 3rd generation through my participation with the Mudbox 2011 beta. This came a great time as my iPod touch runs at the same power as the iPhone 3GS. My previous dev device has been an iPhone 3G so its been nice to be able to get a better gauge on performance for the demo game.
My posts will be getting much more detailed and exciting as soon as I can show some images. Stay tuned for more info on the book!
Creating 3D Game Art – Production Diary 4
Production Diary - 4
4/5/2010
I just compiled my first Universal iPad/iPhone App using Unity 1.7! I created a scene in Unity that checks to see which iDevice it's running on and based off the value will load either scenes optimized for iPhone or scenes optimized for iPad. My Game Art book will have a companion iPhone/iPad app that will showcase the content created in the book. So, along with writing, I'm also building an app. I then plan to create a "making of" movie on the app that will be available on the book's website!
I also worked on creating texture maps for Tater! Tonight, I focused on creating Tater's jean shorts. Here's an image of the texture.
Click to Enlarge
More to come... Tomorrow I get feedback on my cover design. Coming soon, I will be showcasing Warner McGee's illustration of Tater and provide some more info on Tater, the man, the myth!
Creating 3D Game Art – Production Diary 3
Production Diary - 3
4/5/2010
Well, I've been a bit silent over the last week. I've been insanely busy! Here's what I've been up to.
1. I've been working with Warner McGee on a designing the book's main character and game asset. We've gotten the design down and are working on a cool action pose for the book's cover. I'm sorry, but I don't want to show it yet : ) I've designed the book's cover image and it's being reviewed by the publisher. I should hear something tomorrow! Once the cover has been approved, Warner is going to complete the final version of the illustration. I'll be showing the cover design before it's completely finished so that you can see the process.
2. The main character has been given the name "Tater." He's a big, redneck, zombie killing expert. Along with his trusty weapon of choice, "Thumper", he's out to explode some zombie heads or what Tater refers to as "thumpin' noggins!" I've modeled Tater and after modeling optimizations he's weighing in at 982 triangles, which is great considering I had a goal to keep his triangle count under 1K. Next, I'll be creating the UV map, which will have an effect on the overall vertex/triangle count in Unity.
3. I got an iPad on Saturday! I've been able to run some Unity tests thanks to Unity iPhone 1.7. Today, I experimented with 1K (1024) texture resolution menu images and some fadeIn code, which not only looked great on the iPad screen, but ran smoothly as well. At this point, I think the iPad is definitely going to be covered in the new book.
4. I've revised the table of contents for the book and there will be 10 chapters all together along with several bonus videos on the book's resource site. I've decided that this time, all videos will be in 720P format clear viewing.
We'll that's it for now. There will be more content as I progress further into writing and finalizing concept art.
Creating 3D Content: Production Diary – 2
Production Diary - 2
3/30/2010
Spent a lot of time tonight working out scaling issues between modo, Blender and Unity. I've developed a workflow for setting the scale or units within Blender and modo so that they match Unity. Since Unity is the goal or final destination for content, it's best to build everything to Unity's scale. Now, I can't give the details on this workflow of course as I got to save it for the book : ) Now that all scaling issues have been squared away, I will begin building the main character of the book. I've been working with Warner McGee to develop the main character and it's going to be awesome! I'll be showing some examples here on the blog soon as well as the book cover concept art.
I've got a big weekend planned as my iPad will arrive this saturday! I was sure to pre-order an iPad so that I could have it for the book's writing and developing of the 3D content. My plan of the book is to cover iPhone and iPad in this book. This weekend, I'll be running code on the iPad and registering it as a development device.
more to come...
-Wes
Creating 3D Content: Production Diary – 1
Production Diary - 1
3/28/2010
I've been working on the design of the book's cover. One thing that needs to get squared away very early in a book's process is the cover imagery. I will need to have a final cover image by 4/19/2010. I have a design layout, but I'm not ready to show the concept just yet. I'm currently working on models that will be used in the cover imagery and in the post you can see the iPhone model that I created this weekend. The deadlines I'm up against are tough and the only way to meet them is to work as streamlined as possible. For instance, with the iPhone model, I only create detail where it will be shown on the book's cover. If it's not seen, I don't model it. All time must be utilized to be as efficient as possible.
Writing will begin next week and I will continue to refine the cover design. I need to get the design to a point that I can show the editor, from there, the cover design will go to the design department for approval and feedback. I'll post my cover design concept once I have the version I'll be sending the the editor.
Well, I'm off now to watch some new iPhone Advanced Tech videos on OpenGL ES that were released on iTunes U for developers. I've got lots of research to do!
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Who am I?
Real World modo Book
"Real World modo: In the Trenches with modo" is an intermediate level book I wrote on using modo 401 with a real world production focus.
Click here for more information.
Click here to buy on Amazon.
My iPhone App : FPS Calculate
FPS Calculate 2.0.0 is an app that helps you quickly do frame calculations when timing animation. It's also an animation timer for timing motion to a specific framerate.
Click here to purchase on the iTunes App Store.
Applications used on the Blog
Luxology modo
Main package. Used for modeling, lighting and rendering.
Autodesk Maya
Used for animation. Animations transferred to modo via MDD and FBX.
Autodesk Mudbox
Used for digital sculpting and texturing.
TopoGun
Used for re-toplogy.
Autodesk Composite
Used for compositing.
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