Nov9th/11 GDA Features #1 - Modeling

November GDA Features #1 - Modeling

You voted, we responded! Every 9th of every month for awhile, we'll be featuring your work as long as you wrote out your information over here at this journal - > game-art.deviantart.com/journa…

3D Modeling in the industry can mean a number of aspiring jobs and talent these days. From prop modeler, to environment artist to even bringing to life the characters of the game all orient around Modeling.

For this month's feature here at we are featuring artists who are a part of our group who primary specialize in a skill that relates to 3D modeling.  This will be a positive feature, listing off some of the pro's of 3D modeling, some industry jobs you can get with the talent, and showing off some bad ass work from our awesome members.  

Whether it's stylized or realistic or somewhere in between; 3D modeling styles varies from game to game.


Stylized 3D Work


Stylization is usually best described as 3D work that may be more creative then realistic necessarily. If you played a video game, you know the difference. Sonic the hedgehog, crash bandicoot, spyro; these are all memorable characters who are more stylized then realistic. Anime style games, cartoon games, or maybe games that are just way out there (Katamari Damacy, we are looking at you!) are all examples of stylized games. A game necessarily doesn't have to be realistic to be appealing, and 3D skills falling into par with that.

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Semi Realistic 3D Work
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Semi Realistic are usually 3D work that look like they could be real but feature some 'non existing' interpretations of things. Example: Gears of War, Shadow Hearts, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc games are all examples of semi realistic. These styles have a mixture between realistic elements and non realistic elements to make up the visual art of the game.

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Realistic 3D Work


This style heavily references real world elements with next to no 'non realistic' visual appearances happening.  This means games that focus more on feeling 'real' then visually creative. Some examples of that type of game are Sports games like NHL, NBA, NFL; Uncharted series, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, etc. These games do the best visual detail they can, to make it look like it's real life counterpart.

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Low poly 3D Modeling


These artists specialize in being able to utilize every single poly used to model and keep them at low amounts without sacrificing detail. Games are all about optimization, so being able to control your poly count without going to high is a plus, being able to make great models at a very low poly count is an even bigger plus. Low poly artists usually get their details from their texture and normal maps, rather than model itself and create the illusion of it being a higher poly count then it actually is.

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High Poly 3D Modeling
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These artists specialize in the ability of getting the maximum quality in a model without worrying about poly count. High poly models are usually used in cut scenes or for normal maps on their low poly models and show off the maximum detail you can in a model. These are very poly oriented rather than texture and tend to be made up of a ton of different pieces(most times).  

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Prop 3D Modeling
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A job in the industry, as well as an important function in 3D games, prop modeling makes up a lot of the 'extras' to your scene. Whether they be barrels, spoons, or even a juice container; props tend to help bring a scene 'to life'. Prop modeling tend to focus more on the texture details and normals, rather than poly count as props need to be reusable. Furthermore, the more modular they are the better.

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Modular 3D Modeling


Another industry skill, as well as almost every game has it, modular 3D modeling is a big part of creating scenes, characters and a game in general. Modular modeling is best described as being modeling something in 'pieces' in order to 'fit' them back together. Buildings, street corners, character acessories all tend to be modularly done in order to be able to duplicate many of them. Even some Environment scenes are majorly made up of modular pieces, and you wouldn't even know in most cases unless someone told you. That's the beauty of it.

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Vehicle 3D Modeling
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Vehicle modelers are often hard surface modelers as well, as majority of vehicles are hard surface oriented. A Vehicle is usually a model in which you can operate/drive in a game and can be one solid object to a bunch of different pieces working together. Cars, Tanks, Ships; are all examples of vehicles and tend to be one of the most uncommon 3D modeling skills. You normally see just about every other style of modeling out there, with about 5% being Vehicle modelers yet they are almost always in a game. Prop modelers, 3d artists, etc sometimes tend to also do vehicles but not usually specify that. Vehicles are harder to construct as depending on the vehicle there may be a million different shapes and working parts to consider.

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Weapon 3D Modelers


Weapon modeling is pretty self explanatory and that it is modeling a weapon to which a character or object in the game uses. Guns, Swords, Ranged to melee are all examples of weapons. They can offer many different styles and sometimes many different pieces depending on the weapon and what it'll be used for. Guns will need bullets, bows will need arrows, etc.

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Character Modeling
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Probably one of the absolute biggest 3D modeling portions of this industry and art style, bringing a character to life in 3D. This could mean a person, an animal, a creature; this skill tends to be a lot more uncommon then you'd think. Character Modelers tend to have a better grasp on art and anatomy than any other 3D modeling type of work, and can be very detailed -> low poly and focus on the texture. Customizable Characters tend to have many pieces such as different clothes, hair styles and weapons in order to add variety to the characters appearance, MMO's tend to heavily use this technique. Non customizable characters tend to be as singular object oriented as possible. Many games features some kind of person, creature, or animal in it and each one different from the last. You could be a lead making the main character, to a junior making a non playable character or repeatable enemy.

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Envrionment 3D Modeling
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Arguably the biggest 3D modeling portion in a game, Environment 3D art is always made up of many different models to create a scene. Whether it be indoors or outdoors, organic or non organic depends on the game and/or style being used.  3D Environment Artists do just that; create the environments and scenery. They need to know a wide range of talented skills and have a strong sense of visual style and perspective.

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3D Artist Modelers
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Generally a 'vague' term given to someone who tends to model just about anything and everything. From characters, to environments, to props, to vehicles; everything 3D they are willing to model. They are usually non specifying roles or specializations and tend to focus on just everything 3D, rather than one specific piece of the game. These generalist modelers tend to be just as saught after as a specialist, and can be equally as talented.

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There are many sub categories within the ones I stated, but the ones I stated are generally what you'll see job postings ask for or credits in a game list as far as Modeling goes. Modelers come in all shapes and sizes just like people; and to know which kind of modeler you are in the beginning can be tough. We sometimes have to trial and error to find our strengths and our direction as modelers, as you may be horrible at one thing but great at another. For example; a character artist might be great at characters but horrible at weapons. These limitations and skills and non skills always need to be considered when going the direction of modeling in the industry. There are more modelers who are good at one thing, then modelers who are good at many but sometimes their are more jobs asking for a specialist, rather than generalist.

The best way to determine what your skill set is, is to think about what company and you want to do in the industry thoroughly. Once you narrow that down, it's all a matter of practicing, learning and developing the talent in that specific direction.

If your skill set seems to be just about everything modeling, then 3d artist generalist positions is what you want to aim for. Environment modeling can also be a more generalist category are you may just be focusing on one environment but that environment is made up of a 100 different other models from organic, to hard surface; from prop, to building.

We have a ton of talented artists here at game art who either specialize in one of the categories above, or are generalists who are strong in multiple skills. When reading and learning about each one, click on the thumbs of their work to just see what kind of talent and level of skill goes into the pieces. If a member specified their specialization in modeling, I put them in their related category but some did not so i placed them into a category with their best work (in my opinion).

If you liked this feature, please add it to your favourites and/or let us know in the comments below. Anything we can do to improve or change the feature system, please by all means tell us. We want to do our best to feature your work and offer explanations to the ones who may not understand.



Written by: PolyMune