4 ms·

Is there some standard for modelling assets so that assets from different artists can be mixed together?

by msie 12y ago

blazespin 12y ago
Not really. But you can scale / color / modify stuff assuming you're given enough data for the assets. Of course, then you can often remix and Resell so usually you don't get that level of detail.
- msie 12y ago
  This. I was more interested in the problem of scale where maybe a cow from one artist has to be scaled to fit with a car from another artist. I heard there could be problems with that.
  - TillE 12y ago
    That's not really a big deal with 3D models. Except for the texture, it's all vector data that can be trivially scaled. But UE4 does define its own standard for convenience where 1 unit = 1 centimeter.
georgemcbay 12y ago
Wavefront .obj is probably the closest thing to a de facto universal 3D file format standard, but it doesn't support animation and has limited support for normals (which is a problem if you're using normal mapping). There have been various attempts at standardizing 3D formats that include animation and modern features, perhaps most notably collada, but like most formats striving for standard status as a goal it ended up being a bit of an over-architected mess. Having something like the Unreal Marketplace sidesteps this situation a bit in that any content available there will be in Unreal Engine/Editor friendly formats, so it should be relatively easy to mix and match it with other things from the marketplace.
jamesu 12y ago
Most modern 3d modelling tools support either Collada or FBX which act as interchange formats. Some game engines also support these formats so content can be imported without explicitly needing to write an exporter for each tool you are using.
thenomad 12y ago
FBX is the closest thing to a standard right now. It's getting increasingly usable, particularly since Autodesk (the people who control FBX) more or less owns the pro 3D market. There's also Collada (which I have very rarely pursuaded to work) and Alembic (which works very well, and is used in high-end 3D houses, but only stores vertex data - no bones). And then there are older formats. Probably the closest equivalent to a universal 3D standard is .obj, but again, it doesn't store skeletal data at all, just vertexes, normals, and materials.

Is there some standard for modelling assets so that assets from different artists can be mixed together?

by msie 12y ago

Is there some standard for modelling assets so that assets from different artists can be mixed together?

Not really. But you can scale / color / modify stuff assuming you're given enough data for the assets. Of course, then you can often remix and Resell so usually you don't get that level of detail.

msie 12y ago
This. I was more interested in the problem of scale where maybe a cow from one artist has to be scaled to fit with a car from another artist. I heard there could be problems with that.
- TillE 12y ago
  That's not really a big deal with 3D models. Except for the texture, it's all vector data that can be trivially scaled. But UE4 does define its own standard for convenience where 1 unit = 1 centimeter.

georgemcbay 12y ago

Wavefront .obj is probably the closest thing to a de facto universal 3D file format standard, but it doesn't support animation and has limited support for normals (which is a problem if you're using normal mapping). There have been various attempts at standardizing 3D formats that include animation and modern features, perhaps most notably collada, but like most formats striving for standard status as a goal it ended up being a bit of an over-architected mess. Having something like the Unreal Marketplace sidesteps this situation a bit in that any content available there will be in Unreal Engine/Editor friendly formats, so it should be relatively easy to mix and match it with other things from the marketplace.

jamesu 12y ago

Most modern 3d modelling tools support either Collada or FBX which act as interchange formats. Some game engines also support these formats so content can be imported without explicitly needing to write an exporter for each tool you are using.

thenomad 12y ago

FBX is the closest thing to a standard right now. It's getting increasingly usable, particularly since Autodesk (the people who control FBX) more or less owns the pro 3D market. There's also Collada (which I have very rarely pursuaded to work) and Alembic (which works very well, and is used in high-end 3D houses, but only stores vertex data - no bones). And then there are older formats. Probably the closest equivalent to a universal 3D standard is .obj, but again, it doesn't store skeletal data at all, just vertexes, normals, and materials.