I have been asked questions about content development many times…. how I do certain things, and what programs I do them in. So I thought I would do a blog revealing some aspects of my workflow (though certainly not all — that would be dizzying) for the benefit of those who are just getting into content development, and want to know more.

Before I go on though, workflows are kind of a personal thing. What works for one person, may not work for another. Also, mine has been, at times, ever-changing. Im always adpating new things to it, or changing how I do things completely. Im a hopeless software junkie, so I tend to buy apps just for the sake of buying and playing (when and where they were affordable to do so, anyway) Some I adopt, some not so much. There have even been some I shelved, and adopted later on. And some I will probably never use. Ive also been building my workflow for the better of 6 years… some things can only come with time and experience (and well, money)

I also will mention that I am a code geek, so most of my methods for making content come down to raw coding. So whether its material files, custom morphs, ERC, externalizing geometry, or configuring a CR2, all of that I do in edit pad. And that is something that takes a good deal of time to learn (but I would, of course, recommend learning – the more you know, the less you need to rely on smaller programs to do that work for you – although, smaller programs CAN make things faster for you)

Currently, I have a tool chain that doesn’t really have much room for change, as far as I can forecast anyway, because its the end all, be all for me. Whether or not thats actually true tho, remains to be seen.

Texturing:

The very basic level of content. For this, I use Photoshop 7 or CS3, as well as Bodypaint in Cinema 4D.

To texture, you need at LEAST a program thats capable of editing images. There are many that will do this. However, I will highly recommend skirting away from programs like paintshop pro, and going straight on for Photoshop. Photoshop has an optimizer in it, that can save everything at a very good resolution, while keeping the size of the file down. Paintshop pro has something similar, but it doesnt do as good of a job, and you will end up with very low quality images. Theres also a myriad of other reasons Photoshop is better to use, such as the things it can do in the program (I wont name them all, though)

Projection painters, on the other hand, are PRICELESS to have in your aresenal. What they enable you to do is see a model in 3D form, and paint it realtime. If you ever wrestled with a seam, you can understand how much of a pain it is to fix-render-fix-render-fix-render. It can take hours. Days, even. And sometimes, the seam is never perfect. Projection painters, however, allow you to clone or paint right over seams, in seconds. Perfect everytime. One thing I can honestly say to anyone just starting out — be sure to get yourself some projection painter, like Bodypaint. It will make your life a whole lot simpler and because of how much it makes your life simpler, it will make your work better and faster. You will find that you dont shirk away from doing more difficult things, coz you know you can always fix the seams.

Modelling:

Ive tried out a bunch of programs for this. Modelling is prolly my favorite aspect of content, so I like to play around with modellers, even if I dont adopt them into my workflow.

I started with Rhino 2 and modelled in it for a couple years… and its okay. However, I wouldnt recommend it to anyone doing Poser content… for one, its nurbs based, and it triangulates the polys to boot, so the meshes come out very poly-heavy. For two, its not a poly modeller, and poly modelling is better. This allows you to pull at the vertices/edges/faces, so you have absolute control – in Rhino, you can only edit a few points it utilizes for deformation purposes. I soon realized those two little tidbits, and then I moved onto Silo (Also, the current price on Rhino is a bit ridiculous, for its capabilities – if youre gonna spend a grand on something, get Modo, Lightwave or C4D Prime)

My main modeller has been Silo for 4 yrs, and its pretty decent modeller (esp for the money) and I still use it to this day (coz Im most comfy in there – old habits die hard, I guess) But Silo isnt very stable on my machine, unfortunately and is very glitchy with its functions – though, other people I know have had better experiences. And it doesnt have nearly enough functions for an advanced content creator, so it will eventually become limiting and oppressive, as it has with me.

Ive also used Hexagon to model (another Id highly recommend, although I dont tend to use it very much) But it has cooler capabilities than, and is much more stable than Silo (although, not entirely stable unto itself) It does spline stuff really well, which Silo doesn’t. And it has text in it, if you want to use text in your modelling. Hex is actually VERY similar to Silo, in how it moves and works – and in many ways, its better. However, no matter how much better it is than Silo, its still only a lower-end modeller just like Silo – a good option for someone beginning and needing something moderately priced, but in the end, just as limiting.

Finally, I use Cinema 4D. Its true, what they say…. you get what you pay for. Cinema 4D (or any other high end modeller) can do so many things, and more efficiently and accurately. Mostly, til recent, I used a combo of Silo and C4D (using C4D for things where Silo wasnt capable) I am, however, currently working on making C4D my permanent and lone modeller. Its functionality is so advanced, it can refine your time spent from hours to minutes. And C4D is very stable and can handle MASSIVE amounts of poly, without slowing. If you can afford it and are serious about sticking with content creation, its best to start with something high-end like C4D – as you progress, you will not have to adapt to new software.

I have tried many others, but Im not gonna list them all, as they fell short for me.

Mapping:

Well, what can I say…. UVMapper is usually the standard for mapping. Its what everyone is recommended when they start out. And having it is necessary to some degree (but not to map in!)

No, instead, I will suggest you get uvlayout instead. Why? Well, it flattens uv’s and allows you to map more cleanly and nicely, without icky stretching and such. In fact, I love uv layout so much, I wish I had gotten it years ago instead of UVMapper. Now, Im not gonna totally diss uvmapper…. its a great little program, if youre just mapping hard surface stuff, but its terrible with organics and the learning curve is a lot steeper, I think. It will take you years to master UVMapper, and for some things, the work process is too arduous, and will never be simpler than that. UVLayout, on the other hand, does both organic and hard surface mapping (the latter, if you learn how to use the segment tool, which is specifically for hard surfaces) and it makes stuff so much quicker and simpler too, that all you need to understand are how the functions work, and some keyboard shortcuts. Now, you will still need to have uvmapper for other things, like making material zones, and some grouping, as uvlayout will not allow you to edit those things. But thats pretty much all I use my copy of uvmapper for anymore.

Some modellers also have mapping capability – like Cinema 4D, which as I understand it, is quite good too (though, I havent tried it yet) Most of the high-end modellers include a mapping program, which may or may not (but in most cases do) flatten UV’s like UVLayout.

ZBrush has UVMaster, which will also flatten UV’s and it will map a mesh in a matter of seconds without you doing much to it (except you will have to slice up edges before taking it in there, so it will map how you want it to… otherwise, the uv islands will be quite butchered) I stick with UVLayout, however, simply because its good enough for me. It can handle anything.

Rigging:

Well, if youre gonna get into clothing and posable figures, you’re gonna have to embrace one of the hardest aspect of content. I, of course, say its hard, coz I started out in Poser. Poser doesnt make rigging very easy… its numerically based, and not nearly as intuitive or interactive as it could be. Poser 6 and below dont even let you undo more than once, so its restrictive in that aspect as well. Im the type of person who likes to experiement – so sometimes, I will purposely screw with stuff, just to see what it does. Not being able to undo it more than once is very bad for me LOL And some of the settings (like the joint editor, for example) cant undo AT ALL.

So where Poser kind of flunks in that department, DAZ Studio picks up. DS IS POSITIVELY BRILLIANT for development (although, you will need to own figure setup tools and Advanced figure setup tools) The only thing that it cant do, is create props (so if youre gonna want to do that, gotta have poser) For me, I use both Poser and DS. In Poser, I build my rigs, just coz I have a decent workflow in there for doing it, and Im more comfy there. And Ill also do my falloffs in Poser, coz those are cake, either way. However, to edit joints, I tend to move to DS. DS makes editing joints completely interactive; you can pull at the joint angles and center points, and move them about in the scene. The joint zones have hotspots, so you can see how it moves the mesh and controls the joint. No numbers (unless you want them, of course… it has a value-based system with dials as well, for more exacting type work) Theres also more-than-once-undo’s on everything. And that isnt ALL the figure setup tools are capable of – with things like ERC freeze (which is capable of making and slaving JCM’s) the property editor, morph loader pro, multiple selection editing and everything else it boasts, it is an absolute MUST HAVE.

Im also known to make a lot segmented parts in my posable figures. Whether its tails, chains, or even loin cloths, I have a horrible habit of it LOL For this though, I insist on using Easy Pose Underground. You will still have to build a rig in Poser or DS – what EP does is set up ERC on the rotations in the chain, in an instant.

Now, I know there are some folks out there that gripe about EP. But they really dont understand what theyre saying LOL Easy pose DOES make posing these types of things much easier (as the name suggests) and you can get intricate twists and turns way more quickly than it would take to pose each segment by itself. All it takes is setting up a node on the model, and that node will contain the main ERC to move the entire chain. You can even bend further down on the chain using more EP controls, or even the regular rotations, and really twist it up. So, for rigging that type of stuff, Easy Pose is a definite must have. I would also tend to prefer to rig these chain-styled pieces with EP, than doing bodyhandles. While bodyhandles seem to be the standard among clothing makers (and I do bodyhandled parts as well, for certain things like skirts and such) EP allows for more movement and ultimate control. So wherever possible, I use it..

Morphing:

Well, I do more than one kind of morphing. I do custom morphs which includes shapes/expressions for the heads and bodies of characters. I also do clothing morphs, naturally, as one would have to do to make clothing fit a figure. Sometimes I even do morphs that are more abstract than that, like movements and such. Then there’s other deformations, which are intended to add detailing to a model.

My workflow for morphing has changed more than I care to admit lol I change it all the time, in fact, after I discover something that will make it easier and quicker. So, Ive used multiple programs to morph in.

For face morphs and expressions and things of that sort, I used Silo’s displacement brush for years. More recently, I finally got ZBrush, and do it all in there now, including body morphs.

For movement type stuff, I also used a Silo/C4D combo, and sometimes even used Poser magnets… but for the most part, I now use Z. The fact that you can use the mask option in Z, to mask off certain areas, makes it perfect for movements. And if you need to isolate by group (as opposed to deforming the whole mesh in one stroke), theres even an option to do that (if you keep your groups intact) However, there are times where I’d need to turn off a piece of a model by its material zone (and not by group), so I can get underneath it. And sometimes, Z’s masking doesnt work out too well. So, for situations like this, its C4D to the rescue! In there, I have three choices for editing the mesh: Soft Selection, the magnet and brush tool and all of them have an option to isolate what youre deforming to the specific surface only (leaving the other parts untouched) Best of all, I can opt to hide things by group or material (which Id use according to what would work best in the situation)

As for wrinkles in clothing, I generally prefer that they be in the model itself, as opposed to done as morphs…. but you absolutely CAN make them morphs, if you prefer. And for that, C4D, Silo or ZBrush would do well. Me, I tend to do wrinkles wherever Im modelling them at, since I dont usually spawn them as morphs (tho there have been cases) However, Z does have brushes and settings to change the brushes, that modellers dont equip in their displacement painters (things like stitches, and reptile scales, etc) so if I wanted something like that, Id naturally move to Z. If you have a high-end modeller (lC4D, Max, Maya, or Modo), Z also now has a feature called GoZ, that allows you to send a model from your modeller, into ZBrush for deformations and texturing, and then back to your modeller with all of it in tact… and without having to export an obj.

For clothing morphs (the fitting kind), I started out with Poser magnets, and then moved onto DFormers in DS (the latter which Id recommend over Poser’s magnets, as you can actually see what youre doing; it has hot spots to show u where it will deform the most/least and theres no bulky magnet in the way) More recently, however, I started doing them in ZBrush. I have never seen a better and faster program for doing clothing morphs than Z… in fact, so much, its going to be hard, if not nearly impossible, to beat. And due to the way it works, its also a lot more exacting than magnets and DFormers, such as you would need in the case of tight-fitting clothing.

Also, part of my workflow for doing morphs, is using Morph Loader Pro (part of DS and Advanced figure setup tools) This is a positively priceless plugin that will make loading many multiple morphs over multiple groups much more simple (one obj with groups all attached – spun out in 5 seconds, FBM’s and all. You can even batch load a metric ton of morphs at once)

And thats pretty much all there is to my workflow  (well, as I said, theres more, but Im not gonna go over every single aspect) The best thing to do, is try things out and make your own workflow that works best with you.