build worlds with notch

Will Smith describes how to use video game industry techniques to create a realistic environment with Notch, the real-time rendering tool

Find out how to get started with the software

“Notch uses a hierarchical Node graph interface that allows you to connect simple logical building blocks. this makes it easy and quick to put together scenes” Will Smith, product specialist at Notch

Ihave spent a decade and a half building my experience as an accomplished lead environment artist in the games industry. i have recently worked on several award-winning AAA titles, including leading the art team for the

Batman: Arkham trilogy of games. During this time, games became more and more realistic and game engines became ever more powerful. on the eve of the unreal engine 4 release, i decided to step out of games and founded a company focusing on photo-realistic 3D rendering of architectural projects using unreal engine.

When you deal in the currency of visual communication, photorealistic renderings of unbuilt work are powerful tools. i loved being able to blow people away by giving them the perfect execution of the initial design and the experience of viewing the finished product.

Working With notch

over the years i have worked on various projects with Matt Swoboda, the founder of Notch. like myself, Matt doesn’t have a conventional background in motion graphics or VFX. We started our careers at the same games company before he went on to become a principal engineer at Sony Computer entertainment europe.

More recently, i’ve contributed artwork for a couple of demoscene projects, which led me to working on my first Notch project. this then turned into an opportunity to join the team. Now i work towards developing the Notch software further, specifically with the goal of reaching a broader user base in the 3D community.

this article details my experience of using Notch to create a complete 3D scene, employing some of the techniques i’ve used over the many years i have worked in the games industry. this will provide 3D generalists an overview of how they can get started with Notch.

introducing notch

Notch is a powerful real-time engine historically used to generate live visuals for gigs, stage events and installations. From tour visuals for Beyoncé, ed Sheeran, Drake and u2 to the Broadway musical of Frozen, artists and production teams rely on Notch to power their real-time visuals both on and off the stage. With Notch you can create mind-blowing motion graphics, VFX and VR with a real-time WYSIWYG workflow. it’s the first tool that gives creatives a unified real-time environment to create interactive and video content.

like unreal and unity, Notch scenes can be set up without needing to use code. Notch uses a hierarchical node graph interface that allows you to connect simple logical building blocks. this makes it easy, straightforward and quick to put together scenes, animations and VFX, without sacrificing flexibility or rendering quality.

getting started –the notch user interface

the Notch user interface is based around the node graph and the central root node. Assets are imported through the resources window where they can be dragged and dropped into the node graph and connected to the root node. they are then displayed