Turn 2D art into a game asset

Following on from last month’s workshop, Baj Singh creates a 3D game-ready character from a 2D concept

Baj Singh goes through his process of creating a 3D game-ready character from a piece of 2D concept art.

While the software used may differ between companies, translating a 2D concept into a 3D asset that can be used within a video game is a ubiquitous process in AAA game development. My goal for this workshop is to help you understand what programs and processes we use to get to the final result.

A basic knowledge or awareness of these programs will help, although I’ll be focusing less on software-specific elements and instead looking at the overall process. However, for those interested in 3D game character production as a career, further research into development processes will be necessary. See page 18 for this month’s feature on online art schools, and find out what video game courses teach their students. You’re sure to find the software I’ve mentioned here, along with alternative programs, too.

I’ll talk about the process of building and sculpting a highresolution character using 3D Studio Max and ZBrush. This will never be used in the final game, but will provide additional texture detail to the low (game) resolution character (which I also create in 3ds Max). I then use Photoshop and Quixel Suite to add colour and texture to the asset, before posing the character and presenting it using Marmoset Toolbag. So, there’s a lot to cover!