Texture Planning : Environment Texture Planning and Implementation 材質計畫 : 場景貼圖計畫和實行 by :Jeremy Huxley

Yes ! I have finished to translate this article ! It's talk about texture planning, and hope u like it !
Welcome any feedback about my translation.

沒錯！我已經完成翻譯這篇文章！這是談論貼圖計畫，希望你們喜歡它！

Article from :  Vertex Art   3Q !

Texture Planning
貼圖計畫

Environment Texture Planning and Implementation by: Jeremy Huxley
場景貼圖計畫和實踐：Jeremy Huxley編寫

____One of the great perks of working at Naughty Dog is that a lot of trust and responsibility is placed in the artists.Aside from a few rules, we were free to pretty much make Sandlantis whatever we wanted. When we started, Adam Littledale (the modeler) and I gathered a lot of reference. The initial concepts and color keys for the city were done,but the initial ideas were that the city would be in ruins. After a lot of internal discussion and debate among the directors and leads, we were instructed to go with a more fantastical look. This lost city was to be inspired more literally by the tales, thus making it relatively pristine, having working fountains and plant life with sprawling vistas.Considering that Ubar would have been thousands of years old and is virtually nonexistent we wanted to embrace  the tale and the mysticism surrounding the city as it makes for more interesting story telling and exploration for the player. Creating this level was a huge challenge technically and artistically.

　　在頑匹狗工作最棒的好處之一，是有很多信任和責任賦予美術。除了一些規則，我們是相當自由的製作我們想要的Sandlantis(秘境3的場景)。當我們開始，Adam Littledale(模型師)和我收集許多資料，最初的為這城市的概念和關鍵色調已經完成，不過最初的想法是會被毀壞。經過多次互相討論，與導演和指導辯論。我們任命朝著更幻想的外觀前進。這遺落的城市，來自傳說的字面上激發，這讓它相對原始。蔓沿的藤蔓和植物的生命伴隨廣闊的遠景。考慮到Ubar 會是個千年久遠並且事實上不存在，我們想去抓住這城市周遭的傳說和神秘感，為那些玩家，讓它更具吸引力的故事和探險。製作這個關卡是相當大的技術和藝術挑戰。


____Over a few months we settled on key points concerning look and feel based on the initial sketches done by our concept artists, which is to say that it was inspired by pre-islamic architecture, our final revision was even more elaborate and in working condition. With these principles defined we set out to create the city and I am going to talk a little about how we as a team approached each problem and how I approached my own from a texturing perspective.

　　過了幾個月，我們設定重點，關注外觀和感受，基於由我們概念設計師所畫的初步草稿，可以說，被前伊斯蘭建築啟發。我們最後的校訂，是更精緻並且符合工作條件。有了這些原則做為依據，我們著手設定一個城市並且我要說一些我們是個團隊所接觸的每個問題並且，我是如何從貼圖透視接近我自己。



____Many ancient inventions came from this part of the world and we saw that as a great opportunity to compound styles while simultaneously adding interest and movement to the city. Having working parts after thousands of years tells the player that there is something strange about this place. The domes of the pavilions are crusted with jewels and jacinth, and are evocative of the tales and stories crossed with a subtle industrial style, in the end they look something like elaborate birdcages. There are pillars of marble and alabaster for
the heavy blocks which are described along with gold, silver and elaborate tile.

　　許多古老的發明來自世界的一部分，並且我們視為一個絕佳的機會去結合風格，並同時增加趣味和動機給這個城市。千年之後，在活動範圍裡，告訴玩家關於這地方奇怪的事情。樓閣的圓頂用珠寶和紫瑪瑙，並且是令人回味的寓言和故事，穿插一個細微的工業風格。最後，他們再找類似精緻鳥籠。有大理石的柱子和雪花石的深色磚，伴隨有黃金，白銀和細緻磁磚。

____Because we knew that Uncharted 3 would primarily be a desert game, we were very concerned about
the colors we were choosing, some of the palette had already been planned, but it had evolved a bit through-
out the production based on what was working harmoniously in the final levels. We were given the direction
that we couldn’t use red or a lot of warmer colors, because we had already had so many warmer toned
environments.

　　因為我們知道秘境3會是主要為沙漠遊戲，我們非常關心我們所選的色彩，有些色票已經被設計好，但是它會透過成品進化一些，和諧的融入於最後的關卡。我們被給予一個指示，我們不用紅色，或是更多的暖色，因為我們已經有太多暖色調的環境了。

____We didn’t want the player to feel fatigued, so naturally we felt that it might be a good idea to move towards blue, warm white tones, gold and a few cool reds to make the textures more dynamic. In regards to art, Uncharted games are very concerned with creative use of color for visual impact and also conveying the
mood that best supports the story telling. Even though it might seem primarily cosmetic we always take great
care to choose color that evokes the desired emotional impact.

　　我們不想要玩家感到疲勞，所以自然地，我們感覺這也許是個好主意，顏色走向藍色，暖白色調，金色和一些很酷的紅色，讓貼圖更顯活潑。有關美術方面，秘境探險是非常關注在創造性地運用顏色，為視覺衝擊以及輸出情緒方面，是故事描述的最佳支持。雖然它似乎主要是化妝，我們會很小心的選擇顏色，喚起期望的情緒衝擊。

_____Once we were happy with the look for the exterior of the buildings, we shifted our focus on creating interesting interior spaces. We knew that Drake would be exploring interiors and eventually going into the subterranean areas of the city. Given the importance of water in this game, we decided on ancient palaces and bath houses.

　　當我們對建物外觀感到滿意，我們轉移我們焦點在製作有趣的室內空間。我們知道德瑞克會探索室內，並且最後會進入城市的地下區域，考慮到水的重要性在這遊戲裡，我們決定放在古老的宮殿和浴室。

_____Some of the most inspiring reference that we gathered included a lot of Orientalist paintings by artists such as Jean Gerome, Alma Tadema, William Allan, Eugene Delacroix, Gustav Bauernfeind and Jean-Jules Antoine. Orientalism naturally worked with the style we were going for, it definitely added dramatic flair and the idealization worked well for Uncharted’s hyper- realistic style.

　　我們收集最能激發人心的參考資料，包括大量東方繪畫，是由 Jean Gerome, Alma Tadema, William Allan, Eugene Delacroix, Gustav Bauernfeind and Jean-Jules Antoine繪製。東方主義自然地成為我們追求風格，它明確地增加戲劇天賦並且理想化，對於秘境的超現實主義風格。


_____These idealized paintings also mirrored the tales closely and were good tools when creating plausible textures when it came down to each marble slab, inlay, paver and jacinth. Initially my textures for the temples looked a little too noisy so one of the texture artists, Behrooz Roozbeh, pointed me in the direction of an artist Alma Tadema. Paying close attention to the austerity of some of Alma Tadema’s Marble palaces helped me balance the noise and the empty space better.

　　這些理想的繪畫也是更緊密反映故事，當製作合理貼圖，利用每個大理石板，鑲嵌，鋪磚，瑪瑙會是很好的工具。起初，我的貼圖是為寺廟設計，看起來有點雜亂，所以材質美術之一的Behrooz Roozbeh，指引我一個方向，藝術家Alma Tadema，仔細注意一些Alma Tadema的大理石宮殿之中的樸實。幫助我平衡雜訊和空白之間，變得更好。


_____Eventually, white alabaster and marble blocks worked the best as a base, and white is hard to get right in games, so it offered a fun challenge. Noise and empty space became a huge basis for making this style work.

　　最後，白色雪花石和大理石磚最好的利用是成為基底，並且白色很難融入遊戲中，所以這提供一個有趣的挑戰。為製作這種風格，雜訊和空白空間變成巨大的基礎。



_____Even though we had a precedent for not having any colors from the “warm” side of the color wheel in the level we ended up having a lot of colors that came rather close and the overall feel was rather warm. If it were all just analogous it felt too boring or too cold in terms of color, the player still needed to feel like they were deep in the Rub’ al Khali desert in this fantastic city, but we also wanted the look to be somewhat unexpected. In the end The warmth of the rocks, the gold, the marbles the tapestries and banners ended up giving us that third “accent” color that gave the level the kick that it needed. Textures in Uncharted 3 were all built from scratch in Z-brush, which is the primary method that we generate our textures at Naughty dog. Before I do anything, I like to start by doing a lot of rough sketches to better plan for my texture needs in a specific level. Here is an example shown below.

　　既使我們有一個先例，在關卡中，我們沒有任何顏色是在色相盤中屬於暖色調的，我們最終擁有許多來自較接近並且大多感覺較暖的顏色。如果只是類似感覺乏味或是太過冷色調，玩家仍然需要感受他們是在 Rub’ al Khali 沙漠深處的幻想都市。但是我們也希望外觀會是有些無法預期的。
　　最後，炙熱的岩石，黃金，廟宇大理石和旗幟最後給了我們第三種地方性的顏色，給了關卡最需要的關鍵。在頑匹狗裡，貼圖在秘境3全部用ZBRUSH製作，這是我們製作我們貼圖的主要方法。我在做任何事情之前，我想從做很多草圖開始，可以為我的貼圖在特定的關卡裡做好計畫。這下面是範例

_____It is easy to create a 1 to 1 texture that is self contained and have it look great, however due to the fact that we had sprawling vistas in over half of Sandlantis above and below ground, we had to create vast libraries almost all consisting of tiling textures that could be used all over and to get the levels completed within a reasonable time frame running at our desired frame rate. When planning a trim like the one shown above, I commonly used initial concepts by our artists and would try to pick out bits and pieces here and there that inspired me. I also used a lot of reference in books and online.

　　很容易製作1對1的貼圖，因為它獨立並且看起來很棒。然而由於事實上，我們已經擴展遠景超過 Sandlantis一半的地上和地面下，我們必須建立龐大的資料庫，幾乎是所有連續貼圖可以被全部利用，並讓關卡用合理的時間影格(時間禎)完成，而且是我們期望的運算影格率。當規劃一種鑲邊飾，如上，我通常使用我們藝術家最初的概念設計並且從中選取讓我感興趣的部分。我也從書本和網路使用很多參考資料。



_____I searched for architecture, paintings and even sometimes jewelry or ornaments from that area and used small elements from each for ideas and color reference in my shaders. Quick sketches helped me work through how I could best replicate or embellish on sections of my texture without spending too much time on something that might not work in the end. The drawings on the right side above are some examples of an early texture concept I had done and then how I broke it down into its basic reusable elements. Once I had the larger details separated into easily manageable pieces I would then model these pieces in Maya. I didn’t worry too much about getting every detail modelled in, only the overall shape and size, all broad strokes.

　　我收尋建築物，畫作甚至有時候是珠寶或來自地區的裝飾品並且利用來自各種點子的小物件，和在我的材質庫中的色彩資料。速寫幫助我運作讓我如何可以最佳重製或美化我的貼圖，不需要花太多時間在也許最後用不到的地方。上方的繪製是我的早期概念貼圖，然後我怎麼分解他們成為有用的物件。一旦我將更多的細節，分成容易管理的物件，我就會開始在MAYA製作。我不煩惱太多要有很多細節，只要整體的形跟尺寸，都是粗略的即可。

_____Next I import these pieces into Zbrush, tesselate and then sculpt basic edges and warp the planes a little, creating and saving of different variants for the tools, similar to how Brad  describes in his texturing tutorial. Once I had a few versions of these tools I could then start laying them out on the canvas, offsetting to be sure that each strip tiles. I repeat this process until I have multiple layers, each separate strips on their own. I will usually export the diffuse and normal out to test the early texture sculpts in game to check the resolution. If the normals are reading well I proceed with the texture, if not I will adjust strips that are not working and try something else. To finalize the work in Zbrush I add scuffs, gashes, scrapes, along with broken bits here and there etc. I then export all of my textures including cavity and height maps. The final art usually ends up entailing a lot of layering and texture wrangling in Photoshop.

　　下一步，我把這些組件匯入ZBRUSH，細分並且雕刻它的基本邊緣和把平面稍微變型，製作並存下各種不一樣的Ztool，會類似Brad在它貼圖教學所敘述的。一旦我有多種Ztool，我可以讓他們開始打樣在畫布(電腦上)，位移確定每個長條圖都是連續。我重複這個過程直到我有多個階層，每個分開的長條圖都是獨立的。我通常將輸出Diffuse和Normal去做遊戲裡早期貼圖測試，檢查解析度。如果Normal正常，我會繼續材質處理，如果沒有我會調整長條圖，或試試別的方法。在ZBRUSH我增加一些磨傷，切口，刮傷，和一些地方破損，完善我的材質。然後我輸出我的貼圖包括cavity，height maps。最後成品通常結束意味著很多layers跟貼圖在PS裡。

_____Both of the trim sets shown above were used in Sandlants, the upper one is the final version of the sketch from before. Above is also an example of two large props we created that were able to maintain detail and a lot of variety using only these two shaders. I have found that almost everything I wanted to accomplish artistically in Sandlants could be done with tile-able texture sheets as opposed to unique textures used only for one object. Planning your textures out takes a little more time at the beginning, but in the end helps save valuable production time and speed up the performance of the game, allowing for even more layers of detail. Working in games is difficult, you need to be able to make decisions on what to pay attention to and what to ignore and how to follow through with Maya, Z-brush and Photoshop to create the most effective textures and shaders possible.

　　上面這2組鑲邊套件展示被用在 Sandlants，較高的最終版本是來自前面的草圖，上面也是兩個我們製作的大型道具，保持細節和多種樣式，只用了2個shader。我發現大部分我想要在 Sandlants藝術化完成的每件事，可以使用連續貼圖而不是為單一物件所特製的貼圖。在一開始，花點時間，計畫你的貼圖，但最後，幫助你省下寶貴的製作時間和加速遊戲效能，允許更多的細節的層級。在遊戲中工作是困難的，你需要可以做決定，甚麼該注意，甚麼要忽略，如何運用MAYA ZBRUSH Photoshop去製作有效率的貼圖和shader。

_____Creating tiling textures helped me to unify our look. Having fewer variables to adjust makes the whole process easier in the long run, especially towards the end. In closing I would like to give a huge thanks and recognition to the entire environment team at Naughty Dog, without whom we would never have gotten this level done. It is important to remember that making games is a team effort and by the end of Uncharted 3, a lot of other artists rolled over to help us complete our level to the quality that we have.

        製作連續貼圖幫助我統一我們的外觀。較少變化去調整，長久下來，可以讓過程容易點，尤其趨向終點時。最後，我想要感謝並表揚頑匹狗整個場景組。沒有他們，我們沒辦法達到這一步。這很重要，記住，做遊戲是團隊合作並且秘境3的最後，有許多其他的美術轉身幫助我們完成我們的遊戲關卡。

_____These environment screengrabs are from the level Sand-Lantis, which I textured. I would say I did most of the textures onscreen aside from characters and some props. P.S. The wonderful modelling was done by Adam Litledale.

　　　這些場景截圖來自Sand-Lantis關卡，我製作的貼圖，我做了大部份的貼圖，從角色到道具。PS這夢幻的模型是出自Adam Litledale.



About Me
_____I have worked as an environment artst in Germany, the Netherlands and the USA for 7-8 years. A few games I have worked on include Hellgate London, Torchlight and Uncharted 3. I also do a lot of personal and indie projects in my free tme.

　　我在德國 荷蘭 美國 擔任場景美術，已有7-8年，很多遊戲我有參與過，地獄門:倫敦 火炬之光 秘境探險3，我也在空閒時刻做一些我的個人作品和獨立製作。

World Building : The Environment Art Pipeline 建構世界 : 場景美術工作流程 by: Anthony Vaccaro

____Hello guys, It's been a while that i didn't post some technique article. So today, I post a article translated for 4 weeks about environment art pipeline to share with you.

        哈囉，有一段時間我沒PO一技術性的文章。所以今天，我PO一篇翻譯有四周XD之久的，有關場景美術工作流程，和你們分享。

Article from :  Vertex Art   3Q !

World Building
建構世界

The Environment Art Pipeline by: Anthony Vaccaro
場景美術工作流程 : Anthony Vaccaro 編寫

____When creating the Caravan level in Uncharted 3 I knew its size would be the major issue that would cause the most problems. Creating the massive environment needed for a high speed horse chase through the cliff canyons and out in the desert while reducing the all too common problem of noticeable repetition would be the crux of this issue. This article focuses on aesthetic and technical decisions made to help alleviate this problem while going over a method I used to create a very vast environment within a production cycle.

　　當創作uncharted 3 沙漠旅行的關卡，我已知它的規模會是重大主題，這會產生許多問題。製作大規模的場景需要有高速的馬追逐經過懸崖峽谷和出沙漠，而減少所有明顯重覆感太普遍會是這問題的關鍵。這篇文章著重在美學和技術的決策，使幫助解決這問題，回顧我曾經在一個生產週期創建一個非常廣闊的場景。



Start Smart
開始計畫

____When going about constructing an environment it is important you stay as far away from a modeling package as possible until you have a large library of reference images, this the key to creating believable words.  Without a good foundation and understanding of the location you are striving to replicate in 3d, your environment will have that all too familiar 3d look instead of being a world viewers can truly escape to.  This is where you can plan out the most important visual aspects of the environment and determine what is important to keep from your reference and what is not.  You want to include what is visually striking, what will help set it apart while keeping within the set style of your project.  You don’t want to fall into the trap of trying to do everything possible and having everything suffer for it.

　　當進行建立一個場景，很重要的一點，你要盡可能遠離一點你的模型套件，直到你有大量的參考圖片資料庫。這是製作讓人信以為真環境的關鍵。沒有良好的基礎和理解你正努力複製到3D的地點，你的場景將有一個大家都耳熟能詳的3D外觀，而不是被真實世界的觀眾能夠真正跳脫。這是你可以計畫出最重要的場景視覺方面的地方，並決定甚麼重要保持在你的參考中而哪些不是。在你專案設立風格期間，你想要包含視覺重擊，甚麼可以幫助它分類。你不想要掉落"試圖竭盡所能和讓每件事都要遭受如此"的陷阱。

Rocks, Rocks and a few more Rocks
岩石，岩石和一些更多的岩石
____To help combat the problem of noticeable repetition from overusing a small handful of very unique models in such a large environment I went with the approach of creating a vast library of different models utilizing blending and tilting texture sets. There are many benefits to this approach of work with not to many downsides.  Having a much larger library of rock assets to choose from helped create a much more organic look to the environment while minimizing the noticeable repetition.  Changes to any model could be made without fear of destroying uniquely created maps at any stage of production giving me freedom to constantly improve and optimize the model as need be.

        為幫助試圖解決"明顯重複"的問題，從過度使用非常獨特的一小部分模型在相當大的場景，我製作一個龐大資料庫，不一樣模型利用混合和連續貼圖組。這有很多好處，這種沒有太多缺點的工作方式。擁有一個更大的岩石道具資料庫去做選擇，從製作更原型的外觀到場景，而最小化明顯重複感。可以改變任何模型，而不需要擔心破壞獨創的地圖在任何生產階段下。給我自由去不斷完善並且優化模型，如所需要。



____Not only did I utilize a high model count for the environment but I also reduced how much each model differed from each other.  Now this might seem like a counter productive thought process when the whole point of having a larger library of assets was to give you more variety, but the reason this was done was to give the level a better sense of cohesion.  The issue with creating too many “unique” rock assets is that they will eventually stand out, and they become harder to blend with the other rocks and elements in your scene.  It will look more like models are simply place next to each other instead of a solid flowing rock form that looks unique due to the diversity of models used while still maintaining the look that it is all the same cliff face.

        我不只為場景使用一高模型總量，但我也降低每個模型彼此多少的不同。現在這似乎透過這流程像是個反向生產，當有一個較大的道具庫為全部中心是給你更多種類，但這樣做的原因是讓關卡有更好的凝聚力。有關製作太多特異石頭道具套件的問題就是最後他們會太突出!
並且它們變得較難在你的場景，與其他石頭和元素混合。它將看起來更像放置在一個相鄰類似的模型，而不是固體流動的石頭，來自看起來特異，由於模型多樣性被使用，同時仍保持外觀是一樣的崖面。

Similar But different 
類似但不一樣



____Now let’s not get carried away and think each model should look exactly the same.  This is untrue, we just want to minimize the amount of unique details that will stand out and betray the illusion we are trying to create with repettous elements.  Silhouette should be the main focus of the model while maintaining a consistent look through out each piece and limitng the amount of very exaggerated unique details.  This of course does not limit you to only creating assets that look very similar.  Much like your details you want to use the more standout assets sparingly and in places that you wish to draw attention whether it is the focal point of the scene or you are trying to use it to guide the player.

        現在我們不要得意並且思考每個模型應該看起來確實一樣，這不是事實，我們只是想要最小化獨特細節的數量，這些細節太獨特並且洩露我們正試著用重複物件製作畫面。剪影應是模型主要焦點，當保持一致的外觀，透過每個部分，並且限制非常誇張獨特的細節數量。這當然不是限制你只能製作看起來非常相似的道具。就像你的細節，你想要謹慎的使用更多突出的道具，並且一個你希望被提醒注意地方，無論是它是場景的焦點或是你試著使用它去指導玩家。


____While the models themselves differ from Large, Medium to Small each carries through similar defining  elements such as the chipped/layered look.  These types of decisions on what style and types of elements you wish to carry through your models should be determined before hand to keep a sense of  cohesion throughout your level/assets.

        模型本身不一樣從大 中 到小，每個都進行透過類似制定的元件，如缺口/層次感的外型。這些決定種類在甚麼風格和你想要執行在你的模型，應事先確定，以保持凝聚力，貫徹在你的關卡和道具

But how do we make the world so large?
那我們要如何讓世界如此之大?

____The last section of the Caravan level in Uncharted 3 is a daring battle on horseback high up on a cliff ledge overlooking a vast barren sea of sand.  What most players (hopefully at least) don’t realize is that they are actually in a never ending environment loop.

        在祕境探險3中，Caravan關卡裡的最後部分，是在馬背上驚險的戰鬥，在高空岩壁突出上，俯瞰廣闊貧脊的沙海。然而，大多的玩家(希望至少)不知道，他們實際上是在一個永無止境的場景迴圈。


____This gameplay section is not on rails, there is no end point and each player will complete the level at a different point. To achieve this result the level had to be constructed in a loop, a very wide one at that to minimize the fact that you are going in a circle and to compensate for players of varying skill level.  Most players will never traverse through the entirety of the loop but it still has to all be there for those that will.

        這個遊玩部分不是在軌道上，沒有終點並且每個玩家在不一樣的地點完成關卡。為了達到這個結果，關卡必須被建構在一個迴圈，一個非常寬闊的，降低現實，你會接近一個圓形，並且，彌補各種技術等級的玩家。大多的玩家將不會遊歷整個迴圈，但它還是必須完整在此，為玩家們。

____Utilizing the fact that we have a huge library of rocks at our disposal will help us create these large environments while keeping every area looking unique.  How was this done then within the constraints of a normal game production cycle?  Simply making things more modular!

        利用現況，我們有大量石頭資料庫在我們的布置，將幫助我們製作這些大型環境，同時保持每個區域看起來是獨特的。這如何做到的，在一個正常遊戲製作週期的限制內?只要讓物件更模組化!

Modularity within Modularity
模組化中的模組化



____At Naughty Dog I use what we refer to as “Nested Scenes” to create the miles and miles of track needed for this section of the level.  These Nested Scenes are modular mini scenes within themselves.  They are constructed much like any area of the level, they are built using many modular assets, unique terrain, specific game flags, and include things such a collision and shadow proxies.  Everything about them is created exactly as a normal gameplay section would be except they are created with the intent that the start and end section will link up with another Nested Scenes much like a piece of train track.  Using this method I created about 5 unique sections of terrain and assembled these modular sections in 1 master scene file.

        在頑皮狗，我使用我們稱之為嵌套場景，去製作千里長的軌道，為這關卡的地區所需要的。這些嵌套場景是模組化的微縮場景，包含自己。它們由像是關卡的任何區域所建構，它們是使用很多模組化道具去建立，獨特的地形，特別的遊戲旗幟，和包含像是碰撞和陰影代理的東西。每件東西關於嵌套場景是被確實製作，如同一般遊玩部分，除了製作它們是傾向開始和結束的部分，將和其他嵌套場景連接，類似一段火車軌道。我用這個方法製作了五個獨特的地形場景並且組裝這些模組區塊在一個主要場景檔案裡。

____Example of a Nested Scene.  Created much like a regular level section that can be placed in a master scene like any normal instanced asset.
To give a sense of scale the flat terrain section the player can move around in is about 5 truck widths wide.

        一個嵌套場景的範例。製作類似一般關卡區域，可以放置在一個主要場景中，像是任何一般實體化的道具。
為了給予一個規模感，這平坦地形約5個卡車寬度寬，玩家可以在裡頭四處移動

____This method lends its self well to the continual demands of design changes without requiring too
much work.  Changing things within each Nested Scene will then update all copies in the larger
master scene, much like any individual modular asset being updated in its base scene, the changes
will be reflected in all subsequent scenes it’s being used in.

        這個方式藉由他自己以及對設計更動的不斷要求，不需要太多工夫。在每個嵌套場景內改變事物，將更新在主場景上所有的複製，類似任何獨立的模組道具，被更新在底層場景裡，這改變會被反應在所有隨後的場景上。


____A top down view of the main scene file for the Cliff Loop.  With the Nested Scene above selected you can see how large the loop actually is and attempting to create this any other way would be an extreme waste of time.

        一張主要場景的懸崖迴圈空照圖。因為選擇崁套場景，你可以看到迴圈的真正大小而且試著去製作這樣的場景，會是相當浪費時間。

Breaking up the Boring
打破無聊

____When creating large Nested Scenes like this, much like with individual assets, you want to keep the extreme uniqueness of these scenes to a minimum to reduce the chance players will begin to notice that they are traveling past the same chunk again and again.  To break up the boringness of this and add spice to our level we will then want to go into the master scene where all our large track pieces are laid out and then add in extra details on top.  These extra assets added into the master scene will help make each section of your level look unique and disguises the fact that you are repeatedly going over the same track section again and again.

        當要製作崁套場景，如這樣，就像是獨立道具，你想要保持這些場景獨特性，以一個最低限度，減少玩家會開始發現他們正在一次又一次穿越一樣區塊的機會。為了打破無聊，並且增加趣味到我們的關卡，我們將會到主場景，所有我們最大的軌道被編排並且增加額外的細節在上面。這些額外道具增加到主場景，將幫助你的關卡的每個部份而且掩飾你正重複地一遍又一遍經過同樣區塊的事實。



_____The same track section as above only with extra detailing assets placed in the master scene to break up the look of the area giving off a completely different feel while reducing the amount of unique work needing to be done.

        同樣的軌道區域，如上圖，只有額外的細節道具，擺設主場景，打破區域外觀，釋出一個完全不一樣感覺，同時降低特別定製所需的數量。

____Utilize your reference images here to help you determined what would be appropriate for the location and
aesthetics of the level. Breaking up the look of the loop is important but you don’t want to stray from the core look of the level just to make things look different.

        利用你的參考照片，去幫你決定甚麼的地點和關卡美學會較適合。打破重複的外貌很重要，但你不會想要偏離主要關卡的外貌，就只是讓東西不一樣而已。





Hey that’s Game Development
嘿! 這就是遊戲開發阿!

____Within game development an artist will always have to adjust their levels based on changes in story and gameplay. Having things extremely modular and easy to edit will alleviate a lot of the issues you will eventually face. One of the worst things an artist must deal with is when sections of a level must be cut due to changes in design or time.
This happens on all projects and multiple times within my level during the creation of Uncharted 3. Utilizing the modularity of Nested Scenes, not as much time was wasted changing or removing large sections of gameplay as opposed to if I had made every section from scratch.

        由於遊戲開發，一位美術將總是必須調整他們的關卡，依據故事的改變和試玩結果。讓事情徹底模組化並且容易編輯，將減緩你最後將面對的問題。最糟事情的其中之一就是，一位美術必須要處理刪減關卡一部分，因為設計或是時間變更。
這會發生在所有的專案上，並且發生好幾次在我製作秘境探險3的關卡時。利用嵌套場景的模組化，不會浪費太多時間改變或是移動大塊遊玩區塊，相對於如果我從無到有完成每個場景。





____This technique was also used to create the endless sea of sand dunes earlier in the level. These were a bit more difficult as they required the edges to be completely seamless not only the model but also with the textures.

        這個技巧也被用來製作無邊際的沙丘之海，在之前的關卡，這有點更困難，同時他們要求邊界要完全無縫，不只針對模型，還有貼圖。

Closing Thoughts
結語

____Remember the points I brought up in this article are by no means the correct way to go about constructing your environment. There are many factors that come into account such as art direction, design, style of gameplay, and technology used at your studio. These are a collection of thoughts and tips I used for creating the Caravan level in Uncharted 3. The biggest advice I can give is really to think for yourself, do not rely on tutorials and articles written by others. There is no right and wrong way to create environments. Experiment and decide what works best for you on any given project. Most of all have fun doing what you love.

       記住我在本文所說的重點，並非真的就是正確方法適合製作你的場景。有很多因素，綜觀像是美術方向，設計，遊玩風格，和你工作室使用的技術。這些是我在秘境探險3，製作Caravan 關卡時，一個想法和訣竅的收集。我可以給的最大建議就是真的為自己想，不要太依賴別人的教學和文章。製作場景沒有對錯，實驗和決定甚麼工作流程對你在任何專案最好。最重要是做你所愛得到樂趣。





                 

About Me 
關於我

____I graduated from the Art Institute of San Diego California and got my first job working up at Bungie on Halo Reach as an Environment Artist. After Reach I joined all the talented folks over at Naughty Dog and worked on the Caravan level for Uncharted 3.

        我畢業於聖地亞哥加州藝術學院，並得到了我的第一份工作，在Bungie的最後一戰 : 瑞曲之戰裡當環境藝術家。瑞曲後，我加入人才濟濟的頑皮狗並且規畫Caraven關卡為祕境3。


Article from :  Vertex Art   3Q !

Modeling : Environment Modeling Pipeline by: David Ballard 模型 : 場景模型流程 by David Ballard

OH~~I translate this article for two weeks and learn a lots info about environment art. It's awesome ! I share this with u. 　welcome any feedback !!

Reference from : VERTEX   <--nice web!!

    The process of creating environments at Naughty Dog is lengthy and detailed, but the real secret is sticking to the fundamentals; both the fundamentals of art as well as the fundamentals of video game pipelines. It’s easy to get ahead of yourself when trying to create whole environments, but there are foundations of environment art that will keep you on track.

在頑皮狗製作場景的過程是漫長且細膩，但真正的秘密是堅持基本原則，是藝術的基本面也是電視遊戲生產的基本面。當你試著創作整個場景時，容易好高騖遠，但場景美術的基本面會讓你保持在軌道上。


　　Here’s an example of modular environment creation with prototypes. This building facade is created with just 4 different prototypes and a minimal amount of non-prototyped mesh. We call this non-prototyped mesh Tfrag. Since Tfrag is only used once, it is a waste of memory whereas prototypes that are instanced multiple times but only load into memory once are much more cost efficient.

這裡有一個模組化場景檔案和原型的範例，這個建物只是由4個不一樣的原型和最少數量的非原型物件組成的。我們稱non-prototyped mesh 為 Tfrag .由於 Tfrag 只被用過一次，是一種浪費記憶體，而 prototypes是被實體化多次，但只被讀寫一次，是相當有效益的。

　　Obviously some Tfrag will be needed, but being as modular as possible will allow for numerous amounts of detail to be added to the level with a minimal hit to memory. Below are examples of both the Prototypes and Tfrag that were used to create the façade.

有些Trag很明顯的會被需要，但盡可能的模組化，將考慮到更多數量的細節增加，對於使用最小記憶體的層級。以下是 Prototypes 和 Tfrag 被利用製作的外觀。

　　Working on a game like Uncharted requires a lot of planning and work. It takes a long time to finish an environment, especially with changes in story, design and artistic style. The best way to finish then, is to work iteratively. Taking areas of environments to full completion early on is risky as you’re sure to have to change it sooner or later.

在製作像秘境探險這類的遊戲，會要求很多規畫跟工作。這會花費許多時間去完成一個場景，尤其是當故事，設計，或是風格改變時。最好的完成方法是反覆的製作。在初期當你確定必須要快一點或慢點改變它，取場景的區塊去全面製作是有風險的!

　　There is a process called look development where we will complete a small section of art as a proof of concept to show what each Environment Artist’s vision of their level is, but very little of this is actually used in end results. From there we focus on macro art (the whole environment) and micro art (the detail within the environment). To help explain this, I’m going to use the market from Yemen in Uncharted 3 as an example.

這有一個流程叫"視覺開發"(Look development)，這階段我們將會完成小部份的美術的區塊，如同"概念性驗證"(proof of concept) 呈現每個場景美術他們的關卡版本。但是相當少的部份會被使用在最終結果，從這裡，我們聚焦在macro art整體(整個場景)和micro art 局部(環境中的細節)。為幫助解釋，我將利用uncharted3的 Yemen 市場當作範例。


　　After researching and look developing Yemen, the designer then gave me their initial level design in a form we call blockmesh. This is just a gray blocky mockup of the level in 3D. After deciding on the look and purpose of each area, I set to work on defining each set in a way that communicates to the player what that space is. In the market’s case, I had to communicate that this was a lively part of the city that people gather to shop, meet and dine. On a macro level, this involved buildings, shops, food vendors, transportation, etc. And within such categories, the art is broken down on a micro level to give detail and life to the area.

　　Yemen經過研發和視覺發展後，然後設計師給我一個初步的關卡，以素體呈現，我們稱為blockmesh。這只是個在3d裡面的灰色大塊模型的關卡，在決定外形和每個地區的目的後，我著手定義每個區域，用些方法跟玩家交代這是什麼地方。在市場這個例子中，我必須交代這是這個城市人民消費，聚集，晚餐的生活圈。在Macro關卡上，它包括建築物，商店，食物攤販，轉運站，等等。而這些類別中，美術料件會被分配到micro 關卡，去給予細節和生活在這區域。

　　A perfect example of this is the shops. After researching the different types of shops typically found in Yemen, I created various shop prototypes that were modular so building an entire marketplace would not only be quick, but also easily iterated on. I made around 9 of these shops that could connect and be interchanged to create the maximum amount of variation with the minimal amount of resources. Then I could work within each shop individually to give each one history and character. Below are examples a few modular shop pieces that were used to quickly and iteratively block out an entire market place. Working in this workflow mindset allows several different “looks” or environ -
ment styles within a level to be accomplished easier and faster.

　　這間商店是個完美的例子，在分析過Yemen不一樣種類的一般可見商店，我製作各種商店的prototypes，將他們模組化，因此建出整座商場，這不只快速，也容易持續不斷。我做了9種商店可以連接並且可以被互換而以最少的資源，製作出極多的變化。然後我可以獨自地運用每個商店給予每間歷史和角色。以下是一些模組化商店的例子被用來快速和反覆地填滿整個市場。運作在這樣的工作流程心態，允許是一些不一樣的外表，或環境風格不超過一個關卡，且可以被容易且迅速完成的。

　　With the basic setup of the market in place, then comes the fun part: detail. The creation of each environment is heavily dependent upon the game design. In the market’s case, the gameplay consists of a foot chase which means the player will run past the art quickly and will need as much information as possible without being overwhelmed to quickly make decisions on what to do. The idea then is to give that information to the player quickly and easily to communicate where they are and where they are going. This is where detail is key. Some of the obstacles in the market are folding tables where the locals eat. To reinforce the design, the tables are adorned with plates, cups, pitchers, bowls and other items. There are food vendors cooking kabobs over charcoal pits with smoke filling the air around them. Next to the food vendors are shelves full of cookware and serving trays. And there are umbrellas and chairs to suggest people sit for extended periods of time here, possibly to dine and talk with friends.

　　由於市場的基本格局到位，接下來有趣的地方 : 細節，每個場景的建立是相當依賴遊戲設計。就市場的範例而言，遊玩是由雙腳追逐，這意味著玩家將很快的跑過美術並且將需要更多資料，盡可能不需慎重而快速做出該做甚麼的決定。然後這想法是給予玩家資訊快速並且容易交代他們在哪裡和他們將去哪裡。這邊"細節"是關鍵，有一些在市場的障礙物是當地人吃飯的摺疊桌。為加強設計，桌子用盤子，杯子，罐子，碗等物品做裝飾。小吃攤透過木炭窯烤肉，他們周遭伴隨著煙佈滿空氣。緊鄰小吃攤的是擺滿炊具和湯盤的貨架。並且有遮陽傘和椅子提供人們久坐此地，可能吃飯或是與朋友交談。

　　While this detail is good in an art sense, it is also good for the design since we want to encourage the player to make the choice of either going around the tables or running over them and knocking all the items off for a more cinematic experience. It seems like a lot of work for only about 5 seconds of gameplay, but the job of the Environment Artist is to both capture the player within the world and support game design with hints of detail that serve as communication tools.

　　當這細節在美術場景裡是好的，它也對設計是好的，因為我們想鼓勵玩家去決定是要在桌子附近繞繞，或是跑過他們並撞倒所有東西，為求更多戲劇體驗。這看起來似乎要費很多工，只為了5秒的遊玩，但場景美術的工作就是抓住玩家於遊戲世界內，並且利用類似細節提示，如同溝通工具，提供遊戲設計。

　　Another aspect of environment art is vistas or expansive art sets that a player sees from a distance. This could be anything from sprawling cityscapes to tall mountain ranges. At Naughty Dog, we refer to the parts of a level that comprise a vista as a “wide”. Typically in video games, wides are just matte paintings that a player will never explore or be in. But it is easy to lose the parallax effect of 3d objects within a matte paining and also they appear flat on 3D monitors and the illusion of depth is lost. However, working on Uncharted 3, it was discovered that there is a certain distance at which point neither parallax nor 3D depth can be experienced and that’s the best time to utilize a matte
painting. When creating a 3d wide, the artist has to take into consideration how close the player will be able to get to the wide as well as how expensive the wide will be in conjunction with the level. Therefore, a wide is usually one of the last aspects of a level to be considered and early during production will not be represented except by maybe some simple blockmesh. Since most assets within a wide will be at a distance from the player, the art can usually be lower resolution than that found in the actual level, both in terms of poly count and texture memory. For example, in the Yemen city wide, (based on the real city of Sana’a), the further back the buildings go, the simpler the geome-
try and textures get. It’s up to the imagination of the Environment Artist to create a setting and mood with the wide to enthrall the player with a minimalistic amount of detail, just as a painter can imply detail with just simple brush strokes.

　　場景美術的另一方面是遠景，或是寬闊的美術設置，玩家可以從遠處看到。這可以是任何東西，從廣闊的城市景觀到高山山脈。在頑皮狗，我們指的是一個關卡由一個遠景構成wide"寬"
，一般在電視遊戲裡，wide就只是matte painting，玩家將絕不會探索或身在其中。這容易失去在一個matte painting內，3D物件的視差效果容易失去，並且他們在3D螢幕上顯示平坦且也失去深度的錯覺。然而，在Uncharted 3中，這是會被探索的並且這絕佳的時機去利用matte painting。當製作一個3D wide，美術要去考慮玩家將能夠多靠近wide和wide要多奢侈將和關卡連接起來一樣。因此，一個wide通常是一關卡最後部分之一被考慮並且在早期製程將不會出現，除非是一些簡單的Blockmesh.因為在wide裡的大部分道具將會離玩家有段距離，美術料件可以通常是比平常一般可見的還要低一點的解析度，無論是poly數目和貼圖容量。例如，Yemen城市的Wide，(以Sana'a真實城市為依據)，更靠後面建物，更簡單的幾何體和貼圖。這些由場景美術的想像力決定製作設置和wide中的氣氛，去吸引玩家，運用較少的細節，就像是畫家可以只用簡易的筆觸暗示出細節。

　　An important part of the production pipeline that is crucial to talk about it outsourcing. Outsourcing is a huge part of production, and after much trial and error, Naughty Dog seems to have found the best way for us to implement it into our pipeline. Utilizing outsourcing for art helps to keep deadlines on track as well as give the environment artist more time to work on a larger amount of work. For Yemen, most of the outsourcing was done early on to help visualize the look and after a full library of assets was created, putting together whole levels required very little outsource.
However towards the end of production when the levels were near completion, again outsourcing was used to create the large amount of shadow blockers so that almost no final art casts its own shadow, freeing up frame rate which ultimately allows more final art and detail on screen.

　　生產線的重要關鍵是很困難去跟外包討論它。外包是占生產很大部分，並且在許多試驗和錯誤後，頑皮狗似乎找到對我們最好的方式，落實到我們的生產線裡。為美術料件統整外包，幫助保持截止日在時程內，也給場景美術更多時間去做工作量較大的工作。對於Yemen，外包大多完成，初期幫助視覺化外貌並且之後道具元件庫被建立，擺放在整個關卡，外包需求減少。

然而產品來到最後，當關卡接近完成，再一次外包被利用於創作大量的 shadow blockers 因此最終的美術料件擁有自己的影子，可以提高"幀速率 frame rate"最終允許更多最終美術品跟美術料件在螢幕上。

　　A big part of an Environment Artist’s responsibilities is the invisible environment. That is, all the behind the scenes stuff going on that the artist is responsible for that isn’t viewed by the player. These things include collision, shadow blockers, reflection geometry, and sound designation. While all of these are fundamentally basic to the experienced environment artist, a focus on these will enable the maximum amount of final art capable of being rendered in real time. As stated, shadow blockers were helped with by outsourcing, but early in production we decided to make all prototypes include shadow blockers so that through instancing we eliminate the amount of one off shadow blocker art that eats up time of the outsourcers.

　　場景美術最大的責任是看不到的場景。也就是說，所有在幕後的料件正是美術負責不讓玩家看見的。這些料件包括碰撞(collision)，陰影阻擋(shadow blocker)， 反射幾何體(reflection geometry)，和聲音指定(sound designation)。當這些所有是根本的基礎，對於一個有經驗的場景美術，會專注於讓這些能夠使用最大量的最終美術品，以real time方式渲染出來，但早期在生產階段，我們決定製作所有的prototypes 包括陰影阻擋(shadow blocker)，因此透過實例化，我們消耗了一個陰影阻擋(shadow blocker)的數量，用完外包時間。

　　Collision is created both in prototype and as one offs within a level to suit the needs of the needs of design and also to fix bugs. Reflection geometry is usually low res meshes whose textures are rendered from the higher poly final art that the player sees. Then both geometries are marked to either reflect or not reflect to save frame rate, allowing for real time reflections. Another job of the environment artist at Naughty Dog is to assign sound information to the collision to dictate what sounds are played when a player walks on or touches it.

　　碰撞(Collision)是被創造在prototype裡和在關卡裡一次性的(這句不懂)，滿足設計需要並且修正錯誤。反射幾何(Reflection geometry) 通常是較低面數，它的貼圖是來自玩家看到的高面數最終美術品而被渲染。然後這兩種面數的幾何，被標記為既不反射，也無法反映降低frame rate，只允許real-time的反射。在頑皮狗裡，場景美術另一件工作是置入聲音資訊給碰撞，去命令聲音播放，當玩家走過或是碰觸。

　　Although this has been just the tip of the iceberg of the environment modeling workflow at Naughty Dog, it is easy to see that so much goes into creating an entire environment from conception to what is shipped in the final version of the game. And although this is the way that Naughty Dog does it, that doesn’t mean it’s the best or right way, but simply what works for us and we are constantly analyzing our methods and improving upon them. It is difficult and sometimes tedious work to fully realize a whole environment but also very rewarding. I often tell people that my job is actually to problem solve and that environment art is the fun thing I get to do for doing that job well.

　　雖然這只是在頑皮狗裡，場景模型工作流程的冰山一角，不難看出，有許多從事製作一整個場景，從構思到最後遊戲組裝完成的版本。並且雖然這方法是頑皮狗的做法，但不代表它是最好的或是對的，而只是甚麼適合我們，並且不斷地的分析我們的方法並且改善它。這是很困難並且有時候很無聊的工作，去做充分實現整個場景，但也非常有效益。我時常告訴別人，我的工作時實際上是解決問題並且場景美術是很有趣的事，而我可以做這件工作做好。

Special thanks to Designer Eric Schatz, Texture Artists Jeremy Huxley and Adelle Bueno, Lighting Artist Eva Krzeminiski and the numerous other talented artists, designers and programmers at Naughty Dog.

特別感謝: 設計師  Eric Schatz, 材質美術  Jeremy Huxley and Adelle Bueno 燈光美術 Eva Krzeminiski 以及許多在頑匹狗其他的有才華的美術，設計，程式人員

 

David Ballard
I’m an Environment Artist with 5 years of experience in the game industry. Titles I have worked on include Section 8,Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. I worked on the train level, over a dozen vistas and a few multiplayer maps in Uncharted 2 and was responsible for the Yemen single player levels in Uncharted 3.

本文作者

我是一位在遊戲界有五年經驗的場景美術，有參與過Section 8,Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3