(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. The Artist grabs reference photos of the object we want to use in the game. In this case we need pictures of an M2 Flamethrower unit.

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2. The artist then uses the reference images as a guide to build the object in 3d.

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3. Once the object has been modeled in 3d, the artist uses a variety of images and sometimes hand painted art to texture map the object to look realistic in the game engine. This involves taking the 3d mesh and "unwrapping" it onto a flat image shown below.

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3a. Once the object has been modeled in 3d, the artist uses a variety of images and sometimes hand painted art to texture map the object to look realistic in the game engine. This involves taking the 3d mesh and "unwrapping" it onto a flat image shown below.

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4. After the artists are done with the object they send it on to the rigger who places bones inside of the object so that the animators can move it correctly (kind of like building a marionette rig for a puppet).

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4a. After the artists are done with the object they send it on to the rigger who places bones inside of the object so that the animators can move it correctly (kind of like building a marionette rig for a puppet).

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5. Once the rigger has completed his work we move on to the animators who make the object come to life by animating all of the bones.

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6. Once everything is complete the artists go back and set up all of the materials on the object to work correctly in the game by using "shaders". The shaders define how the surfaces of the object get rendered in the game. Using different texture maps and settings we get different looks.
This is a "Normal Map" and it defines the bumpiness of a surface:

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6a. This is a "Specularity Map" it works in conjunction with a "Roughness Map" to define how shiny the surface is:

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7. Roughness Map

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8. After all of the art work is done and the designers put it in the game it looks like this:

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