World of Level Design™

Let's model a metal folding chair prop. Perfect for set dressing a cafeteria or a break room environment.

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Let's model a modular sci-fi doorway with a door that can be opened or closed.

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Let's model Half-Life 2 inspired wooden supply crate. One of the most iconic props to have been created for a game.

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Let's model Half-Life 2 inspired wooden supply crate. One of the most iconic props to have been created for a game.

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Exporting large number of Static Meshes is tedious and time-consuming, especially when you are working with a lot of modular meshes. Too much time is spent on exporting such as moving objects to World Origin, renaming, moving them back, then repeating the steps for the rest of the models.

But there is a much easier way,

Maya Game Exporter can automate the export process for you. If you haven't used Maya Game Exporter, after this tutorial you will especially for a large set of modular meshes...

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After you've downloaded and installed the latest version of Unreal Engine 5, you need to create a project in order to launch the UE5 editor and begin creating.

Here is how...

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I will tell you how to download and install the latest version of UE5, including any older versions of UE in just 5 minutes.

Here is how...

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There are 4 primary modeling methods you need to know about. Polygonal, Subdivision, Sculpting and NURB/Curve modeling. Well, sculpting is not technically modeling but it does produce a mesh and is a very important part of 3d asset creation. I will explain more.

Each is used for a specific end result but there are many overlaps. In fact all 4 of these could be used within a single asset creation. But usually you isolate each of these into its unique modeling methods to get the job done.

Let's break these down one-by-one and get into it more...

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How do you model better windows for environments in Maya?

In this 5-part series I will show you how.

We will model a total of 23 different types of windows. From fixed to hung, sliding, bay, circular and arch. All will be created within a modular wall. You will also learn how to detach the windows so they are separate piece of geometry.

Lots of techniques, tips and tools are covered in this 5-part series. Let's begin...

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Becoming a 3d artist puts you on the road of constantly feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, wanting to quit and thinking you will never become a great 3d artist.

You will constantly ask yourself "Is this really for me? Will I ever actually learn this? Will I ever be good enough to create the work I see others create?"

The path for 3d artist is paved with experiencing the highest highs and the lowest lows. More projects will be incomplete than the ones you do complete.

So, how do you get over the feeling of overwhelm and frustration when learning and becoming a 3d artist?

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Every 3d artist needs to learn modeling software but once you begin you will hit road block after roadblock.

If you are completely new to Maya and have no clue where to start, this post will tell you.

Here are the secrets to learning Maya every beginner needs to know...

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You only need to know 11 modeling tools to get started modeling in Maya. With these you'll be able to model most of environments and props.

Focus on mastering these 11 first.

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The massive "Maya Foundation: Home Study Course" is now available for download.

It is the Complete Beginner's Guide to Learning Maya Modeling and UVing:

• No prior 3d experience/modeling knowledge required
• Learn Maya modeling and UVing as a complete beginner
• Save thousands of dollars from attending college classes
• Save months of wasted time watching irrelevant YouTube tutorials
• 65+ videos
• 18+ hours

Deep diving into Maya...

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There are 4 ways to get Maya to learn it, to use it and to create with...

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As a beginner you will make a lot of mistakes and not know how to fix them. One of the most frustrating things about learning Maya is accidently pressing a shortcut key then not knowing how to disable it.

In this post I will show you most common mistakes a beginner makes, how to avoid them and how to fix them.

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Chain link fence - you will need one for any urban or suburban environment you create. You don't need to model the actual chain link geometry. You need to use opacity mask to fake the illusion of your geometry through a texture and this is done in Substance Painter. In this 3-part tutorial breakdown you will see the entire process:

• Part 1: Chain Link Fence Modeling and Uving in Maya
• Part 2: Chain Link Fence Texturing in Substance Painter
• Part 3: Chain Link Fence in UE5

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The following quick tips series is created for beginners and experts using Maya software.These are quick, useful tips to help improve, refine and remind you of tools, techniques, shortcuts and principles you may have not known or forgotten about. All videos are very short, between 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

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Creating environments can be overwhelming due to the amount of work that's required. Props can help you focus on one object at a time without having to worry on something bigger that will take weeks or months to complete. Most props can be completed within a couple of days. Not to mention that you'll need to create your own props to set dress your environments. In this making of, I'm going to show you how the retro soda vending machine was created and challenges that came from it.

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Substance Painter doesn't have a Text Tool as you would expect. But there is a way to add custom text onto your textures/models. In this tutorial we'll cover how to add custom text, design logo stamps and few extra things that most tutorials fail to mention.

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Here is how to create glass in Substance Painter. In addition, I'll show you how to add your own customized dirt to the glass and how to export textures so you can set up the glass material in Unreal Engine.

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Learn how to randomize vertices, edges or faces in Maya for some procedural and more natural look. Great for terrains, floor tiles, city buildings or anything else you need to be random and not hand manipulated.

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In this tutorial you will learn how to recreate the standard map template with all the lighting actors that you need to make it work and a UE Mannequin model to judge scale as you build environments.

As well as how to disable Auto-Exposure (Eye Adaptation) which controls how your eyes naturally adjust when you go from a bright environment into a dark environment and vice versa.

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Setting the grid up in Maya to match UE5 is very important prior to modeling any prop or environment.

Here is how to get this ratio 1-to-1 and match grid spacing between Maya and Unreal Engine 5.

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In this tutorial breakdown I'm going to cover how I created modular steel beam support from O'Hare Airport terminal.

I've always liked the design and the silhouette of these steel beams. And for the longest time I've always wanted to create them and put them into a game engine.

So for this following breakdown I'm going to cover the process of creating this modular steel beam set.

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The idea came from wanting to do a simple prop so I can texture it in Substance Painter to learn the software.

Didn't want to use any previous models I've created. Decided to create a new one and went with a simple prop - a file cabinet.

I also didn't want to stop there but use the prop to create, light and render a small scene with it.

I created a full workshop for you to see the modeling, UVing process in Maya. Then texturing process in Substance Painter. I also added a small bonus section of the final, small scene I put together to light and render with...

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The idea came from wanting to do a simple prop so I can texture it in Substance Painter to learn the software.

Didn't want to use any previous models I've created. Decided to create a new one and went with a simple prop - a file cabinet.

I also didn't want to stop there but use the prop to create, light and render a small scene with it.

I created a full workshop for you to see the modeling, UVing process in Maya. Then texturing process in Substance Painter. I also added a small bonus section of the final, small scene I put together to light and render with...

READ MORE... »