Modelling realistic clothing for 3D game characters
Mäntylä, Otto Eemeli (2025)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060520718
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060520718
Tiivistelmä
Creating 3D clothing is a crucial part of the 3D game character pipeline. The purpose of this thesis was to study and explain all the important concepts and workflows involved in the process, specifically aiming for realistic game character clothing. The research covers all the significant processes necessary for a functional game character outfit. This includes the mesh creation, texturing, rigging, and cloth simulation setup.
The thesis covers the basic theory that a character artist would need to understand to be able to create a high-quality clothing asset. The intention was that no previous knowledge on the topic would be required to understand the contents of this basic framework. Next, the specific workflows are examined in more detail and the most relevant concepts are expanded upon further. The purpose was to give a clearer picture of the workflow that a professional character artist might use when creating a clothing asset.
To provide a more practical perspective on the theory, a project where an outfit was created for a 3D character and implemented within a game engine is presented. This aims to give a step-by-step explanation on how the clothing creation process was approached in one specific case. The problems and solutions encountered during the project are explained in detail to provide more nuanced advice and examples of the types of challenges that can be expected when creating game character clothing.
Finally, the results of the practical project are analysed and some of the key topics that could have been improved are discussed. Based on the findings of the thesis and recent industry trends, the chapter also briefly explores how the tools and workflows might be changing in the future. While trends point to the rapid development of automated tools such as AI, the theoretical framework discussed remains beneficial, even as current tools continue to evolve.
The thesis covers the basic theory that a character artist would need to understand to be able to create a high-quality clothing asset. The intention was that no previous knowledge on the topic would be required to understand the contents of this basic framework. Next, the specific workflows are examined in more detail and the most relevant concepts are expanded upon further. The purpose was to give a clearer picture of the workflow that a professional character artist might use when creating a clothing asset.
To provide a more practical perspective on the theory, a project where an outfit was created for a 3D character and implemented within a game engine is presented. This aims to give a step-by-step explanation on how the clothing creation process was approached in one specific case. The problems and solutions encountered during the project are explained in detail to provide more nuanced advice and examples of the types of challenges that can be expected when creating game character clothing.
Finally, the results of the practical project are analysed and some of the key topics that could have been improved are discussed. Based on the findings of the thesis and recent industry trends, the chapter also briefly explores how the tools and workflows might be changing in the future. While trends point to the rapid development of automated tools such as AI, the theoretical framework discussed remains beneficial, even as current tools continue to evolve.