I would like to keep my sanity intact, and from the videos that I've seen from Win8 I think I will not go down that route. I read quickly on the web and others have had the exact same problem as me with corrupt EFI install (and also with HP workstations), but no solutions :(
I'll make another attempt this weekend, and I'll make a USB installer instead of the DVD. regards stefan On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Szabolcs Matefy <szabol...@crytek.com>wrote: > Hehe…installing Win7 can be sometimes really pain in the @$$. Why don’t > you give a try on Win 8? By the way, that EFI stuff has some workarounds, > but at this moment I can’t recall what I did, when I installed Win7 on my > computer. But, I have to admit, Win7 is rocksolid (to me) I had no BSOD > since I replaced my memory modules**** > > ** ** > > *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: > softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Stefan Andersson > *Sent:* Wednesday, May 15, 2013 9:28 PM > > *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com > *Subject:* Re: Texture size in games?**** > > ** ** > > Again, thanks everyone for the feedback. Really helpful information. Faith > has it that I'm not suposed to actually give this a try... Tried to install > Win7 on my HP machine, and it messed up my EFI boot manager. So nothing > would boot up. And I'm really bad at error searching Windows errors.**** > > So I'm installing CentOS again, need some familiar ground before making > another attempt.**** > > With that said, I still think I will make some sort of attempt at creating > some "game ready" "award winning" "AAA class" models :) > > **** > > regards**** > > stefan**** > > ** ** > > On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Martin <furik...@gmail.com> wrote:**** > > One thing that is very different from rendering works, is that you need to > be very clean with your data, naming convetion may be more > important, history and alive operators are not welcome.**** > > Basic scripting skills helps a lot even if you're not a TD, and specially > if your company doesn't have too many TDs or no TDs at all. My workflow and > my team workflow improved a lot when I learned a few scripting tricks. My > data is cleaner and my clients happier.**** > > ** ** > > So, if you can't script, I really recommend you to learn some basic > things. Basic scripting is more useful than ICE here, if you have to choose > one.**** > > ** ** > > About mipmap, Mipmap generation is automatic. The format depends on your > project. DDS is almost the standard in a lot of projects I've been > involved. Some using Nvidia plugins, some other propietary tools but DDS > has been quite the standard lately. Last time I did a Nintendo platform > project we were using NW4C TGA. A format that comes with the Nintendo Tools > package.**** > > ** ** > > Modeling software also changes depending on the project because the > programmers may write their tools based only on one software.**** > > In Japan, Maya and Softimage are the most used. You need to match your > client's version too, here is where Autodesk old version policies screw you > if you have a subscription, 3 previous versions are not enough !!**** > > But most of the time we use 3 years versions (right now we are using SI > 2011 in my current project).**** > > ** ** > > I haven't seen a single project based on Blender, but it doesn't mean that > you can't use it, you just have to convert it to your client's software > when you deliver your work.**** > > ** ** > > And here is where you'll have to learn how to live with conversions. They > aren't as simple as we would like to. Sometimes you'll have to try FBX, > Collada, Crosswalk, OBJ, because depending on the case one can be better > than the other. And after that, you'll have to clean that data, because > converted data have a lot of garbage. Here is where your scripting skills > will save you hours of work. Specially if you need to convert animations.* > *** > > ** ** > > In no-SI projects, I usually do 80% of my modeling work in SI, convert it > to Maya or Max and finish it there.**** > > ** ** > > M.Yara**** > > ** ** > > On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 5:52 PM, Stefan Andersson <sander...@gmail.com> > wrote:**** > > Great response everyone! Except for polycounts and fascist UV mapping, it > more or less sounds similar in a lot of ways to what I'm already doing. I > wont go into games trying to become a programmer, I do want to make art. > But as Matt suggested, I'm more likely to go art/tech since I'm somewhat of > a geek also.**** > > > Mip mapping is something that I'm familiar with, and my own asset tools > already have it in place that I convert with OIIO all textures to be > mip-mapped and also the power of two (just because I don't trust anyone I > also resize them). But doing mip-mapping for a game engine, does that > requires to export each level? Or what image formats are usually used for > doing mip-mapping? I can't see game engines using exr... or do they? :)*** > * > > Before I go on and make Matt's little exercise I think I will build > something rigid and see how that looks. And I have to convert my > workstation from Linux to Windows.**** > > > I talked to my brother who is working at Massive, and he thinks I'm an > idiot... but he also said that they base the size of the texture depending > on meters in the engine. I guess it also depends a lot of which engine you > will use. **** > > But it leads me to another question. I'm not 100% sure yet which modeling > software I will be using. My 14+ years with both Maya / Softimage leaves me > somewhat in the middle of those two. Blender is also a contender, but I'll > stick with the programs that I know from inside and out. However, Softimage > doesn't have any metric units. Would the usual assumtion that 1 SI unit is > 10 cm still apply? or again... depends on the engine/exporter?**** > > all the best!**** > > your humble servant **** > > stefan**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Matt Lind <ml...@carbinestudios.com> > wrote:**** > > Well, you can look at it from two different points of view: > > a) Do what many game artists do and brute force their way through making > content with heavy iteration. > > b) Do what many game programmers do and try to be efficient. > > > If you just want a job in games, follow path A which doesn't really > require much learning on your part, but does require a lot of practice. > You need to follow the specs for whatever engine you're developing content > for, and be frugal with whatever resources you have available to make the > content. The specs are project specific and change frequently. Therefore, > pick an engine and make something to function within it. then choose a > different engine and try to make the content function in that one too. > You'll quickly learn making functional content can be very difficult and > is a skillset of itself. > > Following course B, anything a game programmer is going to tell you in > making art is how to make the end result efficient for his needs. he > doesn't give a crap how many hours you spend on it or what it looks like. > He just wants it packaged in a tiny efficient form that doesn't blow up > during runtime or induces expensive resources. Since programmers are not > artists, they don't know you want screenspace ambient occlusion, or fancy > pixel based shading effects, or whatever. In fact, they prefer you not use > them because they want the CPU/GPU time for themselves to improve gameplay > and other engine specific functions. > > So, if you want to make good art, retain sanity, and do a good job, your > best bet is to starting learning computer science / computer architecture > and apply the knowledge towards your artwork. That is how the more > successful game artists rise through the ranks as they are the ones that > approach the programmers and suggest how art can be made better and more > efficiently by applying technical knowledge to their art techniques. If > you rely on the programmer to figure it all out, you're going to be in for > a lot of pain and feel unfulfilled by working in a very confined box. If > you rely on other artists to figure it out, you'll be in for even more pain > as the chaos from lack of technical knowledge resulting in brute force > techniques will drive you crazy. > > > first assignment: > > Start with modeling. The goal is to make the most robust looking bipedal > character mesh that can be animated (deformed like an envelope) while being > extremely frugal with polygon count. Say, and entire seamless mesh at less > than 5,000 polygons - triangles and quads only. Keep iterating on it until > you cannot find anything to iterate on anymore. then, pretend a programmer > enters your space and gives you a tongue lashing for exceeding the polygon > count. So redo the asset with a new polygon limit of 1,000 polygons. > sounds harsh, but as you do it, you'll discover things on the 1,000 > polygon version that could be applied to the 5,000 polygon version you > wouldn't have thought of until you were forced into the situation. > Basically its an excercise in determining artistic priorities. once you > reach the 1,000 polygon version satisfactorily, change the criteria to 400 > polygons. Once you finish the 400 polygon version, take what you learned > and apply it back to the 5,000 polyg! > on version. Actual polygon counts used in production vary with the > platform and title. Example: a boxing game on a console will probably > throw 50K polygons or more at the characters because the environment is > small and few subjects of interest. An MMORPG running on a PC will devote > under 10K per character because the worlds are large and there are many > characters sharing the computing resources. An embedded game running on a > phone or tablet will probably use significantly less as the computing power > is also much less. > > Once you finish modeling, apply an envelope with nulls as deformers, but > limit yourself to 30 nulls for the entire character. now make him bend and > deform as expected with those 30 nulls and limit each vertex to being > assigned to 4 bones/nulls or less - and that's a hard limit. Now do that > to the 5000 polygon, 1000 polygon and 400 polygon versions of the character > so each looks as similar as possible to the others - including fingers and > toes. Notice how each behaves and must be constructed differently to reach > the same end result. Now you'll discover how you must retopologize your > geometry - so take what you learned and start over again with the modeling. > > As for rendering....assume each texture applied consumes a render batch. > Think of batches as render passes performed on the GPU. Each batch has a > certain amount of setup cost which is often more expensive than the time > spent rendering the contents of the batch. Therefore it's critically > important to minimize the number of batches you induce on the GPU. Assume > each light, shadow, and unique material induces a batch. The name of the > game is to create that character fully textured and lit using only 4 > batches with full normal mapping, cast shadows, and realtime lighting. > Texture images must be square with dimensions measuring a power of 2 (64, > 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc...). You can use one image map, and one normal > map. Again, specifics vary with platform and title. The emphasis here is > to teach you how to prioritize and be efficient. > > > Matt > > > > > > > ________________________________________ > From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [ > softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Andersson [ > sander...@gmail.com] > Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 11:46 PM**** > > To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com > Subject: Re: Texture size in games?**** > > Also, if and old dog like me that knows everything and nothing, where > would be the best starting point? Conversion of "knowledge". > > Or rather "don't learn this, totally useless" :) > > Regards > Stefan > > > -- Sent from a phone booth in purgatory > > On May 15, 2013, at 8:31, Stefan Andersson <sander...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi all! > > This might be a strange question, but what would be the normal texture > > size today when creating content for games? > > I'm trying to learn a new profession and need to test out the basics > > at home before I jump out into the void :) > > > > Also, would unity be a good practice platform? Or any other > recommendations? > > > > I'm trying out something new here, so any suggestions and tips are > welcomed! > > > > Best regards > > Stefan > > > > > > -- Sent from a phone booth in purgatory**** > > > > **** > > -- **** > > *Stefan Andersson | Digital Janitor | Generalist for hire***** > > blog <http://sanders3d.wordpress.com> | > showreel<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVb8yvxZcss>| > twitter <http://twitter.com/sanders3d> | > LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/sanders3d>| > Instagram <http://instagram.com/sanders3d_> | cell: +46-73-6268850 | > skype:sanders3d**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > > > > -- **** > > *Stefan Andersson | Digital Janitor | Generalist for hire***** > > blog <http://sanders3d.wordpress.com> | > showreel<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVb8yvxZcss>| > twitter <http://twitter.com/sanders3d> | > LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/sanders3d>| > Instagram <http://instagram.com/sanders3d_> | cell: +46-73-6268850 | > skype:sanders3d**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > -- *Stefan Andersson | Digital Janitor **| Generalist for hire * blog <http://sanders3d.wordpress.com> | showreel<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVb8yvxZcss>| twitter <http://twitter.com/sanders3d> | LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/sanders3d>| Instagram <http://instagram.com/sanders3d_> | cell: +46-73-6268850 | skype:sanders3d
