DEVLOG 2

Thesis & Scope Update

I have refined the scope of my thesis to prioritize optimization. Consequently, this week involved revisiting and resculpting several assets to ensure they meet stricter performance and visual standards.

Asset Production & Troubleshooting

I remade a complex rock sculpt and five candles from scratch. This process involved significant exporting and reimporting between Maya and ZBrush to resolve technical blockers. Specifically, unwrapping these organic assets natively in Maya proved inefficient, so I utilized ZBrush.

However, I encountered errors when using UV Master. I attempted several fixes, including:

• Running the Mesh Integrity check.
• DynaMeshing problematic geometry.
• Separating the mesh via Auto Groups.

While these solutions worked for some assets, the rocks remained problematic. I consulted Del for direct feedback and discovered the root cause: micro-details in the sculpt were too small for DynaMesh to calculate effectively, particularly where complex shapes were mashed together in close proximity.

Resolution & Takeaways

The solution was to separate the rocks into individual pieces rather than sculpting them as one giant mass. I successfully split the mesh, used the Inflate brush to close holes, and properly decimated the assets. I now have clean High Poly (HP) and Low Poly (LP) models ready for baking.

Weekly Summary

• Blocked out and remodeled 5 candles.
• Blocked out and remodeled 2 rocks.
• Unwrapped 7 assets.
• Textured 7 assets.
• Integrated all assets into the Unreal Engine scene.