Creating a Laser Sword for Games by Dylan Mellott

Learn the comprehensive process of creating professional-quality hard-surface 3D game assets in this 3-hour workshop, where Bungie’s Dylan Mellott shares his complete 3D game art pipeline to guide you through the creation of an impressive game-ready weapon.

The workshop commences with the concept and initiates the process with the initial model block-out in 3ds Max. It then transitions to ZBrush, where Dylan meticulously sculpts and details the organic elements of the concept. After sculpting, the workshop returns to 3ds Max, covering retopology and UV unwrapping using RizomUV, followed by baking techniques using Marmoset Toolbag 4 and texturing in Substance Painter.

This workshop targets artists with a basic working knowledge of 3ds Max, ZBrush, Marmoset Toolbag, and Substance Painter. Dylan aims to teach the seamless blending of hard-surface poly modeling with organic sculpting, all within a cyberpunk-themed context.

Throughout the workshop, Dylan shares his insights, perspectives, and experiences from eight years in the video game industry. He reflects on the game art process, providing raw, tried-and-tested tips and techniques.

Project files accompanying this workshop include Dylan’s complete 3ds Max modeling scene, Marmoset Toolbag 4 baking scene, high-poly and low-poly FBX models, Substance Painter texturing file, ZBrush ZTool of the high-poly sculpt, and the rendered scene from Marmoset Toolbag.

For those following along using 3ds Max, Dylan recommends installing the Zero-Center Pivot Unimover plugin and the TexTools plugin.