GDC 2005: Normal and Displacement Map, Sitting in a Tree

GDC 2005: Normal and Displacement Map, Sitting in a Tree
Speaker: Matthias Worch (Game Designer / Technical Art Director, Factor 5, LLC)
Time/Date: Wednesday (March 9, 2005) 9:00am — 10:00am
Track: Visual Arts
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate – Basic familiarity or some experience.

Description: Zbrush, Normalmapping and Virtual Displacement. These days it seems impossible to have a conversation about next-generation graphics without somebody quickly throwing out these and similar terms. But while the tools to get the job done present themselves quickly, integrating them into an efficient production pipeline can be a challenge. Using Factor 5′s art pipeline as an example, this talk looks at the challenges that present themselves as your studio makes the shift into next-generation asset creation. Zbrush, normalmapping tools and the scanning of physical maquettes are just some of the topics that will be touched upon.

Idea Takeaway: Attendees will leave with a thorough understanding of how to tackle the creation of assets for for next-generation games.

Intended Audience and Prerequisites: This talk is useful for everybody who contributes to the visual look of a game: artists, technical directors and level designers.

GDC 2005 Downloads

Powerpoint File (5.7MB)
Movie 01 - CySlice 01 – Resurfacing (15.2MB)
Movie 02 - CySlice 02 – Map Extraction (6.05MB)
Movie 03 - ZBrush Concepts (34.8MB)

The movies were encoded using the DiVX codec.

GDC Lecture Dated

My GDC 2005 lecture is really starting to take shape, with several Factor 5 artists helping me out with demo assets now. I realized that it would be impossible for me to create all the art required for this talk, so Pat, Kursad and Alessandro stepped in and came up with some kick-ass digital content. I will also have the Leon maquette for review, courtesy of CG Toolkit. The talk will happen between 9am and 10am on Wed the 9th. That’s the very first timeslot of the conference, with the Microsoft keynote following at 10:30. Hopefully enough people will be anxious for the conference to start and attend the early sessions, anyway.