3D Game Textures_ Create Professional Game Art Using Photoshop ED5

Description

Game development is booming! In the past few years many books
have been written, more information than ever is available on the
Internet, and many colleges are offering courses—even degrees—in
game development. And of all the numerous topics that fall under
the large umbrella of game development, texture creation is among
the most important and fundamental. Yet to my knowledge, among
all those classes and books, there has never been a thorough
treatment of texture creation. The big picture of texture creation
involves much more than learning to use the Offset Filter in
Photoshop. The subject truly deserved a book.
I wrote this book after having held many positions on various game
projects, from president and art director to an in-the-trenches artist
working through crunch. I worked with many artists on numerous
projects, and no matter what their education or background, their
knowledge of game development came largely from actually doing
it. No one school or book can adequately train you for an industry
that changes so fast and requires a rather large set of skills to
function in. Even an experienced game developer must face the
learning curve quite frequently. The reality is that most game
projects are one-time, unique ventures that are never to be done
the same way twice. Things change too fast—technology, processes,
the marketplace. And the industry is still a bit transitory, so you
may find yourself in a new town, with a new company, at work on a
new genre of game and with tools you have never before used.
You would think that writing a book about something that is so
constantly changing and affected by so many variables would be
impossible. But given all the change and evolution in our industry,
there are some core skills and practices that don’t change year to
year. My goal with this book is not only to show you how to create
textures, but also to give you a basis for understanding the larger
picture of game development as it pertains to texture creation. The
difference between a good artist and a good artist that can function
as a member of a high-performance game development team is the
ability to do good work fast and efficiently—and contribute to the
forward momentum of the project. I approached each of the projects
in the book with all this mind and tried to give you a feel for the
various situations you may find yourself in as a game artist.

Contents
Dedication vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
The Concept Artists xvii
1. A Basic (Game) Art Education 1
2. A Brief Orientation to Computer Graphic Technology 40
3. A Quick Overview of Photoshop for Game Artists 78
4. Prepping for Texture Creation 106
5. The Sci-fi Setting 148
6. The Urban Setting 172
7. The Fantasy Setting 226
8. The Outdoor Setting 296
9. Game Effects 316
Index 339