This Will 10X Your Modeling Speed | Greyboxing

there is a crucial step before investing time and effort on any project you start but sadly it is often overlooked by a lot of beginner artists and this process is called gray boxing so in today's video we'll talk about the art of gray boxing what it is and how it can contribute to the success of your project and many other questions like who's today's video sponsor so great boxing is the process of roughly blocking out your 3D project whether it be in interior design a landscape or a game level environment it is a rough representation of the Project's idea without any additional details just the bare minimum it is mainly referred to as the first step in the development of a game level as the goal of this process is to produce a simple replica of the final result that you wish to achieve so a gray box needs to be playable and faithful to the final gameplay experience in order to make the right decisions and safely test the game concept it is called great boxing but also sometimes it is called White boxing referring to the color of the end texture 3D object surfaces generally gray and in gaming Genesis it is often a default gray and white Checker texture of course the boxing part refers to the most used primitive objects in the process as the assets need to be as simple as possible for a quick result old and not wasting a lot of time in a rap version that's why the models used are often made with cubes in addition to cones cylinders and so on in the case of game development the only prerequisite of the art of gray boxing is that it needs to include all the main features of the game development that are mandatory for the gameplay to work just fine for those who don't know about it I think you guessed it by now this concept has a huge importance in the game development Pipeline and 3D art Creation in general it allows artists and game developers to quickly prototype and test gameplay mechanics and level designs before getting into the Nitty Gritty process of creating the detailed assets textures and layering what makes it an essential part of the game development process is that it saves the time and resources as it helps identify potential issues early on in the production so addressing these issues will not only be easier at this stage but it also won't cost anything additionally if you are a team working on the same project it will serve as a visual reference in order to keep everything flowing smoothly and coherently between team members so as you can see gray boxing definitely has a great advantages that anyone can benefit from if it was taken seriously now that we have established why gray boxing is so important let's get into it and how to do it effectively there are some key techniques and best practices that can help you make the most out of the great boxing process and we'll go over them next now we can ask ourselves what makes this process so integrated within the community and I can tell you that often parties are really excited about a new project and some hype to start working on it so they are tempted to start with the most intricate details and the most fun parts and this can lead you to create something that is not coherent and lose track of the whole picture that's why whether you are a 3D artist or a level designer we need first understand the goals and the constraints of the project so it is important to set the time you have dedicated to it and what is its goal or fine purpose after that you can start Gathering references or even sketching by yourself a rough plan including any key features which leads you to determine what models you need and what are those you gotta use the most and those that are going to be the main focus so you can create very simplified versions of the assets needed and remember what you need to keep it simple because we don't want to be lost in the details we need to use Simple shapes and placeholders such as cubes cylinders and other Primitives you can refine them later if needed or applying plain colors to them in order to better fit the environment asset by asset video blackout assets kit that are going to be used later on in the process also building your small assets Library will make it easier for you to later so quickly resemble everything to create the composition of the environment when you are done with the modeling you can start building your scene a good habit to have is to always begin with the largest features such as the terrain shape the buildings the roads paths Etc and then adding on top of that the smaller assets of your kit also keep an eye on your goal without forgetting your composition if you are working on a single render or a concept art you can work with composition forms such as the rule of thirds by enabling the Grid on the camera whereas if you are working working on a game level you can refine the great box models as you go by adding more details testing gameplay mechanics and adjusting the layout as needed which will allow you to identify any 3D or gameplay challenges in addition to issues you may encounter in the game development process and make the changes accordingly generally speaking it is up to you how much you need to plan out and validate the elements and the different aspects of your project you are the artist behind your ideas and great boxing is only a tool that will help you visualize them and turn them into real projects when it comes to the tools used in the process there is no specific software that is best for gray boxing you can use any 3D modeling software available preferably the one you are most familiar with it could be blender Max Cinema 4D Maya and so on as long as it allows you to model basic shapes and of course in the case of a game level design you will need to import your gray boxing key to the game engine in order to test your final blackout and basic game mechanics also avoid any light bake at this stage remember it is just a rough representation of your concept on a side note we can talk about gray boxing without mentioning blacktober a game development Community early event that has become emblematic with gray boxing you during the month of October game developers from all over the world share their gray box concept giving a look into the early phases of game development it is actually an excellent opportunity for you to learn the process demonstrate your abilities discuss the different approaches and learn from others it's easy to understand why the event has grown in popularity in recent years by sharing their work readers may receive constructive feedback allowing them to produce even better blackouts on the occasion of blacktober Michael Barkley a lead designer at Naughty Dog posted a blog post about one of The Last of Us Part two levels he worked on he provided a detailed breakdown of the levels gray boxing process from initial concept art to run blackouts and how the team iterated on the designed based on feedback and testing he also discussed the challenges of Designing a level that found authentic to the game's world and story while also being fun and engaging for players the blog post offers a fascinating look at the development process behind one of the most critically acclaimed games of recent years and it is a valuable resource for anyone interested in game design and development besides blacktober you can practice your blackout skills on your own by taking as reference famous level designs so don't hesitate to share your work because feedback is one of the most valuable assets you can have in a Learning Journey I hope you guys found this video useful if you did please give it a thumbs up you can also subscribe to this channel because it is free thank you guys very much for watching and I will see you in the next one

Channel: InspirationTuts

Views: 158,938

Keywords: greyboxing, greyboxing level design, greyboxing in unity, greyboxing vs white boxing, greyboxing in unreal, greyboxing in godot, greyboxing basics, greyboxing highlights, How To Optimize Your Workflow with greyboxing, 3d modeling, 3d animation, 3d art, 3d art process

Id: m1WeKlNffxg

Length: 8min 20sec (500 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 12 2023