Game assets? For when and for what? Questions you should ask yourself

What the talk is about

Justyna Leszczyńska explains that 3D game assets are not all made the same way: there are several pipelines, and before starting a task you should ask what the asset is for and where it will be used. For trailers and cinematics, artists build detailed high poly and low poly models with unique textures, since the shots are carefully prepared. For small background props she used tiling textures and masks in layered materials, so one model gave three shapes and several material variants, including a bronze one made in minutes. Environments are modular, built from basic geometry, trim textures and decals, reusing colleagues' content and a shared master material. She also stresses close work with level designers and optimization for a fast first-person shooter. Useful for beginners in 3D art.