I've been spending a lot of time lately trying to figure out how 3D models are imported into games, along with all of their textures, bones, and animations. It's a very tedious process of trial and error, seeing as how there's really no universal file format that all game engines recognize.
The workflow that I've found most reliable, for example, uses three separate programs to work. After I create my mesh in Lightwave, I'm forced to move over to Blender, where I do my rigging and UV mapping. From there, I need to use some godforsaken python script I dug up on the internet that lets everything be readable by Irrlicht, the 3D game engine I'm planning to use over the summer.
But it's all worth it! The following video of a shmee was captured while running irrlicht's model viewer, which allows you to preview your assets in real-time. This was a workflow test more than anything else, so please excuse the misaligned textures, choppy animation and scandalous nudity.
Irrlicht Shmee from Alexander Cooney on Vimeo.
To be totally honest, I think it would be better for shmees to stay in two dimensions. This thing is just hideous.
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