TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Full Transcript

• Hello folks! The show will start in approximately 4 minutes! Your transcribers today are myself CanadianSyrup with StormyWinters assisting in editing. Enjoy the show!
• The show is starting! They’re showing some footage of them sculpting an insect.
• We’re live! I see Eric Kieron Davis, Forrest Stephan and Corey Johnson? I think.
• Looks like the stream is having some buffering issues so, apologies if some things are missed.
• Corey Johnson, Lead Character Artist is beside Eric, and next to him is Forrest Stephan, CG Supervisor.
• And the stream has completely died.
• There was some really funking audio looping happening just before it died, so something got messed up. Should be back up shortly.
• They’re back! Apparently they’re using some new tech and getting some of the kinks worked out.
• If you have any questions submit them to robertsspaceindustries.com and submit your question in the chat.

[What does the character pipeline team look forward to then & Now?]

Corey: Definitely Zbrush, texturing is good as well. Game mesh is meditative and you get in the zone.

There’s a lot of buffering so it’s hard to catch what they’re saying.

[I saw a short clip of the character model in yesterdays ATV with not having his eyebrows or eyes moving, is this a bug? Will this be a feature because it brings the character to life.]

The character in the video that was recorded, he just doesn’t blink or move his eyebrows. The character blink and move their eyebrows, it just so happens this guy literally doesn’t blink as an actor.

Switching to the youtube livestream since twitch is having problems.

[2D vs 3D concepting, what do you prefer?]

Corey: Both are great, it’s handy to have a 3D concept that allows you to get started right away, but 2D allows you to interpret more and add your creative touch.

[Forrest do you like to create art in your spare time?]

All the time. One thing he does is in his free time is keep up to date on the latest software and checks out what other software is being used to make sure they’re doing what they can. He also makes art using the new tools that come from software so that he knows it works and how it works.

[Corey: What goes into texturing these models?]

It’s a pretty interesting workflow. The way they do it is they have sub materials and sub materials can have 4 layers. It’s basically layering like you would in Photoshop.

[Forrest: You mentioned cloth mesh can be seen when up close to a player, did you fix the clipping issues already? Bonus question: Will players be able to modify their armour via PBR settings?]

You will be able to configure the materials depending on what it supports such as plastic, carbon fibre, metal. So in theory you change the PBR setting, but not in the way like you would with a slider to get very fine differences.

[Corey, How much of yourself do you put in your characters?]

When he’s at work, it’s not a ton because when he’s at work he feels he’s producing stuff for someone else that has to meet specific standards, but for his own work he puts a lot more of himself into it.

[Forrest, how long does it take to create a completely new character like the Nomad? Also how long did it take Then & Now?]

In the past a character went through a lot of revisions to get it to the quality level required. The old approach worked in some situations, but because this is an MMO it never let them get to their full potential. You would work on a character for a couple months, but then it didn’t meet the approval. So you would do another month, another revision.

Now, it’s three weeks including all R&D for new materials, cloth compared to 5 months.

[Corey, do you come up with some of the characters like the Nomad?]

The sandworm was Josh taking feedback and coming up with it. Creatures will probably allow more freedom as long as they’re within the guidelines, it depends on what it is.

[What kinds of things are you given before you work on a character?]

Corey: In terms of design briefing we’re given a materials as a reference on how to proceed and then Chris says what he wants and you just go.

[What’s the most challenging aspect to create these characters?]

Forrest: Creating a character up to the standard that’s required and not cutting corners, but while keeping your performance requirements.

• Corey: There’s not a specific thing, but each character has their “thing” that has a snag you have to figure out.
• That’s the end of the questions.
• Community update: Esperia Prowler Art contest ends today, winners will be announced on the November 18th Livestream which will be at 1pm PST
  • There’s no ATV or RTV next week because of the livestream.
• That’s all, thanks for watching folks.