Game Character Development with Maya

Chapter 6. Deformation Testing

CD Files

Kila_DeformTest.mb

Kila_Optimized.mb

We are now close to finishing sculpting the Kila model; only this chapter remains before the base model is compete. If you are like me, you could easily spend another week refining and fine-tuning the mesh to perfection, but time is not a luxury you can afford in the games industry, so we will push on.

In this chapter we will briefly introduce the use of joints and binding while we test that our model will deform correctly. For a game character to perform convincingly, it must deform convincingly. Using the correct topology around areas that bend, such as elbows and knees, will result in a believable character that the player can relate to. Testing Kila’s deformation ...