In late 2017, I was approached to help design and create a workflow to make the creation of standardized cosmetic assets relatively simple. I implemented a workflow using Blender and GIMP that output images sized perfectly for in-game use, enabling people to create custom assets that align perfectly with others with no knowledge of 3D rendering or compositing.
I created dozens of scenes for different 3D models. I posed, applied materials to, and subdivided each model to clean them up as much as possible for the project to minimize the amount of work others would need to do. There are multiple render layers for each scene to account for different assets. The compositor is also set up to do the consistant adjustments to lighting and color automatically. All anyone needs to do is adjust the textures to what they want. I also wrote a number of GIMP plug-ins that automate the process of taking the images from Blender to prep them for in-game use. The resulting images are perfectly consistent with only a few mouse clicks.
After the public release of the project, its Discord Server has grown to over 1200 members that have learned how to use the tools and workflow I’ve developed. Many of them have gone beyond that, learning more about Blender and the general 3D workflow.
I’m currently working on a new revision of the project that aims to take advantage of the new Eevee engine in Blender 2.8 to make the process more accessible to lower end hardware and streamline a lot of the existing process.
