Character Art

Summary

The character art pipeline is a multi-stage process used to create high-quality 3D character models for use in various media. UIW's Unified Pipeline is a version of this process adapted specifically for use at the University. The workflows below are designed to streamline the process and ensure consistency in quality across different projects.

Unreal Engine 5

Below is a flow chart of the character art pipeline from Maya to Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). It is expected for you to have the character assets made and are ready to integrate the assets into the engine. Character assets include the in-game geometry, textures, and rig.

Naming Conventions

To maintain organizational consistency and cohesion throughout the production a clearly defined naming convention is needed. As you develop your game the list of assets needed will continue to expand and a strong naming convention will allow for easier file location and prevent potential conflicts from arising. For a more detailed description of the naming conventions below take a look into Epic's documentation here: Recommended Naming Conventions

All character assets will be utilizing the layout below for the naming conventions. Provided are the breakdowns for each specified slot within the asset name.

AssetTypePrefix_AssetName_Descriptor_VariantNumber

Asset Types	Prefix
Skeletal Mesh	SK_
Skeleton	SKEL_
Material	M_
Material Instance	MI_
Texture	T_

Material Descriptors	Suffix
Standard	_S
Skin	_SSS
Hair	_H
Eyes	_E

Texture Descriptors	Suffix
Albedo	_A
Metallic	_M
Roughness	_R
Occlusion	_O
Normal	_N
Transparency	_T
Subsurface Scattering	_SSS

Below is the naming convention for the character art pipeline as well as an example for how you will be naming your character assets.

AssetTypePrefix_AssetName_Descriptor_VariantNumber

• SK_CharName

• SKEL_CharName
• MI_S_CharName
  • T_CharName_A
  • T_CharName_MRO
  • T_CharName_N
  • T_CharName_Skin_A
• MI_SSS_CharName
  • T_CharName_Skin_A
  • T_CharName_Skin_MRO
  • T_CharName_Skin_N
  • T_CharName_Skin_SSS
• MI_E_CharName
  • T_CharName_Eyes_A
  • T_CharName_Eyes_MRO
  • T_CharName_N
  • T_CharName_T