Sunday, April 30th, 2023 Posted by Jim Thacker

Tutorial: Photogrammetry for Production Artists


The Gnomon Workshop has released Photogrammetry for Production Artists, a detailed guide to 3D scanning recorded by Remedy Entertainment lead artist John William Crossland.

The workshop, which is targeted at users new to photogrammetry work, provides over four hours of video training in software including Metashape, Lightroom, ZBrush, Modo, Marmoset Toolbag and Photoshop.

Create production-quality scans of real-world objects to use as props in games and VFX
In the workshop, Crossland reveals how to create 3D scans of props suitable for use in production in games or visual effects using a photogrammetry-based workflow, using a hiking boot as an example.

He discusses different ways to create low, medium and high-range scans, and how a high-quality scan can be used as the baseline for a production asset.

The tutorial covers Crossland’s complete workflow, beginning with capturing the source photos of the boot from which the scan will be generated, processing them in Lightroom, and generating the scan in Metashape.

He then discusses how to clean up and retopologise the raw scan to create a clean, high-poly model as well as a low-poly version with UVs ready for texturing in Marmoset Toolbag.

The final chapter of the tutorial covers how to create display renders of the scanned asset.

Viewers of the workshop can download supporting files including Crossland’s ZBrush .ztl file, Modo scene file, Marmoset Toolbag scene file, and the final Photoshop composite.

About the artist
John William Crossland is a lead character artist at Remedy Entertainment, currently working on Alan Wake 2.

He has over a decade of experience in the games industry, at studios including Ubisoft Toronto, Frontier Developments and Sumo Digital, with previous credits including Watch Dogs: Legion and Quantum Break.

Pricing and availability
Photogrammetry for Production Artists is available via a subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, providing access to over 300 tutorials. Subscriptions cost $54/month or $499/year. Free trials are available.

Read more about Photogrammetry for Production Artists on The Gnomon Workshop’s website

Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by Gnomon.