Chapter 10. Subsurface Modeling

Video-game graphics have always been an odd marriage of artistry, mathematics, and engineering. Sometimes this marriage results in the development of awkward tools and stilted creativity, but occasionally, engineers and mathematicians find a process or workflow that can produce magic in the hands of an artist. This chapter introduces several useful workflows.

A workflow is a process or a frequently repeated method of individual steps that an artist uses to create a specific type of result. A workflow defines the order of activities or individual processes that must be undertaken. Game artists often speak of their preferred workflows when describing the set of tools and methods they frequently employ to create a model.