Developing art assets for real-time rendering requires 3D art generation techniques which tailor to rendering efficiency. Modeling for surfacing (MFS) is one of the techniques; it stream-lines the processes of modeling and surfacing for real-time environment objects. MFS has not received wide exposure through published sources, both printed and web. The lack of published MFS information is concerning because it is a valuable technique used by industry professionals.
A study of real-time art production pipelines employed at the Tiburon studio of Electronic Arts was conducted to research the use of MFS within a single professional production pipe¬line. The research observed artists and their working process as they prepared environments for use within a video game created at Tiburon. The research was collected through direct observations by the researcher and through written surveys of artists from a game's pipeline.
The observation and survey research data collected from the art production pipeline at Tiburon showed that MFS is an effective and beneficial modeling process for artists. The research also uncovered the game development process used by Tiburon, the existence of the environment artist and technical artist, and the use of MFS by the environment artist.
The goals of this thesis are to present MFS and its use within real-time art production pipe¬lines, to research the use of MFS within a professional real-time art production pipeline, and for the thesis to become a resource for students preparing themselves for work on a real-time art production pipeline.