Making Modular kits For 3d Building assets

[@homborgor]

Honestly mate this is one of the best if not the best tutorials about modular buildings on KZbin. So so helpful. For the past year I’ve been learning blender full time and I’ve been dying for a good video on modular buildings that covers everything so I’m so unbelievably grateful for this video

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

So grateful for the kind words, thanks so much!!!!!

[@homborgor]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline I'm having some issues with UV wrapping, I'm just not that great at it and I need some further explanation as to approach unwrapping. I dropped you a message on Instagram, if you're free at any point to quickly give me a few tips it would be very very much appreciated. Thank you again for the great video!

[@SSG2024-z2k]

Thank you for not skipping or time-lapsing the "boring" parts. Doing them at real speed gave time for you to explain why you were doing things in particular ways to avoid problems down the line. It was very helpful to see how the "easy build" of the final kit sprang from the careful planning of the initial set-up. Much better than my usual "learning by stubbing my toe" approach! 😆

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

this is such a nice comment, really appreciate it! Thank you!!!

[@Imelu]

You are amazing, I am 20 minutes in and have learned so much more about modular building than I have in the past year or two combined. As someone who is trying to self learn I really appreciate you explaining everything in such depth. Thank you so much.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Ah, that comment just made my day thank you so much!!!!!!

[@trebilicious]

Thank you for taking the time to record and narrate this tutorial and showing us the full process in real-time!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Any day, as long as it helps!!

[@Greg-oj5mi]

I can't express how invaluable your videos are, it is so helpful to be able to see your process and hear your comments as you go through it. thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thank you!! Feedback like this makes it so worth it!!!!

[@gabrielegagliardi3956]

This is by far the best explanation of modular assets in blender ever recorded. Thank you pal, you didn't leave any stone untarnished.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

thank you! Comments like these really make my day, thank you!!!!!!

[@disruptive_innovator]

Wow, what a great tutorial. Thank you for also teaching us how to think about the steps taken. This combination of technique and wisdom is so useful.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Best comment ever thanks so much!!

[@dudleyparkfmx336]

Yes indeed @homborgor this was definately not a "Boring" or "Useless" video. Well done Hubert. I look forward to the video of taking the assets and migrating them to Unreal. What what be good would be a UE blueprint tutorial that automatically builds the dwellings procedurally. What a fantasatic video that I have learn't a great deal. Cheers.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing feedback, thank you so much!

[@peperoni3140]

from a brazilian that grew up in south africa that is back in brazil now... to see you model some of our favela buildings is kind of cool. thanks boet, kind of miss the accent!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing!!! Wow appriciate the comment

[@peperoni3140]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline do you unwrap each building once you are done putting the pieces together? or wouldnt it be easier to create a trim sheet and finish unwrapping the individual pieces and only then start creating the buildings?

[@leyserpinto107]

Thanks for take Caracas with a example of Favelas, i watch all this content to learn how do modular kit, and it was a amazing learn for today. Thanks Man

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Anytime, really appreciate the comment

[@waffletanya6488]

Thank you for teaching us with your proven skills and experience. I set the lesson fee at $50 per hour, but I wonder if that might not be enough . 😅

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hahahha thank you so much for the kind words. Really appreciate it.

[@Sarendel]

Thanks, man! I want to take my 1st try to make a town-constructor asset for UE. Never thought that I should use planes to build the walls. Your pipeline will be base of my task.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing!! Keep me posted on the progress!

[@encentaber6653]

that's an absolutely amazing tutorial! one of the best things I've ever seen. Thanks a lot!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thanks so much! High praise indeed, appreciate it!

[@exodusvr9543]

love the long format thank you so much. earned my sub

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

thanks so much!!!! that is amazing feedback. I am planning a long format on modeling an informal settlement and it's housing, using only a trim sheet, so stay tuned!

[@jikosauce]

Thank you. Im getting started and a video that actually shows you the process is very useful to me

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing, so gratefull for the feedback, thank you!!

[@shinigamiLIVE-BGMI]

Wow it’s so good, I was hoping for these type of tutorial , great work man , please keep up but keep yourself healthy too 😊, that end bonus is so good too.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thank you for the compliment and for the watch! Really appreciate it!

[@piranha5211]

This is a great tutorial -- I've been making modular buildings for model railroad scenes, but wasn't quite sure at exactly which level to make them modular; this was very helpful for clarifying that in my mind, and for providing extra tips to avoid future problems. Seriously, people resist the idea of borrowing geometry so you get precise fits without painstakingly measuring everything? That's weird. I've done it since the first time I saw somebody do it; it was such a revelation because it makes things so much easier. In fact I did it with the stairs here too, which was faster than modeling over the template. Oh, a little tip for arrays -- doing simple math directly in numeric input fields can take the guesswork out of sizing. You can do more complex math too, but you need to set that up in the Preferences. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

amazing thanks so much! Also, thanks for the array mat tip, didn't know!

[@jburch7777]

This is amazing thanks for taking the time to explain all of this!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

pleasure! so glad it was helpful!

[@fhscheepers]

hallo.... awsome video helps alot... i am also from south africa started doing blender a few months ago... had a hard time with modular aspects.... thx for the help with this

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing! Keep at it. It takes a while to get down properly.

[@PlatonEgorov]

I was watching this video in one breath till 3 am and first i'm doing after waking up is writing this comment ... thank you so much, it is a great tutorial for the building creation workflow... im newbe in 3d modeling and also like you like architecture modeling for games, man, you inspired me to correct my ways of moddeling... will appreciate further video series. Thank you! God bless you. Happy New Year! ❤🎉 🙏👍🤝

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing and thank you for the wondeful feedback, really appreciate it!

[@SumNumber]

The result looks good . Everyone has a way of modeling they are comfortable with and it is interesting seeing the many different techniques . Thanks for the share. :O)

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thank you! Appreciate the comment!

[@danchovy1111]

This was an incredible video. Thank you so much, Hubert! I learned so much!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing!!!! Glad to hear that!

[@danchovy1111]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline I did have a question about the UV unwrapping portion. You had mentioned in your video that you unwrap everything once you build the modular model out in blender. I tried doing that, but was having tiling issues. Any tips you could recommend for that?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

@@danchovy1111 Hi, have been getting quite a few questions about the UV Unwrapping portion, It might be good to make a video about that in more details. The short is that there are multiple aproaches, one i often take is a trim sheet style approach if i attach all the tiles to each other. Sometimes i dont attach them but parent them to the base, which alters the way i unwrap. Are you staying in Blender? Reason being is that i take different routes for blender and unreal.

[@danchovy1111]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline I import my meshes to unreal once they are created, but I do the unwrapping / buddy adjustments all in blender. I think (if you are up to it) seeing your UV unwrap process would be great help! And maybe even your workflow from blender to unreal!

[@smitteree]

Awesome video, I just started with Blender so I can make my own assets, had to look up some of the shortcuts to use, but they are pretty easy to find. I'm at the UV unwrapping part and so far I can follow allong perfectly fine. Pausing and rewinding some parts, but I've made a bunch of variation of everything myself and its looking awesome so far, can't wait to see it with textures 😁 *Edit* You sneaky bastard, you did the door offline too

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

hhahahaa @smitteree best comment ever hahahahaha! yes....a few things offline, my attention span clutched out hard here and there... Good to hear you could follow and am making some variations. would love to see it, send them to @digital_set_dressing on instagram please!! Thanks for watching!

[@smitteree]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline Hey mate, want to make a big collection though, so gonna be making some more window and door variations. Also thinking of doing walls with some random stuff like a light, or AC units and what not. Also collecting a database of textures in the meantime. Not going that fast though, since I have to look up on how to do some stuff, but def will send them over there once I've finished.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

amazing!@@smitteree

[@lookie236]

A goldmine. Thank you.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thank you, really appreciate that

[@OOTO.]

Truly amazing video!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

thank you so much!!

[@snijin9255]

lovely asset! 1:29:10 reason? Why you didn't apply directly a concrete & brick texture, instead first you did the rainbow texturing and then u changed/turned it into a brick and concrete texture, is there any reason behind.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi. Thanks for the kind words. Yes, there is a good reason behind it. The texture checker is common as a built in check for UV coordinates. The numbers and letters, makes it much easier to pick up unwrap errors which would be harder to spot on a brick or any other texture. Also, if the numbers/letters face the wrong way, then you immidiately know the orientation of the face on the unwrap sheet. Its a good thing that check texture is built into blender as well as 3d studio max. The more complex the model gets, the more important a texture check gets. On this model, being as simple as it is, you could probably go straight to final texture as you mentioned. I prefer having the check in place to quage texel size. Texel size get tricky when eyeballing it on generic stuff.

[@snijin9255]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline Got it, so we manually do UVs to align a accurate 3d texture

[@denisnykyforov6691]

Wow, this awesome! Thank you so much!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing. So glad it helped!!

[@Open2045]

More content like this. Thank!!!

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Amazing thanks for the comment/suggestion!

[@gameplayontamil2879]

thank you bro.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Anytime!

[@haurg7418]

This is gold! Have you ever done this kind of models but with the inside? Would be cool to see how you do it.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thank you! Not yet but i like where you are going with this!!

[@KsenonFaurt]

Thank you, it helped a lot

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Anytime. Glad it helped!

[@quintin1561]

For the stairs have you tried blenders built-in stair beveling.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

thank you, yes, after i made the video ahahhahah! Appreciate the comment.

[@N3DArtworks]

Subbed, bloody awesome info here, Baie dankie! :)

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Baie dankie!!! Appreciate that a lot!!

[@takengrace]

Great Video, Only thing missing is some sort of explanation on UV unwrapping for different pieces that fit together. For example you have a 2x2 piece, 1x2 piece and another seperate 2x2 piece. How do you have consistant seamless UV's across mulitple objects no matter the configuration? Is that why you have the concrete trim on this model?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

thanks! Agree, i did not go deep enough into the UV part of the video so thank you for pointing it out. I use the concrete trim for that reson exactly, but it can also be solved by taking a trimm sheet approach. Also, the thing to remember here is that i trate the material slots, and uv seams per tile to make a later, combined unwrap without having to set it up on a then complex model. all depends what you are building. Also, the workflow i follow is more for indie film set extensions, and not targeting gaming, which has a more labor intensive process. (that i don't particularly enjoy if i must be honest). Does this answer the question? Hope so!

[@Heydelios]

Great video, just what I needed because I'm currently struggling with my game environment, however in the description you mention that it is not a game model workflow, what would you do differently for game models ?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi there, thank you! Mostly i would do the same on the model side. It's texturing that is handled somewhat different in the game workflow so i would set up proper vertex colours as masks and use the image RGB channels to host metallic, roughtness and alpha channels as opposed to just tiling a texture across a material slot. hope this helps?

[@Adios93]

Hey great tutorial thanks for that, I have a question how do you get it so that the UV size is the same in every mesh, this is important for brick textures for example

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi there, good question, i seemed to have gone over the UV section too quick. Lots of questions! The initial UV and materials is just to make sure everything is unwrappable and has the correct seams, at the end, i generally attach everything and unwrap as a whole, which keeps scaling consistent, or, i select in the material tab, by material slot assigned to mesh, then it will unwrap all brick, for instance, together, and in consistent scaling.

[@SivanandRavi90]

any reason why we cant use this for game workflows?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

You can 100 percent use the geometry side of things. Its with texturing that there are some considerations on the game side. As long as you stay within those considerations, you should be all good

[@jw-ef2gx]

11:30 how you remove loops without selecting anything from pie menu?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi, you can shift select the whole loop then just hit CTRL+X

[@jw-ef2gx]

I found it. Select loop >>> press CTRL+x (dissolve selection)

[@tt-cv8ft]

thank u so much for this amazing tutorial. i have a question. why the walls don't have a thickness? is it okay if u want to use them in a game engine?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi there. Planes have 2 vetex, boxes have 8, when only modeling the exterior, it doesnt make sense to have extra vertex, also, its then less modular, more difficuld to snap-build. Unreal engine still reads collision for planes, or you can custom collision. Engines as well as collision has come a long way. Thanks so much for the question, questions like these help the rest of the viewers grow in their understanding, also i miss alot while eplaining the stuff :-)

[@kearneyowainescalante5644]

Are there any sources that you use when you explain how you come up with the measurements of your assets? I'd like to know how you got, say, 750mm for doorways and 200m for step heights.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi there, thank for the comment/question. I use universal design principles, have a book on it, and having studied universal design for access, have some sources. they are country specific at the end of the day. example, the 750 is a minimum in SA, but the standar should be a more forgiving 900mm. steps here are 150 to 200 mm, whit a maximum of 16 steps before a landing must be cast. You can take the height of the area, divide it by the legal landing requirement in your area and see where the mm amount falls.

[@TonyQuinn-Art]

This was very helpful, thank you. One thing I am unsure of is how to make a building modular if it has more of a rough surface. Say a stone wall that doesn't have corner columns. Do you still do it the way you show here, or is it batter to model them as boxes?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi Tony, glad it was helpful. A stone building without corner columbs may just need to be broken up differently, depending on which route you want to take. Maybe also consider doing the modular parts, attacht them, then unwrap with a displace. It's difficult to say without looking at something. It's one of those things where one route does not nescasarrily cover all concepts or ideas. You might need to find something that makes sense for that specifically. I would love to know what you are creating. Send it to me privately on insta if it is there @digital_set_dressing

[@TonyQuinn-Art]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline Thanks buddy. I was looking at your North African village in unreal at that is very similar to what I am trying to achieve. The buildings look very similar to the first century Capernaum where Jesus lived. The buildings had basalt stones with mortar I think. Like the archeological site there shows. Then perhaps timber built on top. I am planning to try and build that scene of a sea side fishing village in Blender and unreal. Like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eauxaJimgapkpqc

[@xybrpnk8904]

thank you for the video, i've been trying to finish this for 5 days... i've finished most of the modelling.. my UVs aren't lining up when i try to build with the pieces... could you explain how to unwrap UVs as one conecept and a mini video on importing these assets to unreal? That woule be very helpful. Thanks again. these videos are very valuable.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thanks, glad it helped. I will see what i can do in a uv vid

[@ChinyONE]

Hey, absolutely amazing tutorial. First the question: what about texel density, and the scale of the uvs (not ligning up with the other tiles). Is there a rule of thumb on how to align everything? Also can highly recommend you getting a better mic, since it would greatly benefit your content quality. Thanks for sharing your insights and knowledge ^^

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Texel density for sure. I realised i went over the uvs a bit quick. Many questions. I will try go more in detail with uvs and texels at some point. With you on the mic for sure.

[@Gartist45]

So question how would i have modular for the interior reason asking cause there is not any thick pieces when you made the walls and in game you would see that? Could you do a video to show you would still use these pieces but show walls inside the player would see.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi, good question. I normally follow a slightly less modular approach for making content with interiors, for the reason you stated, that the walls need thickness. But i could do a video of that approach as well

[@Gartist45]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline thank you so much

[@Maskeowl]

can you show how you go find these material al put them to blender lpease prtty please

[@Maskeowl]

finaly done

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi, the shaders and textures?

[@Maskeowl]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline yes i did use from polyheaven brick an concrete but i could not achieve with making one from other site ambiant cg (poly haven has .blend project for material already so it was ready to use) i wish thst you can show how to make them and make them align with each other thank you for reedin my comment king!

[@Gartist45]

Awesome I learned a lot thank you

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Appreciate that, thank you.

[@speltospel]

for easy snaping use G B

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Good tip!

[@FELIX123SAINT]

This is a great vid boet!. Quick question, if you were to use this asset for a game in unreal where the character could walk around inside the building, would you need to make seperate walls and floors for the interior and texture them? And what would you put in between the interior and exterior walls as a barrier or to join them?, im not understanding how such thin walls could prevent the camera clipping through them. There are hardly any videos on youtube about making houses that you can actually go inside and walk around in (blender to unreal engine workflow) . Anyway thanks for the great tutorial !

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi, good question! This is ourside only. My unreal stuff all has thickness so my approarch there is slightly different but as modular as possible still.

[@MrLeon8171]

Wow the only tutorial, I feel like is professional.. One question: I want to import it to unreal and then replace each element with an instance to save ram. How would you do the interior and decor like fences, cables and so on.. I don't feel like putting it in blender, but in unreal it is uncomfortable to add this stuff to the original actor / object. Maybe you have a tip

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

hi, thank you so much! Kind words!! If i did the interior i might tak a slightly different approach, these are mostly for exteriors. But still keep everything modular as far as possible. On the unreal side, i would blueprint the asset then build in the detail there in the blueprint actor. So do the blueprint actor, attached the static mesh, then add the details inside the blueprint. addi it in UE is always going to feel a bit clunky. fully agree.

[@popeopera]

Where can I find the follow up video?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

hi there, just havent had time. Day job is keeping me BUSY! thanks for watching. But follow up needs to include some UV explainers as well. many many questions

[@popeopera]

Copy that boet...much appreciated!

[@photons30]

how did you fix the uvs after building the asset. Initially there were rough uvs.

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Very simple. Because the seams are set by the time you het to the end, you can just edit the uvs, no need to unwrap again (if keeping tiles seperate but parenting all tiles to a base) or alternately attach everything then run the uv like a trim sheet approach, select by mat, uv individually, by material.

[@Grigga]

This is the best tutorial but i have a question. I made my walls around 15cm thick and when I place the floor to make a building they are overlapping. Is it correct to make 3 types of floors with 15cm less width in both sides, in one side, and a default one without removing these 15cm? What's the most efficient way to avoid overlapping with thick modular kits?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

hi there. thanks so much. I always keep the modularity focused around the walls, realizing at some point a custom floor or ceiling might be needed. IN this case, i would just take the 15cm off the floor all round i recon. Appreciate the comment. would love to see what you are working on.

[@Grigga]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline Once is ready I will send you a preview video ;) Thank you for the answer!!

[@thereeg1073]

I like the idea of looking at real world references but how do you find real world scifi references ? :D

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

It might not apply for scifi hahaha!. Appreciate the comment!

[@IstiakAhmed_UE5_VR-Dev]

AWESOME, yo

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Thanks!

[@abdallah.3D]

HI Mr Hubert, This is exactly what I was looking for. But I'm just wondering why you choose this particular project to do? And how to know what to create next? I was wondering about a game called Zelda and it's getting popular so should I make some sort of a collection or some modular environment for it ?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi there, thank you! Choosing is partly passion, part research. I like specific areas in the real world for 3d. So before i model anything i check all the 3d sites for the saturatin levels. If there are too many kits online already it might not sell that well. If there are few online but its a popular topic amongst instagram artists it could be good. Saying that, there are some that i just do because i like them ad dont aim to sell them. Does this help? Good luck!!

[@IstiakAhmed_UE5_VR-Dev]

thanks , man

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Anytime Istiak!

[@Xyz-tw8ym]

Hi Hubert , I wanted to know how to make mudular buildings from anime reference images. Can you give me some ideas ? Btw nice video 👍

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Same princaple basically.

[@mukondeleliratshilavhi5634]

Are you South Africa

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

True story

[@ALWAN8]

How are you, my friend? Can you help me design a building for my graduation project?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Well thanks, you? Sorry i am drowning in work so not able to do any extra 3d unfortunately.

[@ALWAN8]

@@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline Don't worry, I wish you all the best and success + Can I build a mock-up of the Google Earth map?

[@arunachalpradesh399]

hi, i want to buy for using in games?. is it game ready??. i am just worry about polygons, how much polygons per building?

[@HubertKnoblauch3DContentOnline]

Hi there, thanks for the comment. My focus is the indie film industry, i model for selling into that market and not the gaming market unfortunately, sorry!