Sit down with Environment Modeler Eric Sherwood and get an inside look at how he takes the University of Minnesota stadium and recreates it...in the game!

The process of creating a stadium is a long task, it takes almost 2 months, to build a NCAA stadium (not counting all the debugging and testing time) and get a polished, shippable stadium.  First we gather reference and information on the stadium; in the case of Minnesota, as with most stadiums, we did a photo shoot of the new stadium and got schematics breaking down the layout and giving us measurements of the facility.  In the photo shoot we try and capture as much information as possible, from taking pictures at the field level to up in the press box.  After that we start modeling the stadium based off of camera matches inside Maya so that we know the scale and relative size is correct.  The images for the camera match are taken from photos during our photo shoot.

        Above is a "wireframe" of the camera match inside Maya.

        Above is a schematic of the stadium layout

Once we have the stadium blocked in and know our layout is correct we start adding in all the details to the scene.  We model out as much information as possible within our budgets for the scene, from edge wall tunnels, to the interior of the press boxes, and everything in between.

After the modeling is finished we move onto texturing the stadium.  For texturing we will try and use information from the photo shoot when applicable, during the photo shoot we will take close up pictures of just the brick or concrete to then use those images in our scene so they match the real life reference as much as possible.  This process is usually as time consuming as the modeling, both being around 3-4 weeks.  In the end of the texturing process we will have all the materials in the stadium, from the base color, dirt on walls, and self shadowing of the objects.  The last step is for lighting to light the stadium, where we apply shadow information, illuminate scoreboards, and assign light intensities.  After all of these steps, the end result is a polished stadium similar to the others you have seen in NCAA.

Hey guys, Adam Thompson here to bring you this week’s NCAA Football 10 update blog. This week we’ll take a look at the new stadium additions and renovations for this year.

 

New Stadiums

Mackay Stadium
Forty-four year old Mackay Stadium sits on the campus of the University of Nevada in Reno, Nevada and seats 30,000.

Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium
Located on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa Oklahoma, this 69 year old stadium seats around 30,000.



UB Stadium
Home of the MAC champion Buffalo Bulls, “The Bullpen” was built in 1993 and seats 29,000.

Kelly/Shorts Stadium
Sitting on the campus of Central Michigan University, the Chippewas play their home football games at this 37 year old stadium with a capacity of just over 30,000.

Peden Stadium
The oldest stadium in the MAC conference, Peden Stadium has been located on the banks of the Hocking River in Athens, Ohio for 70 years. Seating 24,000, an over-capacity crowd was on hand when the Ohio Bobcats beat the Pittsburgh Panthers here in 2005.

Doyt Perry Stadium
Opened in 1966, the home of the Bowling Green Falcons seats around 24,000 spectators. This stadium was named after the Falcon’s coach between 1955 and 1964.



Romney Stadium
Named after Utah State’s all time winningest football coach, Romney Stadium opened in 1968 and seats 25,500.



Movie Gallery Stadium
Previously known as Veterans Memorial Stadium, the home of the Troy Trojans opened in 1950. The stadium was expanded in 2003 and now seats 30,000.

Alamodome
The City of San Antonio owns the Alamodome, a multipurpose stadium and convention center that has hosted college bowl games as well as professional basketball and football teams. It was built in 1993 and can seat up to 72,000. There is no basement in the Alamodome.

Stadium Updates

Along with the new, there were many renovations and updates needed to be done. With over 150 stadiums in the game, we are constantly making art updates.

Memorial Stadium (Illinois)
For the last 3 years or so, the University of Illinois has been giving this stadium what they call the “Illinois Renaissance.”



BB&T Field
The Deacon Tower is the centerpiece of Wake Forest’s ongoing six phase stadium renovation.



Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
More and more stadiums are installing LED video scoreboards these days.



Bronco Stadium
Famous for the blue turf, Bronco Stadium now has a state of the art pressbox.



Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium
Another member of the LED scoreboard club is the home stadium for the FSU Seminoles.



California Memorial Stadium
Berkley already has one of the most scenic campuses in the country, so we touched up the backgrounds in addition to removing the stadium tarps and adding flags.



Autzen Stadium
DuckVision is the largest video board in the PAC-10.



Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
Another stadium debuts their new LED video board

 

Other Updates

Davis Wade Stadium – New scoreboard
Carter-Finley Stadium – New scoreboard, player entrance
Nebraska Memorial Stadium – Additional video boards. How many they have now?!
Boone Pickens Stadium – New video board
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium – New video board and player entrance area
Reser Stadium – New endzone seating, new scoreboard
Ross-Ade Stadium – Updated edgewalls
Amon G. Carter Stadium - Added athletic center to the endzone
Neyland Stadium – Update edgewalls
Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium – New endzone seatings
Legion Field – Removed upper deck from East side
Malone Stadium – Added tarps to seating sections
Mountaineer Field – Updated endzone seating