Chapter 1: Speed Blockouts for Stance & Grip Alignment

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Speed Blockouts for Stance & Grip Alignment — 2D/3D Hybrid Methods for Weapons

Focusing on blockouts, kitbashing, and photobash ethics. Written equally for concept‑phase artists and production‑minded artists.

Why speed blockouts matter

Before polish, decals, or shaders, player believability stands or falls on stance (how the weapon sits to the body and camera) and grip alignment (how the hands meet the geometry in motion). A speed blockout is a deliberate, time‑boxed pass that validates these fundamentals with primitive geometry, proxy hands, and camera rigs. It is the fastest way to catch ergonomic misses, ADS (aim‑down‑sights) issues, reload choreography collisions, and third‑person readability problems long before expensive modeling or paintovers.

Speed blockouts are also the perfect canvas for 2D/3D hybrid iteration. You can rough a blockout in 3D, push screenshots to 2D for paint notes, yank them back to 3D with quick kitbash swaps, and converge in hours—not days.

The 2D/3D hybrid loop at a glance

  1. Metric skeletons: establish world scale, camera FOV, and proxy rigs for hands and head.
  2. Primitive blockout: build the weapon from boxes/cylinders aligned to key datums (bore axis, receiver midplane).
  3. Pose & test: drop into first‑person and third‑person rigs; run charge/reload/inspect poses.
  4. 2D pass: screenshot orthos and FPV; annotate issues (angles, distances, occlusions) and scribble value/read fixes.
  5. Kitbash swap: replace offending modules with library parts; iterate proportions.
  6. Photobash pass (ethical): overlay reference textures or silhouettes to validate material reads without stealing design.
  7. Convergence: lock stance & grips; publish the blockout with notes for the next pipeline step.

Stance & grip: the core metrics to respect

Stance

  • Bore alignment: The bore axis should align with the character’s shoulder‑to‑eye line in ADS and sit slightly below eye when hip‑firing for visibility. Misalignment here causes parallax discomfort and sighting mismatch.
  • Top‑line horizon: In FPV, reserve uncluttered space around the optic eyebox. In TPV, ensure the top line remains readable at 10–30 m.
  • Mass bias: Forward‑heavy silhouettes feel punchy and recoil‑prone; rear‑biased read as controllable. Choose deliberately to match class fantasy.

Grip alignment

  • Primary grip angle: Typical pistol‑style grips fall between ~14° and ~22° rake; SMG/PDW can go steeper for compactness. Match finger curl to trigger plane.
  • Secondary grip window: Fore‑end or vertical grip must clear the ejection path and heat vents. Reserve a negative‑space window so the reload hero beat is visible.
  • Reach & offsets: Distance from shoulder socket to trigger, and from trigger to support hand, should permit natural elbows. Extreme spreads cause wrist break and animation strain.

Camera realities

  • First‑person: Use your game’s true FOV and camera offset. A blockout that feels great at 60° can collapse at 85°.
  • Third‑person: Test idle, aim, sprint, and reload. Ensure weapon doesn’t clip torso or backpack, and silhouette remains class‑legible.

Building the speed blockout (3D first)

1) Datums & scale. Set world units and create three helpers: a bore‑axis line, a receiver mid‑plane, and a top‑rail reference. Drop a 100 mm scale cube for sanity checks.

2) Primitive assembly. Use boxes for receiver/stock, cylinders for barrel/magazine, and planes for rails/guards. Keep bevels zero; this is about form and spacing.

3) Hand proxies. Import a neutral pose hand rig (open and closed grips). Create sockets for Grip_Primary, Grip_Secondary, Charge_Handle, Magwell, and Sling_Front/Rear. Keep them as locators; do not over‑rig.

4) Camera rig. Build two cameras: FPV_Cam with correct FOV and head offset; TPV_Cam at combat distances. Parent a small sight reticle to FPV_Cam to validate eyebox alignment.

5) Motion envelopes. Add ghost meshes for Bolt_Travel, Cylinder_Swing, Stock_Telescope, and Mag_Drop_Path. Make them slightly transparent; they are guardrails.

6) Pose set. Create four key poses: Charge, Fire_Stance, Reload_Hero, Inspect. Switch between them with simple keyframes or animation clips.

7) Quick shaders. Assign flat values: dark receiver, mid stock, light barrel. This 3‑value scheme preserves read without texture noise.

Time box: 60–120 minutes to first pass. The goal is not prettiness; it’s collision and comfort.

Kitbashing without chaos

Library discipline. Maintain a vetted kitbash library of generic modules: receivers, stocks, barrels, mags, optics, grips, and muzzle devices. Each should be scaled to your world and named with a simple convention (e.g., KB_Stock_Skeleton_S, KB_Optic_RDS_M).

Swap philosophy. Replace the weakest module first. If sight picture is cramped, swap a lower optic or shorten the handguard instead of redoing the whole gun.

Snap to datums. All kitbash parts should “know” the bore axis and rail reference so they align instantly. If a part fights alignment, fix the part—not the scene.

Avoid mix‑mesh tangles. Keep kitbash meshes as separate nodes. Use simple constraints/parents; avoid boolean fusions at this stage. You’re testing stance and grips, not topology.

Document deltas. Every swap should carry a note: what problem it solved (e.g., “RDS lowers eyebox by 12 mm; ADS improved”). These notes travel to proportion and final packages.

Photobash ethics in hybrid workflows

Photobashing can accelerate read validation—but it comes with responsibilities.

Intent, not theft. Use photos to validate material plausibility or lighting cues, not to covertly copy proprietary designs. If a distinctive pattern or silhouette defines an IP, do not lift it.

Transform substantially. Bash as texture/lighting reference over your own blockout screenshots, not as geometry replacement. Maintain your proportions and silhouettes.

Track sources. Keep a small source panel listing each image source, license, and transformation (crop, levels, warp). If a studio requires proof of rights, you can provide it.

No logo laundering. Remove brand marks unless you have explicit permission. Replace with generic or faction logos from your style guide.

Teach by example. When sharing PSDs, keep photo layers separate and labeled (REF_Steel_Blued, REF_Scorch_Streak), so juniors learn ethical practice.

2D overlays that actually help 3D

After your first 3D pass, export:

  • Orthographic views (side/top/front) and FPV frame at game FOV.
  • Pose contact‑sheets of the four key actions.

In 2D, annotate:

  • Angles & distances: write the numbers on top of lines (grip rake, stock drop, eye‑to‑optic).
  • Negative space: shade reload window and ejection arc gaps.
  • Sight picture: draw the reticle + target at typical size; ensure front sight/optic aligns cleanly.
  • Value read: coarse 3‑value paintover to check mass hierarchy.

Push these notes back to 3D for the next pass.

ADS & sighting realities (fast tests)

  • Eyebox test: In FPV, place a cube where the eye would be and raycast to the optic. If the ray misses the reticle at neutral stance, adjust height/offset.
  • Parallax sanity: Offset the camera ±2 cm left/right to simulate player sway; ensure sight picture remains stable enough.
  • Occlusion audit: Toggle a suppressor and tall optic; if the front shroud occludes >30% of the reticle at ADS, step back the shroud or adjust optic mount.

Reload choreography and the “hero beat”

The hero beat is the moment that sells the reload: magazine seat click, cylinder snap, cell swap flare. Your blockout must stage it clearly.

  • Windowing: Carve negative space so the beat is visible in silhouette. A tall magazine well may need a chamfered cut to expose the seat.
  • Path lines: Draw the mag drop vector and hand arc. Avoid paths that cross busy silhouettes or camera edges.
  • Collision proxies: Include ghost volumes for pouches, chest rigs, and slings if your game features them. Fix early to prevent animation crunch.

Third‑person sanity: the backpack test

Equip the character with common accessories (backpack, shoulder cape). Run idle, sprint, vault, and aim. Ensure the weapon clears straps and doesn’t disappear against the torso. If it does, adjust profile depth or add a small silhouette breaker near the muzzle or stock.

Common blockout failure modes and quick fixes

1) FPV looks great, TPV unreadable. The top line is too flat or under‑sculpted. Fix: exaggerate the front signature; add a stepped shroud or silhouette notch.

2) Hands fight the geometry. Grip angles or spacing are off. Fix: rotate the primary grip 2–4°, move the secondary grip forward 20–40 mm, and re‑test elbow comfort.

3) ADS strain. Eyebox too high/low. Fix: lower optic by 8–12 mm or change stock comb height; verify chin vs cheek weld.

4) Reload hidden. No negative space. Fix: cut back the fore‑end or widen magwell aperture; shift camera 2–3° to frame the beat.

5) Kitbash drift. Swapped parts broken scale. Fix: re‑normalize module scales to world units; snap to datums.

6) Photobash overreach. Textures promise micro‑detail unsupported by geometry. Fix: strip back bash; keep to value/macro reads until topology exists.

Deliverables for the blockout stage

  • Blockout FBX/OBJ at world scale with named locators: GRIP_Primary, GRIP_Secondary, SOCK_Muzzle, SOCK_Eject, SOCK_Optic, ENV_BoltTravel, ENV_StockRange.
  • Screensheet: FPV, TPV, and three orthos with overlaid notes.
  • Pose contact‑sheet: charge, fire, reload hero, inspect.
  • Issue list: bullets grouped by Stance, Grips, ADS, Reload, TPV.
  • Next steps: a short plan (e.g., “Swap to KB_Stock_Skeleton_S; lower optic 10 mm; widen reload window 12 mm”).

These artifacts feed directly into proportion passes and final orthos.

Indie vs AAA: scope management

Indie: One hour blockouts with a small kitbash library can validate 80% of stance problems. Focus on FPV comfort and single‑operator rigs; collapse deliverables to a single screensheet + FBX.

AAA: Maintain a shared kitbash repository with versioning, a standard FPV/TPV rig, and a QA checklist. Expect multiple passes and discipline‑specific feedback (Animation wants bigger reload windows; VFX wants clearer vent surfaces).

Ethics & collaboration

  • Credit libraries: Internally attribute kitbash sources and licenses. Avoid shipping third‑party geometry; use them as thinking tools.
  • Photobash integrity: Never pass off ref photography as geometry. Keep transformation logs, and if in doubt, replace with paint.
  • Teach the loop: Share before‑and‑after montages with notes so juniors internalize stance + grip thinking.
  • Invite early reviews: Animation, VFX, and Audio should see the blockout. They will spot emitter conflicts, hand arcs, and occlusion risks you miss.

Closing: speed for truth, not shortcuts

Speed blockouts are not a shortcut around craft—they are a shortcut to truth. By validating stance, grip alignment, and sighting with primitives, smart kitbashing, and ethical photobash overlays, you lock the invisible fundamentals that make weapons feel right in hand and on screen. When done well, your later orthos, exploded views, and callout sheets inherit a stable spine, and production ships faster with fewer surprises. Block fast, test honestly, adjust boldly, and move on.