Sarah Clarity Studios

Chapter 4: Documentation That Downstream Teams Love

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Documentation That Downstream Teams Love for Modular Prop Families

Great documentation is a usability layer over your design. It lets modeling, rigging, tech art, animation, lighting, VFX, audio, level design, QA, and outsource partners build and iterate without guessing. When your props live in modular families—sets across S/M/L and trims from economy to premium—the docs must teach a system, not a single object. This article outlines how to produce documentation that downstream teams genuinely love, with a focus on sets, size ranges, and attachment points. It is written for both the concepting and production phases and emphasizes clear paragraphs over bullet points to mirror spec narratives.

Start by defining the “spine” packet that accompanies every family. The spine is a short, always‑present section at the front of any sheet set that establishes the interface standard, datum faces, naming rules, and scale conventions. It should visualize the family’s rail or socket profile at one‑to‑one, label A/B/C datums, define the default world scale and unit system, and state any texel density targets. This single page becomes a constant reference; every subsequent page inherits its assumptions. Downstream teams will return to this page when they need to verify that the small, medium, and large units all share the same attachment grammar.

Next, encode the family proposition and scope. One paragraph should state the intended use, the roles for each size, and the trims available. Accompany it with a single lineup image showing S/M/L at the same camera and lighting, plus one human silhouette for scale. Write clearly what remains invariant across sizes—grip section geometry, rail pitch, datum positions—and what varies—chassis length, bay count, battery capacity. Naming these explicitly prevents “silent drift” as variants multiply across sprints and hands.

The interface standard deserves its own narrative. Document the connector, rail, or socket geometry as if you were explaining it to a manufacturer with no prior context. Describe keying and polarization, lead‑ins and chamfers, retention and detents, and any sealing logic. State which faces are critical to function and which are cosmetic, and pair this with a paragraph on tolerances and finish processes that might affect fit. When paint or overmold thickness could stack into interference, explain mask zones or post‑machining steps. By telling this story in text, you help teams who cannot read complex drawings still understand how to treat the interface.

After the interface, present orthographic views for each size and trim with consistent layouts. Keep the view order predictable—front, right, top, section—and include a small compass that indicates where the A‑face lives. Narrate the constant dimensions in one color and the variable dimensions in another, but also explain in a paragraph what those constants mean in use. For example, explain why the handle diameter stays the same across S/M/L and how that preserves muscle memory. For attachment points, describe the intended load path and show it with a short paragraph and a dashed‑arrow paintover.

Exploded views should read like a service manual, not a poster. Introduce each exploded with a paragraph that explains assembly order, hidden fasteners, and the way modules stack from the datum outward. Explain how economy and premium trims share a core with different skins or inserts. If there are sacrificial or replaceable wear elements, call them out by name and explain the replacement logic. Document tool vectors with short sentences that describe access; a technician or modeler should be able to imagine inserting a driver at the right angle without combing through arrows.

Variant and bundle matrices are powerful when accompanied by prose. Include a compact table that maps sizes down the side and trims across the top, but also add a paragraph explaining the philosophy behind each bundle. Describe why the field bundle pairs a small with a medium and which accessories are cross‑compatible. Document the adapter story clearly: when adapters exist, state why, where they live, and how they affect clearance and silhouette. Downstream teams often build scenes and kits; this narrative prevents mismatched sets and broken lore.

UI and readability must be explained in words that lighting and animation can act on. Write how the eye should find the primary control first, then the secondary, and describe the edge highlights or roughness breaks that make this happen at gameplay distances. If a detent ring is meant to “tick” at specific degrees, explain the beat timing you expect animators to hit and suggest sound hints for audio. For premium trims with emissive accents, explain when and why they light, and for economy trims explain the mechanical cues that replace them. This connects sight lines to user flows across variants.

Accessibility and anthropometrics belong in every family doc. Dedicate a page to reach envelopes for small and large users, with paragraphs that interpret the arcs and cones. Explain where high‑frequency controls live inside the primary reach and why maintenance controls sit in secondary zones. If gloves or exoskeletons are assumed, say so and describe the clearance boxes that follow. Accessibility is not just ethics; it is also camera and animation economy, and downstream teams appreciate when the ergonomics have been reasoned out ahead of them.

Material and finish specifications should be narrated by function, not just listed. Explain why the economy shell uses color‑molded ABS with a heavier micro‑texture, and why the premium skin swaps to magnesium with a bead‑blast and clear‑coat. Describe how these choices affect read—broader highlights that hide scuffs versus crisp edges that celebrate precision. Tie the finish story back to attachment points by stating which faces must remain uncoated or masked to preserve fit across the family. Texture artists and outsource partners will use this prose to avoid guesswork when maps are compressed or atlases are shared.

Geometry for rigging and collision needs explicit intent. Write a paragraph that names every functional pivot and lever, their axis directions, and their motion limits. Explain why a lever stops where it does and how that relates to the detent or seal. For sockets and bays, describe the sweep volumes for cables and hoses and how strain relief should behave. Provide collision keep‑outs as shapes, but include sentences about intended overlap behavior so gameplay coders can set sensible triggers and tech artists can avoid physics fights.

File hygiene and naming conventions earn love from everyone who touches your assets. Explain the SKU logic in human language and give two examples. Describe the directory structure, the naming of shared sub‑assemblies, and how mirrored parts handle decals or UVs. If right‑to‑left scripts exist in your world, document that mirrored parts do not mirror text layers and show how the decal system avoids backwards glyphs. This prevents late‑stage surprises that blow up schedules.

Change management and versioning should be transparent. Include a text change log that explains the why behind significant updates, not just the what. Downstream teams are more forgiving of change when the rationale is clear, whether it is a safety improvement, a compatibility fix, or a performance trade‑off. If an update breaks compatibility with a prior dock or rail, state this plainly and provide a story‑honest adapter, then describe any animation or collision impacts. Honesty in the docs maintains trust across sprints.

Evidence of testing is a trust multiplier. Add a paragraph describing simple physical mock‑ups you built to validate reach, clearance, or docking—cardboard rails, foam blocks, printed silhouettes. Include small photos or sketches beside the text. Teams far from your desk cannot feel what you felt, but they can read that you tried and see what you learned. This often prevents speculative rework and gives QA practical heuristics for edge cases.

Localization and cultural variants need a policy statement. Write how iconography, numerals, and hazard colors adapt across regions while keeping the geometry constant. Explain which marks are functional and universal and which are skins that localization may swap. If a right‑to‑left reading order affects UI flows, say how the physical affordances still guide the hand correctly. Production will use this to generate region packs without forking the base mesh.