| name | 18-game-3d-content-and-blender-pipeline-specification |
| description | Use when specifying a game's 3D asset and Blender source-to-engine pipeline, including asset briefs, rigs, animation clips, UV/bakes, materials, LODs, collision, export/import, lineage, automation, runtime budgets, and acceptance evidence; use game-system-architecture for whole-system boundaries. |
| metadata | {"portable":true,"compatible_with":["claude-code","codex"]} |
Game 3D Content and Blender Pipeline Specification
Define the project-specific, versioned contract that turns approved 3D content intent into reproducible Blender sources and verified runtime assets.
Use When
- A game SRS and art direction require a Blender/DCC-to-engine production specification.
- Characters, props, environments, vehicles, rigs, animation, LODs, collision or export evidence need deterministic acceptance criteria.
Do Not Use When
- The decision is whole-game architecture; use
17-game-system-architecture-specification.
- The work is class/module implementation; use
05-game-technical-implementation-specification.
- Blender has not been selected; keep the contract DCC-neutral and record the unresolved ADR.
Required Inputs
| Artefact | Source or provider | Required? | Behaviour when missing |
|---|
Approved GREQ-*, game architecture, art direction and player/camera use | Project workspace | Yes | Stop and list missing decisions. |
| Pinned Blender, exporter, engine/importer and platform versions | Technical art/engineering | Yes | Produce only a provisional spike contract. |
| Asset inventory, runtime budgets and simultaneous-count envelopes | Art, performance, production | Yes | Block numeric acceptance and scale claims. |
| Cultural provenance, rights, safeguarding and reference approvals | Research/governance | Conditional | Block affected asset production. |
Workflow
- Inspect
_context/, requirements, architecture, art direction, asset inventory, budgets, rights and source register; record exact sources used.
- Specify toolchain versions, extensions, units/axes, transforms, colour management, names, folders, source-control and generated boundaries.
- Create
GASSET-* contracts for each asset class: use/camera distance, silhouette, topology, UV/bake/material, hierarchy/pivot, rig/animation, collision, LOD, import and runtime envelope.
- Define export skeleton/control separation, clip/event/root-motion/socket rules, influence/corrective limits and deformation stress poses where applicable.
- Define pinned export/import presets, clean re-import, deterministic automation, validation reports and source→export→import→build lineage.
- Specify engine stress scenes, target-device budgets and failure/recovery behaviour. Tutorial figures are never project budgets.
- Trace each
GASSET-* to GREQ-*, GARCH-*, GIMPL-*, GTEST-*, owner and retained evidence.
- Run anti-slop and source/version checks; stop on missing rights, owner, target hardware, measurable oracle or reproducible import.
Outputs
| Artefact | Consumer | Acceptance condition |
|---|
| 3D content and Blender pipeline specification | Art, technical art, engineering, QA | Version, source, export/import, runtime and failure contracts are explicit. |
| Asset acceptance/trace matrix | QA, performance, release | Every requirement has owner, oracle, build/device and evidence path. |
Evidence Produced
| Evidence | Reviewer | Acceptance condition |
|---|
| Toolchain and asset-lineage manifest | Technical art/release | Source revision, exporter/importer, engine build and dependencies are reproducible. |
| Clean re-import and runtime acceptance report | QA/performance | Structure, deformation, material, collision, LOD and measured budgets have pass/fail results. |
Capability and permission boundaries
Read and search are required. Editing project specs is allowed by the request; modifying .blend files, installing add-ons, accepting licences, publishing content or changing release imports requires separate authority.
Degraded mode
Without Blender execution or target-engine import, produce a qualified specification and mark export fidelity, deformation, materials and runtime cost not assessed; do not infer them from screenshots.
Decision Rules
| Choice or condition | Action | Risk avoided |
|---|
| Blender/exporter version unknown | Freeze a versioned spike first. | Irreproducible assets. |
| Detail has no silhouette/deformation/gameplay value | Bake, instance, texture or remove. | Unmeasured complexity. |
| Rig feature cannot export | Bake to a stable deformation skeleton or reproduce in engine. | DCC-only motion. |
| Historic tutorial conflicts with official pinned docs | Use official behaviour and record divergence. | Obsolete implementation. |
Quality Standards
- Every
GASSET-* is singular, uniquely identified, traced and paired with a deterministic oracle.
- Include target build, scene, hardware, simultaneous count, percentile/window where performance is claimed.
- Keep project canon and cultural claims tied to approved provenance and named review.
- Apply
09-governance-compliance/28-anti-ai-slop before release.
Anti-Patterns
- “Optimised asset” without budget. Fix: name metric, scene, device and threshold.
- Beauty render as proof. Fix: clean re-import plus runtime evidence.
- Control rig exported wholesale. Fix: stable export skeleton and baked contract.
- One generic LOD value. Fix: measure asset class, coverage and simultaneous scene.
- Book path as runtime dependency. Fix: retain self-contained rules and source limits.
References
