---
title: LANTERN — Art Pipeline Recipes (Workstream A0 material + A1 statics/skinned)
date: 2026-07-13
tags: [roadmap, lantern, art, blender, pipeline, workstream-a, recipes]
status: draft-recipe
permalink: gamevault/06-roadmap/lantern-art-pipeline-recipes
---

# LANTERN — Art Pipeline Recipes

> The **operating manual** the [[Art_Direction_Lantern|A0 constitution]] hands off to. Workstream A of
> [[Roadmap_Lantern_Slice]]: the material decision made concrete (A0) + the statics/skinned recipes (A1) + the
> three rig families + the CreatureKit framing (A2). Built on the project's **proven** animation pipeline
> ([[DR-022_Animation_Pipeline_Rukhanka_Synty]] / [[DR-023_Enemy_Animation_MonsterMash]] + the machine-local
> Blender recipe). The product isn't assets — it's a **repeatable factory** where creature N+1 is a sitting.
>
> **Checklist-grade by design** — this project runs on distilled gotchas; the art pipeline gets the same
> treatment. Every ⚠ is a carry-over hazard already paid for in blood.

## 0. The material foundation (A0 keystone — no per-asset texturing, ever)

**One palette atlas + vertex colours under three master shaders. Every asset shares ~3 materials.**

### The palette atlas
- A single small texture (e.g. 256×256) of flat colour **bands** — the whole game's palette. UVs are *placed*
  onto a band (island = a quad snapped to a colour cell), **never unwrapped/painted** (Imphenzia method).
- Encode the ontology as bands: warm gold/amber (light/ours), cold corpse-green/blue (gloam), lure-red (bait),
  white-hot (conversion), plus neutral greys for hard-surface.
- ⚠ **Import the atlas LINEAR, not sRGB** — the ground bundle learned this: an sRGB-imported detail/colour map
  used in a multiply darkens ~2.3×. Palette atlas = colour source → sRGB is usually right for a base-colour
  map, but any map used as a MULTIPLY/detail must be LINEAR. Verify the actual look in Play, not the importer.
- Generatable procedurally (deterministic, no artist eyes needed for v1): a script paints N bands into a PNG.

### The three master shaders (author in ShaderGraph, multi-target `UniversalTarget`)
1. **`Lit-Palette`** — statics. Samples the atlas by UV; vertex-colour tint; flat/near-flat lit. Cheap, batches.
2. **`Emissive-Gloam`** — the palette rule as a shader. Parameterized **hue · flicker-cadence · intensity**
   emissive over the atlas base. One shader is the whole "true vs false light" language: steady = true, flicker
   = false (the load-bearing readability channel). Every glow in the game is this shader.
3. **`Skinned-Palette`** — deformation-aware (Rukhanka-skinned creatures/suits). This is the role the current
   `AnimatedLitShader` fills — a multi-target ShaderGraph with `UniversalTarget` + the deformation nodes so
   Entities-Graphics GPU skinning works. ⚠ Stock URP/Lit renders a skinned mesh **unskinned static** + a "does
   not support skinning" warning — the deformation-aware graph is mandatory for anything Rukhanka drives.
- ⚠ **Author all three Hybrid-Per-Instance** if we want per-instance gloam-tint variants (the free variant
  axis): ShaderGraph `overrideHLSLDeclaration:true` + `hlslDeclarationOverride:2` on `_BaseColor`. A stock
  Unity-Per-Material graph makes an `URPMaterialPropertyBaseColor` override **silently no-op**
  ([[material-property-body-flash-rukhanka]]) — the DOTS-authored `AnimatedLitShader` honours it; a stock Synty
  prop graph does not.
- ⚠ Keep the three deformation/palette graphs in `_Project/Shaders/` (GUID-preserved), not in any imported
  sample tree (importing Rukhanka "Animation Samples" drags in 26 subscenes + world-running sample systems +
  a TMP conflict — the archive documents the extraction).

## 1. Statics recipe (target: minutes per prop)

1. **Model** in Blender to budget (props ≤ ~800 tris); place UVs onto atlas bands (no unwrap).
2. **Export** FBX (skinned-capable) or glb via glTFast (statics). ⚠ **Apply Scalings = FBX Units Scale**;
   realize any geometry-node instances before export (geo-nodes don't survive the exporter).
3. **Collider policy:** cosmetic decor → **strip colliders**, no `GhostAuthoring` (classic-URP colliders are
   inert to the DOTS PhysicsWorld anyway). Gameplay-blocking geometry → an `Environment`-layer collider baked
   into the gameplay **subscene** (EG renders only baked entities; static collider, no Rigidbody →
   deterministic, no replication). ⚠ A `MeshCollider` bakes ONLY if the mesh has Read/Write enabled — else an
   `InvalidOperationException` per bake and NO baked shape (the classic view lies; only a baked-`CollisionWorld`
   probe catches it). Prefer `ColliderFitTools` (audit/apply) to fit convex hulls to the visual meshes.
4. **Assign `Lit-Palette`** (or `Emissive-Gloam` for glow props); one material, atlas-driven.
5. **Bake** into the subscene; verify in the baked CollisionWorld + a Play screenshot (⚠ a dark render masks
   material bugs — check shader property *values*, `GetPropertyType`-guarded).

## 2. Skinned recipe (creatures + suit-frames)

The proven Rukhanka path — **HUMANOID rig pipeline** (muscle clips retarget across rigs; the old "Generic" note
was wrong):

1. **Rig** in Blender on a shared family armature (see §3). The rig is **Humanoid**.
2. **Per-action clips** — one FBX per action. ⚠ **Key All Bones + Force Start/End keys + FBX Units Scale**;
   **root motion baked into the pose** (CC owns the transform → root motion OFF on import). ⚠ Base any overlay/
   partial anim on a **full-body pose** — a clip keying only a bone-subset collapses the un-keyed bones (mesh
   sinks) ([[rukhanka-partial-clip-collapse]]).
3. **Import** `CreateFromThisModel` — ⚠ **`CopyFromOther` FAILS** on Blender's extra `Armature` node.
   Optimize Game Objects **OFF**.
4. **Muscle retarget** the clips onto the player + creature rigs (humanoid muscle space).
5. **Rig bakes on the SAME entity holding the gameplay components** the drive job reads — `Animator` +
   `RigDefinitionAuthoring` on the **root**, SMRs flattened under it. ⚠ **Skeleton-root = walk up from a bone
   to the model's direct child**, NOT `SkinnedMeshRenderer.rootBone` (the bounds root — e.g. a head SMR's is
   `Spine_03`, which destroys the lower skeleton).
6. **Material = `Skinned-Palette`** (deformation-aware, atlas-driven). ⚠ First Rukhanka bake is **~60 s, main-
   thread-synchronous** (editor freezes — not a hang; blob caches after).
7. **Prefab** via `EnemyRigTools` (GUID-preserving `CopyAsset` + marker authoring — ⚠ `DeleteAsset+CopyAsset`
   orphans subscene refs). Enemies = ownerless interpolated ghosts driven client-side by `EnemyAnimationDriveSystem`
   (remote-path velocity from `LocalTransform` delta). ⚠ The **server runs Rukhanka unless stripped** —
   `ServerStripAnimationSystem` disables every `Rukhanka.Runtime` system server-side (matched by assembly name).

## 3. The three rig families (the amortization decision — clips per FAMILY, not per creature)

Every slice creature maps onto one shared armature so **clips are made once per family**:

| Family | Body plan | Slice members | Clip budget (4–5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Drifter** | spine-chain swimmer | Wisp-Choir motes, lure-fish (later: serpents/rays) | swim-idle · dart · attack · death-sink |
| **Crawler** | legged/scuttling floor unit | Grindylow (later: kappa-kin, Tenders) | skitter · leap · attack · death |
| **Strider** | biped-ish | Drowner, Wrecker, **and the suit-frames** | walk · windup · attack · death |

Per-creature **attack accents only** where identity demands (a Wrecker's cast, a boss phase). Suit-frames: A1
pass = **kitbash on the existing humanoid (Strider) rig** (helmet/tank/plate swaps over the proven player rig);
the custom Wick silhouette sculpt is an A3 upgrade, not a Phase-1 blocker.

## 4. Procedural assists (geometry nodes + blendermcp scripting)

- **Geometry nodes** for glow-gardens / coral / tube-worm / wreck families — parametric families, not hand-
  modeled instances. ⚠ Realize instances before export.
- **blendermcp scripts** for the repetitive steps (scripted posing → per-action FBX export; batch import/
  material-assign). The Blender MCP is live this machine; the proven combat-clip recipe is scripted end-to-end.

## 5. CreatureKit (A2 — the factory tool; spec, built in Phase 2)

**One editor tool or hard checklist that takes a Blender export → a play-ready enemy.** The measure: adding
enemy **N+1 touches zero undocumented steps.** It must yield, from one export:
- the prefab (rig + SMRs on root, `Skinned-Palette` material),
- ghost/network authoring (ownerless interpolated `GhostAuthoringComponent` + `LinkedEntityGroup`),
- `Environment`/hit colliders,
- a tuning-table row (Health/speed/windup/attack-range — bytes, not enums, for Burst),
- spawn-table + bestiary hooks (the kind-indexed director roster — ⚠ directors index the prefab buffer by
  **Kind**, not round-robin; a stale round-robin pool silently mis-maps — [[enemy-director-kind-indexed-roster]]).
- **Variant policy (cheapest content first):** palette-shift / gloam-tint / scale / part-swap of an existing
  mesh BEFORE any new mesh. One Drowner mesh → 3 visual tiers via the `Emissive-Gloam` params (which are *also*
  gameplay information). **VFX-first identity:** emissive + a dynamic light + silhouette + animation carry a
  creature in the dark; mesh detail is the last 20%.

## Throughput rules (solo sanity)

Timebox per class — a prop is a morning, a creature is days-not-weeks, the boss is the exception. The done-bar
is *"reads at gameplay zoom, under murk, in motion"* — never render-portfolio quality. When stuck, ship the
placeholder and log the upgrade. ⚠ For skinned-mesh visual bugs, **use the operator's eyes** — `WorldRenderBounds`/
bone reads return the bind AABB, not the deformed pose ([[rukhanka-partial-clip-collapse]]).

## Related

- [[Art_Direction_Lantern]] — the A0 constitution (this is its operating manual)
- [[Roadmap_Lantern_Slice]] — Workstream A gates (A0→A1→A2→A3)
- [[DR-022_Animation_Pipeline_Rukhanka_Synty]] · [[DR-023_Enemy_Animation_MonsterMash]] — the proven pipeline
- [[Synty_Asset_Inventory]] — placeholder quarry during the transition