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What is the correct definition of the word Texture?

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EliasWick polycounter lvl 9
Hello wonderful people! I would like to excuse myself if I have posted this in the wrong thread.

Alright, I've been working as a 3D artist for a couple of years now but, just yesterday realized that I may have used the word Texture incorrect.

For me; a texture is the collection of maps. For example, having a Diffuse, normal and specular map together is a texture for me.

Is that correct or incorrect?

Replies

  • Count Vertsalot
    They're all individually and together a texture. A texture is just surface detail, normals, AO, and diffuse all provide surface detail. When combined you get a complete surface detail. Originally, diffuse was the only form of applying texture, by changing the color of the pixels of the rendered polygons.
  • Froyok
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    Froyok greentooth
    I usually define it like that :
    - Texture = individual bitmap file.
    - Texture Set = a collection of bitmap files.

    I'm not sure how correct this is, but this the naming convention that I use with my colleagues without any problems.
  • Dan Powell
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    Dan Powell polycounter lvl 5
    I usually define it as followed:

    Texture: A single image file acting as a variable in a material. Such as an Albedo texture, which contains the colour variables.

    Material: A collection of texture passes which together make up a completed material. In a PBR system, usually a Material would require an Albedo, Normal, Metalness and Glossiness texture.
  • Froyok
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    Froyok greentooth
    Careful as a "material" can also refer to an instance of shader in addition to its textures.
    (That's why I use a "texture set" to designate only the textures and avoid any confusions.)
  • Mcbeardo
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    Mcbeardo polycounter lvl 4
    Froyok, what do you call those grey balls in the material editor of your 3d software?
  • Lt_Commander
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    Lt_Commander polycounter lvl 10
    Let's not forget there's 'texture' as in the surface property of an object, as in 'The texture of the rubber ball is rough but soft' or 'His chin had a rough texture by the end of the day.'

    I've also seen texture used as a non-pattern overlay, as in images you'd download from cgtextures, the more generalized form of a 'pattern' that may or may not be tiled.

    It's a confusing nomenclature that uses the same word a couple of times and lacks a standardized definition -for anyone that doesn't author textures, it's not a real issue either. Any time I get into semantics with non-artists, I generally get something like 'Just make that thing that goes on the model that makes it not boring looking'
  • Eric Chadwick
    A texture has always meant a bitmap, when talking with other game artists.

    Shader is the code which controls how those textures are applied to the model, what kind of user-adjustable settings are available for the surface, what kind of specular equation is allowed, etc.

    Material is the settings you can adjust for a surface. Which textures are being used, what colors are set, what numerical values you control for specular etc.
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