My first material in Substance Designer & Complete breakdown [Warning: Image & Text Heavy]
polycounter lvl 6
First of, if you want to see this post minus all the text, node screenshots and with marmoset viewer for the 3d model you can click here to visit my post on ArtStation.
[Introduction]
Hello my name is Luc Zeegers,
I am a hobbyist 3d designer & texture artist (I mean i just started but due to a lack of a better terms i'll just use some fancy titles to sound intresting)
I started about one and a half year ago with 3d modelling after having discovered mods, and am completely "self taught" (Watching a bunch of tutorials online). And recently i decided to start working on my texturing skills.
[Introduction idea & reason, Warning: Alot of text]
I bought substance designer & painter a little while ago but never got around to using it because i was working on a 3d model, then however i saw the MAT contest come around and figured i'd give it ago. I starting off with a concept of turning him into a diver but after checking the contest forums i saw that i was not very original, so i started browsing the lovely internet for some inspiration and found a photo of an absolutely magnificent stained glass window in chateau clochard.
So i started to watch some tutorials on substance designer to get the basic concept of what the strange block-like nodes did and jumped right in. Altho i did not finish the window on time to use it for the contest, then again i joined the contest more as an excuse to start actually learning the program instead of procastinating till the end of times.
I learned alot from this little project and absolutely enjoyed working on it, Altho i probably should have gone with a slightly simpler idea to start with to save myself some headaches.
[Actually Important]
All cynical jokes aside, I shared this because I want to become better at what i do. I am a rookie in this scene and want to improve using the feedback from the amazing artists on this forum.
So any feedback is appreciated, tell me where i go wrong / do things unconventially so that i can change them and improve my workflow or the things you like about my project.
And for those who are able to use my project to learn, keep in mind that my techniques and methods arent refined so take them with a grain of salt.
And last but certainly not least, thank you to everybody on this forum and in general who help others by posting their work, giving feedback and or make tutorials it has helped me a great deal and i hope to do the same sometime in the future.
[The Project]
So without further ado i present to you my first substance: a stained glass (Im not that good at naming things). P.s. The concrete was made using the Concrete 006 node in order to present my work.
[First render in Marmoset Toolbag 3]
[Second render in Marmoset Toolbag 3]
[Node Overview]
As you can see i started working on the nodes very optimistic about keeping them orginized, but after a while i might have given up on that. But dont worry for there is method to my madness (sort of).
The reason I used the same node setup for the smaller versions of the petals, leaves and flowers (Inner bevels) is because scaling them down using the 2d transformation node caused the edges and curves too not line up as neatly as i liked them to. Therefore I copy-pasted the node setup and adjusted the nodes to get some neater points and rounder edges.
If anybody has a method they recommend using too creating a bevel whilst keeping the edges and curves approximately the same, it would be highly appreciated.
[Node Breakdown & Workflow, Warning: images are big]
I started off without any knowledge of substance designer, so in order to understand the basic features of the program i watched this particular tutorial by blackhart films as the height is a prominent feature in his project aswell as mine. As well as numerous of tutorials by allegorithmic to understand the program more throroughly. I basically watched the few first minutes of the tutorials and jumped straight in, consulting the previously named tutorials and more specific ones whenever i hit a road block.
I thought about where to approximately begin and figured that i would start blocking out the glass parts first to create the second layer of the metal ornament.
I started with a basic disc and rescaled & mirrored it to get the sides of the petal, then i added a 3 sided poligon of which i subtracted another mirrored disc to make it flow neatly into one another. I played around with the warp node and several patterns to see what effect they had and found a combination that enhanced the organic like shape. After that i closed a gap at the bottom and added a circular splatter.
I used this node setup again to create the inner bevel, but changed many of the parameters to get a sharper point as well as rounder edges since a 2d transformation node did not look as good.
The second step was to get the tiple petal / leaf design and this time i simply went ahead and messed around with basic shapes until i got to a point where it looked somewhat similar to my reference, once again starting with some discs and adding / subtracting shapes to get to the point i needed to.
For the top part i followed basically the exact same workflow as the petal in the last section, the leaves on the side were the result of trial and error. Both using the warp node for a more refined organic shape.
Once again this entire node setup was re-used for the inner bevel to keep neater edges.
Next up was the star like shape in the middle, created by taking a disc in a circular splatter and subtracting it from a singularr disc. I also added a masking to connect the subtracted petals and the star in a nicer fashion. As i am typing this i realize i should have just used 1 disc shape node for this entire group.
Star node setup re-used for the bevel.
Next up was subtracting the flower from the star, Once again i should have used just one node of each shape and used a 2d transformation as they are very similar in size.
I used a splatter circular with a disc shape and refined the pointed intersections with a triangular polygon.
(Once again, do not take note of this particular setup as its the perfect example of what not to do).
This was the moment when i learned to re-use shapes, which is what i did wrong in the previous nodes.
So now for the linework separating the stained glass. I used a simple square shape and splatter circular a bunch of times to create lines that are equal width, I dont know if this would be the correct way to create shapes like this so feedback would be gladly appreciated. But i should have used the 2d transformation used for rotating the splatters at the end as i believe i only really needed 2 of those in total.
Now i went to the roughness stage, here is really just messed around with some maps that i liked in order to achieve some variations, most prominent here is the moister noise as i will be using that later in the base color. As well as the dirt 1 of which i substracted the clouds 2 map to spread it out a bit and overlay it on top of the entire design in height, color, roughness, metallic and opacity.
Next up base color and the stained glass detail (Actually i did the stained glass detail before roughness as it is still part of the height).
The stained glass detail was created by taking fractal sum 1 and overlaying it on the fractal sum base. I added a blur and a sharpen to get the detail a bit more to my liking (The sharpen does not nullify the blur, by using these 2 in combination I removed some of the small details), and once again this does feed back into the height, normal and ao. Then for the color i created a really neat mold effect by taking the moister noise and adding a gradient map, and blended that with the gradient map i made from the stained glass detail and the metal ornament height.
As for the final part i made an opacity mask by taking the previously made roughness and changing it with the levels node and adding the dirt on top so that it partially blocks the opacity of the window. For the metallic map I used parts of the roughness once again to shield part of the metal with some grunge, dirt and scratches to create some more wear and tear.
And finally in order to present my work i added the concrete 006 node, messed around with the settings a bit to get it to my liking then blended it using a disc shaped mask, and finally slope blurring it with the dirt 1 map to make it less neat and precise (making some of the concrete splatter the metal).
*Exhales* That was quite some text to type, but really thank you for reading all or even just part of that, i really do appreciate it.
Once again i am a rookie and the reason why i wrote this was mainly to teach myself and perhaps get some feedback.
I noticed that looking back on my work and explaining it gives me alot more insight then just making it. And i hope to continue learning over time through these posts and the feedback given.
I will try and keep doing this (If my sanity alows me to) and as i continue to learn i hope to share some of that with others, even if its just the tiniest thing.
Thank you once again for reading.
My Artstation (A little empty right now, but that will change in time).
Programs used:
Substance Designer 5 by Allegorithmic, for the texture design
And
Marmoset Toolbag 3 by Marmoset, for the renders.
[Introduction]
Hello my name is Luc Zeegers,
I am a hobbyist 3d designer & texture artist (I mean i just started but due to a lack of a better terms i'll just use some fancy titles to sound intresting)
I started about one and a half year ago with 3d modelling after having discovered mods, and am completely "self taught" (Watching a bunch of tutorials online). And recently i decided to start working on my texturing skills.
[Introduction idea & reason, Warning: Alot of text]
I bought substance designer & painter a little while ago but never got around to using it because i was working on a 3d model, then however i saw the MAT contest come around and figured i'd give it ago. I starting off with a concept of turning him into a diver but after checking the contest forums i saw that i was not very original, so i started browsing the lovely internet for some inspiration and found a photo of an absolutely magnificent stained glass window in chateau clochard.
So i started to watch some tutorials on substance designer to get the basic concept of what the strange block-like nodes did and jumped right in. Altho i did not finish the window on time to use it for the contest, then again i joined the contest more as an excuse to start actually learning the program instead of procastinating till the end of times.
I learned alot from this little project and absolutely enjoyed working on it, Altho i probably should have gone with a slightly simpler idea to start with to save myself some headaches.
[Actually Important]
All cynical jokes aside, I shared this because I want to become better at what i do. I am a rookie in this scene and want to improve using the feedback from the amazing artists on this forum.
So any feedback is appreciated, tell me where i go wrong / do things unconventially so that i can change them and improve my workflow or the things you like about my project.
And for those who are able to use my project to learn, keep in mind that my techniques and methods arent refined so take them with a grain of salt.
And last but certainly not least, thank you to everybody on this forum and in general who help others by posting their work, giving feedback and or make tutorials it has helped me a great deal and i hope to do the same sometime in the future.
[The Project]
So without further ado i present to you my first substance: a stained glass (Im not that good at naming things). P.s. The concrete was made using the Concrete 006 node in order to present my work.
[First render in Marmoset Toolbag 3]
[Second render in Marmoset Toolbag 3]
[Node Overview]
As you can see i started working on the nodes very optimistic about keeping them orginized, but after a while i might have given up on that. But dont worry for there is method to my madness (sort of).
The reason I used the same node setup for the smaller versions of the petals, leaves and flowers (Inner bevels) is because scaling them down using the 2d transformation node caused the edges and curves too not line up as neatly as i liked them to. Therefore I copy-pasted the node setup and adjusted the nodes to get some neater points and rounder edges.
If anybody has a method they recommend using too creating a bevel whilst keeping the edges and curves approximately the same, it would be highly appreciated.
[Node Breakdown & Workflow, Warning: images are big]
I started off without any knowledge of substance designer, so in order to understand the basic features of the program i watched this particular tutorial by blackhart films as the height is a prominent feature in his project aswell as mine. As well as numerous of tutorials by allegorithmic to understand the program more throroughly. I basically watched the few first minutes of the tutorials and jumped straight in, consulting the previously named tutorials and more specific ones whenever i hit a road block.
I thought about where to approximately begin and figured that i would start blocking out the glass parts first to create the second layer of the metal ornament.
I started with a basic disc and rescaled & mirrored it to get the sides of the petal, then i added a 3 sided poligon of which i subtracted another mirrored disc to make it flow neatly into one another. I played around with the warp node and several patterns to see what effect they had and found a combination that enhanced the organic like shape. After that i closed a gap at the bottom and added a circular splatter.
I used this node setup again to create the inner bevel, but changed many of the parameters to get a sharper point as well as rounder edges since a 2d transformation node did not look as good.
The second step was to get the tiple petal / leaf design and this time i simply went ahead and messed around with basic shapes until i got to a point where it looked somewhat similar to my reference, once again starting with some discs and adding / subtracting shapes to get to the point i needed to.
For the top part i followed basically the exact same workflow as the petal in the last section, the leaves on the side were the result of trial and error. Both using the warp node for a more refined organic shape.
Once again this entire node setup was re-used for the inner bevel to keep neater edges.
Next up was the star like shape in the middle, created by taking a disc in a circular splatter and subtracting it from a singularr disc. I also added a masking to connect the subtracted petals and the star in a nicer fashion. As i am typing this i realize i should have just used 1 disc shape node for this entire group.
Star node setup re-used for the bevel.
Next up was subtracting the flower from the star, Once again i should have used just one node of each shape and used a 2d transformation as they are very similar in size.
I used a splatter circular with a disc shape and refined the pointed intersections with a triangular polygon.
(Once again, do not take note of this particular setup as its the perfect example of what not to do).
This was the moment when i learned to re-use shapes, which is what i did wrong in the previous nodes.
So now for the linework separating the stained glass. I used a simple square shape and splatter circular a bunch of times to create lines that are equal width, I dont know if this would be the correct way to create shapes like this so feedback would be gladly appreciated. But i should have used the 2d transformation used for rotating the splatters at the end as i believe i only really needed 2 of those in total.
Now i went to the roughness stage, here is really just messed around with some maps that i liked in order to achieve some variations, most prominent here is the moister noise as i will be using that later in the base color. As well as the dirt 1 of which i substracted the clouds 2 map to spread it out a bit and overlay it on top of the entire design in height, color, roughness, metallic and opacity.
Next up base color and the stained glass detail (Actually i did the stained glass detail before roughness as it is still part of the height).
The stained glass detail was created by taking fractal sum 1 and overlaying it on the fractal sum base. I added a blur and a sharpen to get the detail a bit more to my liking (The sharpen does not nullify the blur, by using these 2 in combination I removed some of the small details), and once again this does feed back into the height, normal and ao. Then for the color i created a really neat mold effect by taking the moister noise and adding a gradient map, and blended that with the gradient map i made from the stained glass detail and the metal ornament height.
As for the final part i made an opacity mask by taking the previously made roughness and changing it with the levels node and adding the dirt on top so that it partially blocks the opacity of the window. For the metallic map I used parts of the roughness once again to shield part of the metal with some grunge, dirt and scratches to create some more wear and tear.
And finally in order to present my work i added the concrete 006 node, messed around with the settings a bit to get it to my liking then blended it using a disc shaped mask, and finally slope blurring it with the dirt 1 map to make it less neat and precise (making some of the concrete splatter the metal).
*Exhales* That was quite some text to type, but really thank you for reading all or even just part of that, i really do appreciate it.
Once again i am a rookie and the reason why i wrote this was mainly to teach myself and perhaps get some feedback.
I noticed that looking back on my work and explaining it gives me alot more insight then just making it. And i hope to continue learning over time through these posts and the feedback given.
I will try and keep doing this (If my sanity alows me to) and as i continue to learn i hope to share some of that with others, even if its just the tiniest thing.
Thank you once again for reading.
My Artstation (A little empty right now, but that will change in time).
Programs used:
Substance Designer 5 by Allegorithmic, for the texture design
And
Marmoset Toolbag 3 by Marmoset, for the renders.