Two Textures on One Mesh?

Axi5

So I'm a complete newbie to Unity and most other things 3D, my current project involves a jet modelled in 3DS max which is long and takes up a lot of my UV room so even a 4k texture looks a little low resolution up close.

What I'm about to ask is all hypothetical so if you have any other priorities feel free to leave this thread alone. (If all goes well the camera wont need to be so close to the model so currently it's fine as it is but I'd like to have it as a re-usable asset).

If I was to follow this tutorial:
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/multiple_uv_tiles/multiple_uvs_tiles.htm
And split my mesh in half and space it over two quadrants I'd be able to get the resolution I need to make this model look really detailed up close.

The problem I'm facing after doing some research is whether or not Unity contains a composite material or shader where I could use two textures on one mesh with their respective uv co-ordinates. I'm aware there's a blend style material for terrain using vertex paint, would it be possible to have this style material on my model then just paint over one half to display the other texture? I'm sure there would be an easier way though.

I've not done too much beyond basic materials in Unity and I've heard there are layers so perhaps this is what I'm looking for?

Sorry to degrade the forums with such a newbie question I guess and even if I don't end up re-uving and re-texturing I hope an answer can help someone here.

ZacD

What you want is 2 materials on one mesh. You'll want to have 2 materials that each point to a seperate texture.

Axi5

ZacD wrote: »

What you want is 2 materials on one mesh. You'll want to have 2 materials that each point to a seperate texture.

Ahh! Okay, will this work with UVs? I'm having a little difficulty getting my head around that. If I set my mat ID on certain polys in Max to be ID 2, will that information carry across to unity in an obj or fbx?

Thanks for such a swift reply! As much as anyone would hate to repeat work they've literally just done the end result excites me enough to give this a try

SlyRipper

yes it will be. So if you change the mat ID in max it is stored with the export. You can also have one single texture file with all the UVs while using 2 materials (just use the same texture for both) and you can change their shaders, etc.

The only thing you have to do is search for a pre-created shader in unity that uses more materials, or you have to create one yourself. the max part is just to set your polys to mat ID 1 or 2 and export it as .obj or .fbx (think this was better for unity)

Axi5

SlyRipper wrote: »

yes it will be. So if you change the mat ID in max it is stored with the export. You can also have one single texture file with all the UVs while using 2 materials (just use the same texture for both) and you can change their shaders, etc.

The only thing you have to do is search for a pre-created shader in unity that uses more materials, or you have to create one yourself. the max part is just to set your polys to mat ID 1 or 2 and export it as .obj or .fbx (think this was better for unity)

That's brilliant thanks for clarifying, I've got to start re-uving then thank you.

vahidtoon

Do you have access to Maya?
I have not tried it in 3dsmax but in maya whenever I assign two or more materials for any selected faces on the object and export it as .fbx I get two or more material for that object in unity.

In maya you don't need to set ID for faces you just select them and assign the material. I do it all the time on most objects.

About the UVs, if you use two separate materials don't worry if UVs for each material overlap, they have their own separate textues.

Axi5

vahidtoon wrote: »

Do you have access to Maya?
I have not tried it in 3dsmax but in maya whenever I assign two or more materials for any selected faces on the object and export it as .fbx I get two or more material for that object in unity.

In maya you don't need to set ID for faces you just select them and assign the material. I do it all the time on most objects.

About the UVs, if you use two separate materials don't worry if UVs for each material overlap, they have their own separate textues.

I saw Quixel's tutorial for the chainsaw using that technique in Maya it looks very handy! Max creates multi-sub materials on the fly too but as the tutorial says it's apparently more intensive. I have no problem at this stage taking it over into Maya if I was to add another program to the pipeline but at my current stage I'm really thinking about narrowing the tools I need to get good results. And thanks for the uv tip too!

Thank you everyone for the tips (:

cupsster

In shader you can combine 4 2048px textures to one. Would require little research I don't remember exact links top of my head. It is possible.