Material Study

Polygoblin

To improve my texturing skills and overall understanding of material definition, I have begun an exercise to recreate 50 real world materials. Everything is intended to be realistic and not exaggerated. There are a few rules I'm following to keep things honest, but there is no deadline in mind. The emphasis is on study and I want to get better at my art fundamentals. I'd appreciate any feedback you may have.

Posting the first 3 to kick things off.

Yes, this project was majorly inspired by the material study by vesner

Bartalon

Ha, awesome! I've been thinking of doing this too at some point, also inspired by vesner.

I think the brick needs more holes caused from air bubbles during the brick-baking process, and the toolbox latch is too dull for how clean it is.

joeriv

Box looks okay, but the red might be a bit to much, if you are going for a bit of a worn one/scuffed, it's probably a bit older, might have discolored a bit.
And maybe a bit of a deeper red with some discoloration towards the pinks/purples. yours seems a bit to "orange".
http://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/6736296/il_340x270.452223493_8362.jpg (the next link is also a good example).

And overall push the variations in color and gloss/roughness a bit more.
http://thumbs4.picclick.com/d/w1600/pict/111123099111_/Vintage-Red-Metal-Toolbox.jpg

Could also do some things like some dust/dirt getting stuck in the crevices (where the hinge meets the box).
The values on the hinge feel a bit off, and probably worth also putting some time into that.

http://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/6736296/il_340x270.452223493_8362.jpg


The other 2:
The top one, I'm actually not sure what it's supposed to be, I'm guessing some type of rock, but with both, they are to sculpted/painted, wich immediatly takes away the realism, and you said that that was your goal.
I would suggest to rely less on actually painting stuff yourself, and to incorporate some photosourcing.

And if you aren't doing so, don't just make something and compare it what you have in your mind, but actually compare a picture of your work side to side with a real world picture and try to pick out the differences or things that are off.

Polygoblin

@Bartalon - Great point. It is way too smooth now that you mention it. I'll make those changes.

@joeriv - I'll push the box some more to get more definition. That red is tough to get right. About the others, I am sticking to painting things myself, because I have restricted photosourcing as part of the exercise. I want to get better at actually creating materials myself. Suppose I just have to stick closer to the reference if everything is so far off.

Jeff Parrott

Good idea for the project. Keep doing these but take your time and work in the feedback. Going to learn a ton on this thread.

Polygoblin

@Jeff - Thanks man, I'm excited for this project. Eager to learn advanced texturing. Honored to be assisted by the polycount community as well. So many texture masters here!

Apologies for the lack of updates! I was busy all weekend with GGJ, and now I'm having technical problems w my cpu that is keeping me from being able to use a tablet. Promise I'll post an update w fixes mentioned above soonest.

Polygoblin

Busy with technical problems and new work that thankfully popped up, but chipping away at it. Just wanted to post a quick update to keep the ball rolling.

Been working mostly on the brick. Roughed up the surface like Bartalon mentioned, but I may have not gone far enough. I'll tweak it more as I work the other two materials.



Probably won't start the next materials until I feel a little better about these three. These first materials are the groundwork of this project. It's important I be patient and get them right before continuing.

Polygoblin

Added some color variation to the red, grimed up the handle, and pumped up the wear and contrast.

tynew

Looks a lot better. Seems convincing to me on the materials good job. Where did you add color variation on the red, in the albedo or the reflectance?

Polygoblin

Thanks. It's coming along. Looks way better than the first, at least. I added the color variation in the albedo

Torch

Nice work poly! I imagine for the metal box you would set the metallic to 100% white and just tweak the roughness map? Coming along nicely

shabba

Maybe post the reference you yourself are comparing the brick and wood to? And for the future materials you are working on too?

Then we know the age/conditions of each in which to offer criticism and suggestions on.

Polygoblin

@Torch - Eh, I'm using a specular map currently. I just tried a full white metalness, and it looks weird. I'm thinking I have something confused about that and need to do a little more research there apparently :poly136:

@shabba - Yes, you're right. The idea was to post the material without a description, and if it wasn't recognizable, I failed and needed to keep working on it. Didn't think about how that would affect asking for critique. I'll just post links and hope people view it after. Thanks!

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On that note, I didn't want to post my original blueprint for this study since it's kind of scribbled out, but it should also assist people who'd honor me with their time. That's what this is about. No time for shyness.