@bradhb3d Thanks for all the insight and form breakdown. Your work is inspiring as always . Are you thinking of adding in any debris to your sand? Or were you going to keep it as more clean soft forms?
@MattyWS, I'm starting to love Marmoset. I've been very late to adopt, and while it may not be perfect, I'm finding that it's very flexible and fast. I love it. As far as reference goes... I guess I'm just used to riffing off the reference provided, and doing whatever I think it visually interesting. I'm just having fun with form and rhythm.
@Stavaas, That will actually be tough since I'm creating and using lots of my own nodes.. so I have a deep network of dependencies. However, I'll be working on some mini tuts and examples as I go along in the challenges. There might be some more in-depth videos in the future too if I can carve out the time :poly121:
@Tzur_H, While I do have some tricks and some nodes that I've made for certain effects.. the most important thing is good breakdown of form. I Substance like I sculpt. I isolate, abstract and combine multiple frequencies of forms. This way, some things are flexible and interchangeable as well.
I used avoid using the Auto Levels entirely since it can be expensive. I like to limit myself to one per material now. Also, you'll almost always want HIGH quality set on that. Low quality will introduce artifacts into your height map and result in banding in the normal map.
I wish that I could replicate that node with the pixel processor, but at the moment I don't think you can.
I really need to get back to substance challenge bradhb3dif you are going to explain how you achived such nice results then i owe you a crate of beer :P Stavaasawesome material too
arf, still struggling with my sand. bradhb3d's and eedobaba772's where so cool, i had a hard time figuring out a way to start Luthin's shader is cool too, how did you manage the integration of rock and stuff?
Just letting you all know shared this thread in my Environment Art blog stuff is great here keep up the great work! https://environmentart.wordpress.com/
Thanks Tejay for making this happen it is a great thing starting up for the community Ill try not to lurk too much and get substancing with you all
Bradh3d: Is there anywhere I can read up on optimisation of substances? I've only really been guessing at this point and it seems like an important thing to know for professional use.
Luthyn:Those shells look great. Can't wait to see the finished substance!
Tigerheart: Simple answer masks. Long answer is they are using masking to alter the colours, roughness and normals. For the normals you use like a normal blend instead of a normal combine. Although some people do it all in the basic height map used to generate the normals. I dont know any tutorials I can link sadly but have a good play around, look at some sbs files, maybe you'll get the gist. As for height in your normal, i know using the straight normal node doesn't always give me the push I want on my normals, sometimes i like to use the height to normal node. People may also be using height maps on their renders to give it that extra push (I know I do).
Rogelio: Thanks for plugging the challenge! I feel a little unworthy of the praise, it some random idea i had in the middle of the night but I'm glad everyone is enjoying themselves so much. I had no idea if this challenge would make it past a couple of weeks before people lose interest but it seems to be more people are joining in! Watching all this come alive has been a reward in itself. Also I can't wait to see you're contributions!
@Tejay, Jorymos' link is the really the only technical tips out there that I'm aware of. As far as how efficiency effects my work... I just use the node timings display to gauge relative cost, and I really only start to care if my workflow slows down at a reasonable resolution. For instance, in some cases I've seen a single grayscale grunge generator take just as long or longer to generate than an entire multi-channel material. In that instance, I would try to find a much cheaper replacement for that grayscale grunge.
I already made one of these road like substance, but i thought there might be some improvement to add:
Also, it seems that at some point i did get how to use the "height to normal node", since i found it ine the road substance... So i also updated my sand substance with that :
Not many people have done the sand substance, since i thought it was a tough one, i'll share mine if people want to check : SBS
That texture is looking killer so far! Reminds me of the little cracked patch of asphalt by my house that always make this creepy rattling sound when I ride over it on my bike :poly136:
Only thing I could say is the yellow stripe seems like it should be smoother to show it's a thick layer of paint sitting on top of a rough surface, like this:
Wanted to do more texture but some of them are in an environment Project I'm currently working on,so might just wait to get it done and publish the textures
@Fansub Really digging the asfalt material, but not so much on the paint, I'd switch the zig zagging pattern and use some scratches noise or even a Clouds node with levels tweak to make it sharper. Right now the zig zag it's too noticeable imho!.
How do you guys work around showcasing your substances? I can't find a good approach to show my textures, I'm working on a muddy ground and I need a height map, how should I do it? Dump a 10kpolygon plane on marmoset so it displaces well? Thx in advance!
Regarding that last '10kpolygon' dumb thing... I just found marmoset has tessellation too, WHAT A DAY! XD
@Fansub, looking great! the only think I might add is some medium size stone / aggregate in some of the cracks. It look a bit to smooth without it. Great work though! The cracks have interesting rhythm without feeling too artificial.
@Soldeus, Marmoset is the way to go for sure, at least until the Substance Designer I-Ray integration is complete that is
@SoldeusThezig zag pattern is actually an ettempt to make the dash line more interesting might want to change it's look a bit tho.
@Bradhb3d Thanks for the crits ! Quickly built some rocks and moss passes on top of the previous render,with a few adjustments on the Albedo and Normal :
Hey guys this one of the few times I have posted. I really wanna say great job to everyone on their substances. I was wondering if I could get some help on coming up with the Diffuse/Albedo for the Asphalt. I am having a Little trouble in that area.
Hey guys! Just wanted to take a stab at this awesome looking challenge, as I've fallen madly, deeply in love with substance over the last year.
I tried to put a really intense focus on matching the reference images given. I started with week 3 as that one was the most intimidating, but I'll be posting my progress as I work through the remainder until I'm caught up!
Hello guys, I'm a bit late but I'm joining this really cool thread ! I'm completely a newbie on substance designer so I attempt to make a sandy wet beach
Hello everyone! I'm just joining and have all the weeks up to the current finally finished. I'll be attaching my .SBS files as well for anyone who wants to learn from what I did. I also had issues with some of my .SBSAR files importing properly into Marmoset, maybe someone else could take a look. More on that below.
Week 1 - Concrete
Well I experimented with a bunch of stuff. I worked on this one the most because i was without internet during it's time and couldn't look up what the new weeks challenges were
Week 2 - Copper
I struggled with the rivets the most. Couldn't quite get them the right color or overall shape. Also couldn't get the patina around them, so i gave up after that.
Week 3 - Wood
This is by far my favorite. Took one shot at it and LOVED what came out.
Week 4 - Fabric
I struggled with trying to put creases in the fabric but other than that i was pleased how it came out....for the most part.
Week 5 - Sand
Struggled with this one quite a bit. My end result looks alright but I really wanted to get that soft sand look that @Synyster did with his. Still hope he sees my request for his .sbs. Would love to learn from it.
Week 6 - Asphalt
This is where i ran into some SD problems. When i export the graph as a .sbsar, then put it into Marmoset it doesn't import properly. All the maps are different than whats in SD. I don't understand why. If anyone wants to download my .sbs files, export it and throw it in Marmoset to see if they get either what they see in SD or something different that'd be great. Aside from those issues, i struggled to get this to look like how i wanted it. I looks one way in SD and another in Marmoset. So my first picture is Marmoset and the second is from SD/player.
@jorymos Wow, nice job man. I'm not even sure how to start this weeks challenge. For me, it's proving to be impossible to get the layered effect of shingles.... yet here you are being all badassary and shit showing off your good work.
@agentc0re Still working on the wood challenge, so can't try it, but you could try using a Tile Random with using a Gradient Shape,but you might be able to get the layered effect that way!.
Hello everyone! I'm super excited to be taking part in this weekly challenge. I wanted to thank everyone for being so helpful in offering tips and critiques. My knowledge of Designer has grown tremendously. I'm still playing catch up, but here are my submissions for the first two weeks:
Man you guys are amazing with these weekly challenges. It took me a while to get Base Diffuse/Albedo until I was happy with it. Hope you guys like it. And a special thanks to Brad for that slope normal technique. I tried it out and I really like the results. Thanks again everyone.
I host my images off another site like imgur, then, when I'm typing a reply here, I click the "insert image" button (that looks like an envelope). In there, I paste the URL of the image and it will display in the post. If you're like me and like to double check, you can select "Go Advanced" where an option is provided to preview the post before submitting it.
Late on the asphalt but still going I tend to make things complicated...
Asphalt breaker node. Not done with the texture it self. The texture starts with basic asphalt than I use this breaker than ill add pebbles, small debris, and a street paint line node. Separating in substance nodes chunks to make it more modular.
Thanks for the tip @Jorymos but i'm still struggling. I can make it look like a brick pattern but not look like they're overlapping. Every time i blend, the gradient of the pattern where it overlaps disappears no matter the order i blend. I think i'll just wait for a .sbs to be posted for this one, try and learn from that.
Replies
@luthyn, yes for debris! stones, sticks, clumps and things!
WHOOPS!
Sorry epic fail on my part it is just called "normal" just type that in search or find it at the top.
I wish that I could replicate that node with the pixel processor, but at the moment I don't think you can.
Still have a lot to do but were getting there.
Stavaas awesome material too
I'm still really new to this, but I'm already falling in love with this program. Here's my first pass on the sand.
Thanks Tejay for making this happen it is a great thing starting up for the community
Here's my first pass on the sand week
Luthyn: Those shells look great. Can't wait to see the finished substance!
Tigerheart: Simple answer masks. Long answer is they are using masking to alter the colours, roughness and normals. For the normals you use like a normal blend instead of a normal combine. Although some people do it all in the basic height map used to generate the normals. I dont know any tutorials I can link sadly but have a good play around, look at some sbs files, maybe you'll get the gist. As for height in your normal, i know using the straight normal node doesn't always give me the push I want on my normals, sometimes i like to use the height to normal node. People may also be using height maps on their renders to give it that extra push (I know I do).
Rogelio: Thanks for plugging the challenge! I feel a little unworthy of the praise, it some random idea i had in the middle of the night but I'm glad everyone is enjoying themselves so much. I had no idea if this challenge would make it past a couple of weeks before people lose interest but it seems to be more people are joining in! Watching all this come alive has been a reward in itself. Also I can't wait to see you're contributions!
Also, it seems that at some point i did get how to use the "height to normal node", since i found it ine the road substance... So i also updated my sand substance with that :
Not many people have done the sand substance, since i thought it was a tough one, i'll share mine if people want to check : SBS
@Synyster Would you mind offering your sand substance as a .sbs download. I'd love to learn how you did what you did.
Also, i'm extremely new here. Been trying to catch up on all the challenges. I'll post my crapy work as soon as i catch up.
That texture is looking killer so far! Reminds me of the little cracked patch of asphalt by my house that always make this creepy rattling sound when I ride over it on my bike :poly136:
Only thing I could say is the yellow stripe seems like it should be smoother to show it's a thick layer of paint sitting on top of a rough surface, like this:
Here is my contribution :
Wanted to do more texture but some of them are in an environment Project I'm currently working on,so might just wait to get it done and publish the textures
How do you guys work around showcasing your substances? I can't find a good approach to show my textures, I'm working on a muddy ground and I need a height map, how should I do it? Dump a 10kpolygon plane on marmoset so it displaces well? Thx in advance!
Regarding that last '10kpolygon' dumb thing... I just found marmoset has tessellation too, WHAT A DAY! XD
@Soldeus, Marmoset is the way to go for sure, at least until the Substance Designer I-Ray integration is complete that is
@Bradhb3d Thanks for the crits ! Quickly built some rocks and moss passes on top of the previous render,with a few adjustments on the Albedo and Normal :
I tried to put a really intense focus on matching the reference images given. I started with week 3 as that one was the most intimidating, but I'll be posting my progress as I work through the remainder until I'm caught up!
As always, C'n'C is more than welcome.
Week 1 - Concrete
Well I experimented with a bunch of stuff. I worked on this one the most because i was without internet during it's time and couldn't look up what the new weeks challenges were
Week 2 - Copper
I struggled with the rivets the most. Couldn't quite get them the right color or overall shape. Also couldn't get the patina around them, so i gave up after that.
Week 3 - Wood
This is by far my favorite. Took one shot at it and LOVED what came out.
Week 4 - Fabric
I struggled with trying to put creases in the fabric but other than that i was pleased how it came out....for the most part.
Week 5 - Sand
Struggled with this one quite a bit. My end result looks alright but I really wanted to get that soft sand look that @Synyster did with his. Still hope he sees my request for his .sbs.
Week 6 - Asphalt
This is where i ran into some SD problems. When i export the graph as a .sbsar, then put it into Marmoset it doesn't import properly. All the maps are different than whats in SD. I don't understand why. If anyone wants to download my .sbs files, export it and throw it in Marmoset to see if they get either what they see in SD or something different that'd be great. Aside from those issues, i struggled to get this to look like how i wanted it. I looks one way in SD and another in Marmoset. So my first picture is Marmoset and the second is from SD/player.
Here are all my .sbs files that i worked on. I've included some that I didn't included pictures of here. I always plan on sharing my .sbs files.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9MBFie9jHhUYWhhTmNrTXQ1WVU/view?usp=sharing
Week 1 -
week 2 -
Asphalt breaker node. Not done with the texture it self. The texture starts with basic asphalt than I use this breaker than ill add pebbles, small debris, and a street paint line node. Separating in substance nodes chunks to make it more modular.