Getting good looking textures on large uv mapped surfaces

MITVIZ

Hi, how is it possible to something as thing, usually when i have a large surface on a 2k map it looks like the resolution is so low after i scale the texture,. is there a rule when it comes to mapping large surfaces? also when using a modular workflow for parts in games how to avoid seems without placing a separate object between the two modular pieces are are instances?

AtticusMars

MITVIZ said:

Hi, how is it possible to something as thing, usually when i have a large surface on a 2k map it looks like the resolution is so low after i scale the texture,. is there a rule when it comes to mapping large surfaces? also 

If it is something huge like a space ship then the strategy of choice currently is to make aggressive use of tiling textures and decals. Modeling in larger bevels as needed. You should check out this thread.  This obviously requires a lot of design considerations. If the object is merely "large" then you could just use detail normal maps, or break your meshes textures up into multiple sheets.

MITVIZ said:

when using a modular workflow for parts in games how to avoid seems without placing a separate object between the two modular pieces are are instances?

Texture seams just require you place your textures correctly on the UV grid, with padding if necessary. Using tiling textures is really helpful for this.

If you are asking about lighting seams, this really depends on how you are lighting your scene and in what engine. If you are using fully dynamic lighting as long as the vertex normals at your seams line up it should light seamlessly. But if you are using lightmass in UE4, it currently has a problem with maintaining lighting consistency across static meshes as a result of lightmass processing different meshes on different threads. There are things you can do to improve it (read the thread), but as far as I know right now the only 100% solution is to merge your modular pieces together the way you want them before exporting from your 3D app.

musashidan

Also, if you haven't UV'd optimally to maximise your texture resolution then you be using less than 50% of UV space and your texture will essentially be 1K.

So for large surfaces you either need to break them into unique pieces, or use the tiling/decal technique @AtticusMars mentioned. Or depending on the asset in question you can blend several maps to lessen the obvious appearance of tiling a single texture.

MITVIZ

Thanks guys!

EarthQuake

musashidan said:

Also, if you haven't UV'd optimally to maximise your texture resolution then you be using less than 50% of UV space and your texture will essentially be 1K.

This is a rather odd comment. First off, what does optimally actually mean, and how do you come up with 50%? Secondly, if you're only using 50% of a 2K texture, you're using 1024x2048 worth of resolution, not 1024x1024, that would be 25%.

musashidan

What I mean by optimally is utilising as much of the uv space as possible. Quite often I see unwraps that are not optimally packed and might only use 40% of 0-1 (both headus and polyunwrapper's give an exact percentage of this) So as there are 4x512 in a 2k map, only the resolution of 2x512 is effectively being used so the resolution on the applied map isn't getting as much pixels as it would if it were say using 90%

RobeOmega

@musashidan I have done a small image.

musashidan

Robeomega said:

@musashidan I have done a small image.

Haha! Late at night here.....of course I meant 4x1k rather than 4x512....honestly   But seriously, an honest mistake. Yet my basic premise still stands: less optimally packed uvs=less texture res. I know this is obvious to you experienced folk, it was aimed at the OP.