Texel Density for Buildings and other objects in city

pandauric

I am using 3ds Max and the plugin PolyTools3D Advanced UV Normalizer.
I am working with large buildings and also smaller objects. For the large buildings and other modular elements for the buildings I was planning on using (per the UV normalizer) a Geometry area of 4096.0m and a UV Area of 256. The pixel area is 268435456.0.
Does anyone see a problem with this or have another recommendation. For this architecture, the textures will be tiled.

Eric Chadwick

This isn't how most modular game assets are designed. Instead, choose a pixel density to work towards, and use that as a rough guide when creating each individual asset. For example 4 pixels per centimeter, or whatever you decide.

pandauric

Thank you for responding. How do I setup a pixel per centimeter setting of say 4 with UV Normalizer, or another script?

Eric Chadwick

Look up Real-World Mapping in the 3ds Max help file.

But again, this is not how game assets are made. This is how architectural rendering is done. Which are you doing?

pandauric

I am doing architectural rendering.

pandauric

But I am doing it in the Stingray game engine with animation and interaction. So, I guess I am doing a combination of architectural work and the creation of game assets.

Eric Chadwick

Ah. When rendering offline (V-Ray, etc.) texture memory is not as big of an issue as when you're rendering in real-time (Stingray, a game, VR, etc.). Architectural rendering can use tiling textures with real-world mapping, and complicated blending materials for edge detail, ambient occlusion, etc.

But for Stingray to perform at interactive framerates, you will want all your textures be loaded in graphics card memory. So you'll want to use a modular workflow and be more conservative with your materials. 

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Modular_environments

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/MultiTexture