Non Noticeable Repeating Textures

Patrick_McAllister

I can't seem to find any information to really help me out with this problem. I have  a concrete texture that is seamless and tiles fine but the problem is (as expected) that you can tell it is repeating. I have never been able to find a solution or a "how-to" to help hide the fact that I am using 1 texture over a large area even though I know this is possible. Is there a specific term I should be searching for?

Thanks,

- Patrick

NoRank

vertex painting is what people normally use to "hide" the fact that it is a single texture repeating. You can use decals as well.

Butthair

Try this:
https://docs.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/TerrainAdvancedTextures.html
It's for UDK, but the concepts are the same.

It can be done with mix maps tiled differently. There's also a method where a texture is rotated 90 degrees, then scaled and blended into a version of the same texture without transformations.

Not sure on the term though. Maybe detail maps?

But most practices involve 2 textures to create the variation (although sometimes both textures are the same). One texture tiles at normal resolution and the other texture blends with the base texture and can tile/rotate bigger or smaller.
- works well for noise and random patterns like grass, metal and dirt.

Another method is blending two different textures together. One texture represents larger shapes and the other blends in repeating detail.
- good when making large structures, usually natural. Works for cliff rocks and hero assets with a similar detail noise.

Additionally you can mask out areas that the detail map shouldn't affect - like smoother areas or for material variety. 

Obscura

Butthair said:

But most practices involve 2 textures to create the variation (although sometimes both textures are the same). One texture tiles at normal resolution and the other texture blends with the base texture and can tile/rotate bigger or smaller.

Don't forget , then you would need to remap the values of the rotated normals, that isn't necessary the most straight forward thing to do especially for a beginner. Depending on the nature of the details, this might also look bad. So first I would just suggest to try non rotated detail layer with a different tiling.

Patrick_McAllister

Thanks for the information! That helps a lot. It looks like Vertex Tools Pro for Unity is just what I am looking for at the moment and for down the road. I am unsure about one thing however. When it says in the description "This extension requires one license per seat" will I be able to use this with the free version of unity? 

Patrick_McAllister

Never mind. It does work with it.

gnoop

   It's  probably main skill an environment artist should develope.    I mean an ability to make non-repeating natural impression. Vertex color is not only thing.    Usually it's not enough  to hide tiling.  It  wouldn't help a lot with low sun , dusk/dawn conditions  where tiling normal maps would look super eye catchy.    
   You should also use  clever scattered  small geometry , UV  shifting / mesh deformation and UV value  scaling in shaders,   texture flipping/rotation supported by shaders, vertex normal rotation , decals.  Macro derivative maps . roughness macro,   multi-layered shaders,   different blending math  to mix layers,  and so on and on depending on subject.      In constant search for most effective way. Visually, computationally ,   labor and texture channel wise,  they are limited usually .    
           Perhaps one of the really creative task in gamedev actually.   I consider it like a kind of milti voice  music with  main tune , bass and high frequencies each having its own rhythm .

Patrick_McAllister

You have a very good point. Many tricks and tools in the toolbox to use in order achieve the desired result. Thanks! I will look into all these things as I go.

Obscura

gnoop said:

   It's  probably main skill an environment artist should develope.    I mean an ability to make non-repeating natural impression. Vertex color is not only thing.    Usually it's not enough  to hide tiling.  It  wouldn't help a lot with low sun , dusk/dawn conditions  where tiling normal maps would look super eye catchy.    
   You should also use  clever scattered  small geometry , UV  shifting / mesh deformation and UV value  scaling in shaders,   texture flipping/rotation supported by shaders, vertex normal rotation , decals.  Macro derivative maps . roughness macro,   multi-layered shaders,   different blending math  to mix layers,  and so on and on depending on subject.      In constant search for most effective way. Visually, computationally ,   labor and texture channel wise,  they are limited usually .    
           Perhaps one of the really creative task in gamedev actually.   I consider it like a kind of milti voice  music with  main tune , bass and high frequencies each having its own rhythm .

Some companies like Naughty dog has shader artists that should be partially responsible for this kind of stuff. They should also tell you in that case, how to set up your art to get it working with it. Of course this all depends on the volume of the project.