Decals ( floating geo ) or cut decal in the mesh?

LaurentiuN

Hi guys, i have a basic question here. I want to start a new environment to have on my portfolio and i dont know what technique to pick.

I saw starcitizen and some other games are using mid poly with chamfers and decals on them for the details but then i saw @AlexCatMasterSupreme tutorial and he is cuting the ( decals ) details in the mesh and using floating decals only for emissive and text stuff.

So my question is... what are the pros and cons about these 2 workflows? I know i can make some tests and see for myself but i want your opinion on this matter because this is very new for me. Thanks.

Linfo

Personally, I use a combination of both.
For smaller, more contained objects I like to use individual textures as it allows me to add more personalized details.
And for bigger things that need to span over a large area, I tend to use tileable materials along with floating decals.

It really depends on the scale of what you are building, and if it needs to have specific details like edge wear and things like that.
If you are going for a clean look scifi look, for example, you can use tileables with decals and maybe carve so extra stuff into them. 

There's not a definitive workflow really, it depends more on what you need to do.

LVG

I can't really speak for Alex's workflow (isn't his through the use of a second UV set?) but if you grab his tutorial I'm sure he'd explain the benfits of his method, the main draw back for the mesh decals is it's more expensive in terms of geometry obviously because of the bevels / decals another thing is the decals them selves don't look great unless you manage to get POM working on them, I can't really think of any major cons to do with mesh decals themselves (i could be wrong feel free to correct me), it's worth experimenting with yourself and see what you like

LaurentiuN

@Linfo @LVG
Thanks guys, i will try some tests myself to see what works and what doesn`t, thanks again!!

AlexCatMasterSupreme

I would have floated if unreal supported it at the time.  

LaurentiuN

@AlexCatMasterSupreme, hi dude, thanks for the answer, can you tell me more about that? What do you mean by supported, what wasn`t supported back then? And what is supported now? Thanks again.
Should i use @Millenia technique from his tutorial?

AlexCatMasterSupreme

Well there wasn't any way to really do easy floaters with geo at the time, and I had other issues with having a detail normal map as well, all of which is supported now in Unreal! I have not seen his tutorial but I'm sure it's great. Most studios use different techniques, I'd try them all and weigh the pros and cons.

LaurentiuN

Ok, thanks Alex, i will try them, here is his tutorial if you want to watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66IGMnPgEW0
Thanks again.

Noors

I don't get how you are having this working.
In unity transparent materials can't get realtime shadows. Doesnt seem you're using cutout/mask right ?

LaurentiuN

@Noors
Hey man, you should ask Millenia, he made the tutorial, not me, i`m still learning about this technique.

Tzur_H

if you are going to render in ue4 and need to overwrite metallic buffer and use POM you can only use decals technique with realtime lighting setup. if you want to have baked lighting setup, you have to use a 2nd UV channel approach and some shader fiddling.

I'm pretty sure, if you are using Unity or CryEngine (and probably Lumberyard ?) you can take full advantage of decals technique.

hope this helps you make the decision.

btw, Alex's tutorial is awesome, highly recommended :]