Substance Designer - hexagon concrete wall feedback

Max_Kutsenko

Hi guys,

My first post here, looks like a great community. I am learning Substance Designer and recently made this Hexagon shaped concrete wall. I would like to hear your feedback, criticisms and opinions. I tried to match the reference closely, however I increased the leaking dirt on purpose to give it more interest. Which image do you like better, 1st or 2nd?

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

NinjaSocks

looks cool! I think the grungy weathering alpha you used needs better falloff for a more gradual fade like the one in your reference. the reference also shows this effect very subtly on the horizontal seams. for extra realism i would add some irregularity to it like the hole on the bottom or the paint drips on the left. Look forward to your next update

Ashervisalis

Nice! Here's some crit;

1) The corners of the hexagons all touch in your reference, but in your material, they're separated. You probably want to reduce the size of the bevel.

2) I'd reduce the height of the bricks.

3) Your material needs more colour variation, unless they're meant to be new. Notice on your reference the streak of white (bird poo? paint?), that black grungy part at the bottom, or the slight variation in grunge colour throughout the entire reference. I try to add at least 5 or 6 uniform colours to each material. If you do this, the colour can be set up to be controlled in the next program, whether that's substance painter or UE4. I also think your main colour is a bit too dark.

4) The pock marks in the reference are more shallow and smaller in some areas, or deeper and larger in others. You can do this using a grunge map attached to a histogram scan (to control the intensity of the mask), then inserted into the mask insert of the blend node which is adding the pocks.

5) Notice a few of the edges on the bricks are missing tiny chunks? You can do that to your material by adding a slope blur grey scale, changing the settings to MIN, cranking up the quality to max, and then bringing down the intensity, and then plugging in a blurred cloud or something into the bottom part of the node.

6) The grunge at the top of your material does not match the grunge at the top of the reference. The reference grunge is basically the same roughness level as the rest of the brick, more blended in, and does not have the defined edges of your grunge.

Keep at it, Designer is super fun to use and gets more and more interesting as you go along.

Max_Kutsenko

Hi, NinjaSocks 

Thanks for the feedback. I have changed the grunge on top adding a gradient node so it fades as it goes down, also added subtle grunge on on the horizontal seams. Introduced green paint drips. What do you think? Still struggling to add a believable hole in the concrete(at the bottom). Slope blur just does the chipping effect however does not go deep into the concrete to create a hole, will be experimenting with other nodes. Any advise on how to create this type of hole? Here is the updated version.

Max_Kutsenko

Ashervisalis 

Really appreciate your detailed critique. Please see my update pic above. I made some changes based on your and other member suggestions.

1) Slightly increased the size of hexagons.
2) Reduced the height 
3) Added color variation, added subtle grunge on the edges, more color variety on hexagons, added whites, grays, a bit of light brown, green dripping paint, white paint, lightened the base color of the whole structure.
4) Added variety to pock marks, still not entirely happy though, need more
5) Introduced edge chipping on some hex, still struggling though to create a believable hole that can be seen at the bottom of the ref pic, working on it
6) changed the grunge on top adding a gradient node so it fades as it goes down, the same roughness now

Let me know what you think, thanks.

Ashervisalis

It looks much better now!!

Max_Kutsenko

Ashervisalis

Thanks for the guidance, man.