Workflow for a large, detailed building (Normal maps/materials question)
polycounter lvl 4
Hi
I am trying to wrap my head around the best way to get a game ready bespoke building asset. I am creating a large church with lots of detail that I have sculpted in Zbrush, and taken large chunks (Walls, front, columns, window panes) as individual assets with their own UVs. I did this to be able to get the high poly detail of each sculpted section in relatively good res.
I've been seeing a lot of portfolios for env artists flaunting ability to make tileable textures, which is great, but can I do this with a large building? If I have a building wall fitted into 01 UV space for the normal map, the tileable texture will be far too big (like 4 bricks would make up the entire wall)
I'm a bit lost on how to proceed.
Is there a way to combine the methods, so I have each area UVd, but the actual material overlaid uses a different set of UVs... or is this too complicated? Or will I have to just make 19 individual UV maps with their own custom atlas'...
Please help, my brain is melting
I am trying to wrap my head around the best way to get a game ready bespoke building asset. I am creating a large church with lots of detail that I have sculpted in Zbrush, and taken large chunks (Walls, front, columns, window panes) as individual assets with their own UVs. I did this to be able to get the high poly detail of each sculpted section in relatively good res.
I've been seeing a lot of portfolios for env artists flaunting ability to make tileable textures, which is great, but can I do this with a large building? If I have a building wall fitted into 01 UV space for the normal map, the tileable texture will be far too big (like 4 bricks would make up the entire wall)
I'm a bit lost on how to proceed.
Is there a way to combine the methods, so I have each area UVd, but the actual material overlaid uses a different set of UVs... or is this too complicated? Or will I have to just make 19 individual UV maps with their own custom atlas'...
Please help, my brain is melting
Replies
I think this video series might help you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APZ2kZ3OF1E
If you want to make something like this.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/rkL5G
I find out I want to tile. I determine what I need to make for the modular kit. It might be a corner, straight section, etc. I block out everything to the unreal scale man since I use unreal to render my environments.
For UVs I decide what I need to tile and make a map. I make sure the orientation of the uv islands are correct in relation to the texture I am tiling. In unreal you can blend two normal maps together. You are going to have to experiment to see what works for you. I like to keep the texel density the same across all my models. So I have a uv checker image and make everything look the same. I also pack together all the small parts together if it seems to make sense.
I'm still learning this stuff so take what I say with a grain of salt.