Environment Texturing techniques for sculpted meshes and modularity
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I have been researching environment art for games for some time now and I came across trim sheets and modular assets. I am still confused about the workflow.
Ex 1 : https://www.artstation.com/artwork/rR2weE
This guy made the high poly in zbrush first, then textured it in substance. But won't this make a unique material for this particular asset and require a lot of materials for separate meshes. Would you use the texture sheet of this asset to create new models? Or use one material for the bricks and a trim sheet for the rest of the assets, maybe the door in a separate texture.
Ex 2: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/002/588/702/large/brian-recktenwald-br-scotland-06.jpg?1463427119
The rocks here, do they use a few number of materials with unique normal maps/textures for each or just one material?
Ex 3: http://www.kevinjohnstone.com//Images/Gears3/Flood/ConcRail_LOWS1.jpg
http://www.kevinjohnstone.com//Images/Gears3/Flood/G3_Flood_Tower2.jpg
Kevin discussed how he did the textures on these here : https://polycount.com/discussion/90110/gears-of-war-3-environment-art/p4
So is it recommended to make some high poly, bake them into low polys and then use the texture obtained to make other similar assets? And tileable textures for grounds, walls, floors etc.
Ex 1 : https://www.artstation.com/artwork/rR2weE
This guy made the high poly in zbrush first, then textured it in substance. But won't this make a unique material for this particular asset and require a lot of materials for separate meshes. Would you use the texture sheet of this asset to create new models? Or use one material for the bricks and a trim sheet for the rest of the assets, maybe the door in a separate texture.
Ex 2: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/002/588/702/large/brian-recktenwald-br-scotland-06.jpg?1463427119
The rocks here, do they use a few number of materials with unique normal maps/textures for each or just one material?
Ex 3: http://www.kevinjohnstone.com//Images/Gears3/Flood/ConcRail_LOWS1.jpg
http://www.kevinjohnstone.com//Images/Gears3/Flood/G3_Flood_Tower2.jpg
Kevin discussed how he did the textures on these here : https://polycount.com/discussion/90110/gears-of-war-3-environment-art/p4
So is it recommended to make some high poly, bake them into low polys and then use the texture obtained to make other similar assets? And tileable textures for grounds, walls, floors etc.
Replies
EX1: this isn't an asset from a game so it doesn't have the same restrictions as an actual game asset. During development of a game you might have a few environment asset that are uniquely unwrapped - statues are almost always done this way.
EX2: These rocks are probably a tiling texture combined with a bigger texture using a custom shader.
EX3: In environments the more re-use you can do the better. Not everything will need a hipoly but you often get better, and more detailed, results from a hipoly to lowpoly bake.
So the answer is that you might do any of the things above. It depends on what you're making. A natural environment might use more tiling textures and a environment that's all machinery might use more modular textures.