Trying to figure out how this large asset was textured...

jordank95

The crashed helicopter here:

https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/020/168/423/large/josh-wilkinson-wilkinson-mudtooth-ext.jpg?1566667166

Trying to figure out how this was textured. It has so many unique details and doesn't look like a trim sheet. Im assuming its a 0-1 unique normal from a high poly bake. Then 0-1 masks created in Painter for the rust/dirt and a tiling texture for the overall material? Then decal for the text on the door?

Does this look like that could be correct? Any other workflows for something like this?

Obscura

Probably something like that. But it doesn't have so much unique detail it could even be trim tex for base and masks/decala on top. It is not a good practice in any scenario to texture such a large object as unique. The pixelation from close would be very visible.

jordank95

Obscura said:

 It is not a good practice in any scenario to texture such a large object as unique. The pixelation from close would be very visible.

Right, but wouldn't adding a detail normal map on top of that solve that issue?

Obscura

It would not solve the pixelation of the color and other textures. Also, detail normal isn't just a magical solution to low res. Imagine a polished wooden plank floor texture for example. The normal of the planks would be flat because of the polish. When viewing the material from close, the color and other details would appear pixelated. Lines in the normal would also appear pixelated.  Adding a detail normal map would only make it look stupid because this material simply don't have such a property as having a high frequency detail on the surface. Using detail normal maps where needed can indeed help, but its not a solution for every case. It can also appear repeating because of the high tiling relative to the object size.

jordank95

Obscura said:

It would not solve the pixelation of the color and other textures. Also, detail normal isn't just a magical solution to low res. Imagine a polished wooden plank floor texture for example. The normal of the planks would be flat because of the polish. When viewing the material from close, the color and other details would appear pixelated. Lines in the normal would also appear pixelated.  Adding a detail normal map would only make it look stupid because this material simply don't have such a property as having a high frequency detail on the surface. Using detail normal maps where needed can indeed help, but its not a solution for every case. It can also appear repeating because of the high tiling relative to the object size.

ah, makes sense. Though one more question i do have is, why would people use a detail normal on something like a giant cliff rock if theyre just using a tiling texture to begin with that is already at the correct texel density? Ive seen this done before, and now I question why

Benjammin

Probably because adding the detail texture made the rocks look better Most workflow questions are "short answer yes with an 'if', long answer no with a 'but'" questions. A large part of an artist's job is problem-solving - you have a box of tools, and a goal. 

Eric Chadwick

Hardsurface models tend not to respond well to detail textures, the pattern is too repetitive, too uniform.

Natural surfaces seem to work better for this.

Try it out and see! Experience is often the best teacher. Relying on others seems like a good way to avoid seemingly dead ends, but you miss out on all the "extras" you learn during the process. And you miss avenues that can be promising.

Besides, forum replies tend to be framed as expert opinions. But are they really experts? Most are not!