[WIP] Feedback on my first modular wall prototype (ProBuilder) + anime-style ground texture attempt

RivalVerse

                                                                                      Всем привет!

Я новичок в этом деле и впервые пытаюсь создать модульные наружные стены с помощью ProBuilder в Unity; стена всё ещё находится в разработке. Это для личного проекта, над которым я сейчас работаю (школьное здание). Буду рад получить честные отзывы о геометрии и общем внешнем виде.

Контекст текстуры: Я не художник по текстурам (совсем не умею рисовать). Для земли я взял базовую PBR-текстуру с AmbientCG, а затем попытался преобразовать её в стилизованный аниме/цел-шейдинговый вид, используя только Photoshop.

Я знаю, что Blender можно использовать для создания/запекания текстур, но мне бы очень хотелось увидеть подробную документацию или пошаговое руководство о том, как добиться подобного стилизованного вида неразрушающим методом. Если у кого-нибудь есть ссылки на хорошие руководства (даже если они длинные), пожалуйста, поделитесь!

Меня особенно интересует:

- Отзывы и предложения по улучшению

-Руководства и/или документация

Ссылка на изображение: https://imgur.com/a/BnOmq3F

Eric Chadwick

Welcome to Polycount!

Did you know you can embed images directly here on the forum? You can use the URLs from Imgur, or you can just drag-and-drop them directly into the post editor.

It's generally better to embed images, than to ask people to open a link to see things. Less steps for people, and if you remove friction you tend to get more replies.

That said, this is good start. The meshes look like they're a bit distorted around the window openings, you might want to revisit those holes to make them more regular and window-like.

For the texturing, a common strategy with modular pieces is to use something called "trim sheets", more about that here:
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Modular_environments

RivalVerse

Eric Chadwick said:

Welcome to Polycount!

Did you know you can embed images directly here on the forum? You can use the URLs from Imgur, or you can just drag-and-drop them directly into the post editor.

It's generally better to embed images, than to ask people to open a link to see things. Less steps for people, and if you remove friction you tend to get more replies.

That said, this is good start. The meshes look like they're a bit distorted around the window openings, you might want to revisit those holes to make them more regular and window-like.

For the texturing, a common strategy with modular pieces is to use something called "trim sheets", more about that here:
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Modular_environments

Thank you for your feedback.

Yes, I know it’s possible to embed images directly into the forum, but they turned out too long (Full HD), and I was afraid to resize them because they would become too “pixelated” and “blurry,” which led to other users missing important details. I’ve always used imgur.com, it’s very convenient for me, but I’ll try embedding images directly into the forum once I figure out how to resize them without losing quality. 

Eric Chadwick

XnView is super useful for me. You can set up and save Batch Convert setups, to automatically downsize things, and optionally add a bit of sharpening (a little is much better than a lot!).

Also, for the stage that you're at, the image quality is not really a hinderance at all. You just want people to be able to see your stuff and provide feedback, so it's not super important, it's throwaway work, nothing worth worrying about minute details IMHO.

The biggest issue, besides resolution (under 1280 wide is perfect for WIPs), is to use JPG instead of PNG. More about that here: https://polycount.com/discussion/63361/information-about-polycount-new-member-introductions/p1#make-your-artwork-easy-to-view

RivalVerse

Eric Chadwick said:

XnView is super useful for me. You can set up and save Batch Convert setups, to automatically downsize things, and optionally add a bit of sharpening (a little is much better than a lot!).

Also, for the stage that you're at, the image quality is not really a hinderance at all. You just want people to be able to see your stuff and provide feedback, so it's not super important, it's throwaway work, nothing worth worrying about minute details IMHO.

The biggest issue, besides resolution (under 1280 wide is perfect for WIPs), is to use JPG instead of PNG. More about that here: https://polycount.com/discussion/63361/information-about-polycount-new-member-introductions/p1#make-your-artwork-easy-to-view

Eric, thanks for recommending XnView MP!

Also, following your advice, I’m uploading screenshots directly to the forum instead of using external hosting services. Here are the same images that were previously on Imgur, now embedded:

Eric Chadwick

Compare the corners of the window, circled in red, and compare the corners circled in blue. These are not symmetrical. Maybe this is what was intended, but most architecture is strictly symmetrical. Accuracy in the blockout stage is important.

Eric Chadwick

As for stylized textures, you could search around on the forum here, lots of resources on how to paint textures, for example
https://polycount.com/discussion/117119/a-pack-of-textures-painted-using-hand

A fairly common strategy (and quite successful) is to use Substance 3D Designer to craft a height map, then alter that to create PBR textures (PBR being a set of textures that control the PBR material inputs for color, roughness, metallic, normal, occlusion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAwTNnxlvRM

RivalVerse

Eric Chadwick said:

Compare the corners of the window, circled in red, and compare the corners circled in blue. These are not symmetrical. Maybe this is what was intended, but most architecture is strictly symmetrical. Accuracy in the blockout stage is important.

I completely redesigned the window opening model from scratch, so now it doesn't look as distorted as the first prototype, which I'll post below for comparison.

When it comes to creating stylized textures, I chose to make them in Material Maker rather than Blender. As a beginner, Blender feels a bit too complicated for getting quick results at least for me. I do have both installed, but for now I'm focusing on Material Maker.

RivalVerse

Update!

 -Added an exterior door wall.

-Added a walkway.

-Replaced the window opening model with a new one.

I also had a question about the back faces of wall models. In the case of the school’s outer perimeter wall, I deliberately removed the back faces to save on polygon count, since no one will ever see that side, it serves as the scene boundary.

However, this made me think about interior walls or walls that the player can walk around. If I need the wall to be visible from both sides (or have a different texture on the inside, such as wallpaper compared to brick on the outside), what is the standard approach for such modular elements?

The first idea that came to mind was to copy the mesh, rotate it 180 degrees, and place it back-to-back with the original. This would allow me to assign a different material to the inner side. I assume this works well for a few walls, but wouldn’t it become a performance issue if I did this for every wall in a school hallway? I’m wondering if there’s a more optimized method that I’m missing? Thanks for any advice!

Benjammin

I would just have a double sided wall with a different material assigned. If you ever wanted to have sunlight through the windows from outside, single sided meshes won't cast shadows correctly, and a modern GPU won't even notice the difference in poly count.