Home Technical Talk

Best way to texture metal pipes/poles?

Cyph3r
polycounter lvl 9
Offline / Send Message
Cyph3r polycounter lvl 9
Whenever I come around to doint this they always look like total crap, any advice?

Replies

  • renderhjs
    Offline / Send Message
    renderhjs sublime tool
    depends on the package but in max you have 2 options to do it quick and fairly usefull:
    • spline mapping (max 2009+)
    • pelt mapping (max 9+)

    Booth require meta input so usually extra steps like a spline for the spline mapping or a seam marking (not to be mixed with edge selection) are required. With the TexTools project I tried to reduce in booth keys the input of just a single edge for example. Unwrapping those things usually requires just 1 or 2 clicks, after that its relaxing and or lining up the ends.

    But in any case you might look up booth methods, how they work and how they can help you.
  • Cyph3r
    Offline / Send Message
    Cyph3r polycounter lvl 9
    ohhh no no I didn't mean unwrapping, I meant texturing.

    For example I did this:

    ChainlinkFence2.jpg

    my first textured piece in ages and well its looks like crap.

    i need to make it better, starting with the metal poles, ideas?
  • Joshua Stubbles
    Offline / Send Message
    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    Making good metal is all about the specular. You need a good spec map to really sell the surface.
  • Cyph3r
    Offline / Send Message
    Cyph3r polycounter lvl 9
    hints for good specular? whenver i try to do it on polys its always too flat or too overpowering.
  • alexk
    Offline / Send Message
    alexk polycounter lvl 12
  • System
    Offline / Send Message
    System admin
    No offence Cyph3r but that object looks like it has normal and opacity applied, not much else. Don't be afraid to go wild and add really grungy, rusty and dirty textures, you can always tone them down later.

    Tip: Think of both the high and low poly forms you are dealing with and exaggerate them as much as possible, for instance : Try masking in rust around the four collars of the poles and similar areas, paint in highlights and shadows. Add some lowish opacity dirt near where the poles reach the ground. You could follow a similar method on the wire part to keep continuity within the asset but your textures will have to be harsher to be seen in this area.
    Make textures pop in the diffuse, carry this to the specular/glossiness and amplify the effect.
  • Cyph3r
    Offline / Send Message
    Cyph3r polycounter lvl 9
    alexk wrote: »
    here's a simple tutorial for a metal base http://adamfransson.awardspace.com/tutorials.html

    Thanks :D
    GCMP wrote: »
    No offence Cyph3r but that object looks like it has normal and opacity applied, not much else. Don't be afraid to go wild and add really grungy, rusty and dirty textures, you can always tone them down later.

    Tip: Think of both the high and low poly forms you are dealing with and exaggerate them as much as possible, for instance : Try masking in rust around the four collars of the poles and similar areas, paint in highlights and shadows. Add some lowish opacity dirt near where the poles reach the ground. You could follow a similar method on the wire part to keep continuity within the asset but your textures will have to be harsher to be seen in this area.
    Make textures pop in the diffuse, carry this to the specular/glossiness and amplify the effect.


    Haha, remember in my previous post, I did say it looks like crap :P Cheers for those tips man much appreciated, I completely forgot about doing things like that.
  • System
    Offline / Send Message
    System admin
    Cool :) No I wasn't saying it looked crap, infact the bake looks pretty good, it just looked untextured.
Sign In or Register to comment.