Texturing theory problem that is kicking my butt
polycounter lvl 13
Right now I'm doing several assets for a semi-futuristic office environment. Computers, keyboards, data erasers, office chairs, desk lamps, cubicle walls, that kind of thing.
All the hard surface texturing I've done previously (and about 95% of the hard surface texturing tutorials I've found online) focus on depicting surfaces by defining them with A) wear and
grime or soiling. Stains, scrapes, scuffs, chips, upper surface fading, basically being beat up and left out.
...but how do you depict an object that has been well-treated and well-maintained? Like an office copier that isn't 20 years old. It's not covered in grime or stains, things haven't been banging into it regularly, it's not exceptionally faded... It's so crisp and sterile it almost looks like a caricature.
These are supposed to be objects for an Unreal-engine portfolio piece and I want to be able to show off the textures, so I'm mostly sitting here struggling with how to paint these to look 'clean' and not have the textures look 'lazy'. When I did aircraft for the flight sims I worked on, we could pile on all kinds of wear and tear, but these have me stumped, especially since they'll be seen much more up close and the scale of detail is much finer.
Help me poly-count Kenobi...
All the hard surface texturing I've done previously (and about 95% of the hard surface texturing tutorials I've found online) focus on depicting surfaces by defining them with A) wear and
grime or soiling. Stains, scrapes, scuffs, chips, upper surface fading, basically being beat up and left out....but how do you depict an object that has been well-treated and well-maintained? Like an office copier that isn't 20 years old. It's not covered in grime or stains, things haven't been banging into it regularly, it's not exceptionally faded... It's so crisp and sterile it almost looks like a caricature.
These are supposed to be objects for an Unreal-engine portfolio piece and I want to be able to show off the textures, so I'm mostly sitting here struggling with how to paint these to look 'clean' and not have the textures look 'lazy'. When I did aircraft for the flight sims I worked on, we could pile on all kinds of wear and tear, but these have me stumped, especially since they'll be seen much more up close and the scale of detail is much finer.
Help me poly-count Kenobi...
Replies
Truth is though, even when something is 'looked-after', some grime and dirt will build up a little, even if it is barely noticeable. Just be subtle with your grime, and make sure you AO and Spec are spot on otherwise you'll just end up with flat looking rubbish.
For inspiration, check out Mirrors Edge, everything is super clean there and looks incredible, also Mass Effect features predominantly clean 'unworn' texture work which again looks awesome. Also, coincidentally both feature 'semi-futuristic office environments' and Mirrors Edge was also made using the Unreal Engine.
Mirrors Edge:
Mass Effect:
Hope that helps a bit.
The materials moght have a smear on them, despite being shiny, perhaps someone spilled something. so darker in the spec map there. Or even if not that far, they'll be less shiny than the out of the box stuff. Perhaps someone put a large delivery in the corner, the office plant needs watering and is dying, there's some sticky nots with numbers and notes near the monitor. There's an umbrella hanging off a cubilce wall, the janitor didn't vacuum under the desks, and wiped near but not under the computer stuff. There are work regulations and policies posted in the hallway (visible from the offives), A paper airplain is near the trash can, something is sticking out of a drtawer...
That's enough for me, now I kinda feel like doign an office.
You'll probably spend more time designing and modeling style into the pieces rather than trying to pack on "detail" like your normally would with dirt. You could probably pull inspiration from futuristic cars and airplanes.
But if you're set on making "detail" the same way you would on the dumpster then I guess you can go with:
- Stickers like company logos, warnings, instructions, hand made instruction sheets.
- Finger smudges around toner cartridges.
- Useless futuristic paneling and vents, you can adjust the spec to high light edges of things that the normal map bumps.
I'm already focusing heavily on lighting (these are going to be almost film-noir type environments with lots of sharp cast shadows and small pools of soft light to highlight interesting areas), and I had a hunch that spec was going to be important.
I'm getting the feeling the key to this is going to be hiding in the U3 shader tool, and not necessarily in my texture plates... Good rim highlights to give the impression of injection-moulded plastic and machined edges.
The one really noticeable thing I'm seeing in the Mirror's Edge shot is the raytraced local reflections (around the base of the stairs and under the tables). That was added specifically for Mirror's edge and isn't something you can usually add from the U3 shader, isn't it?
Vig: I'll post some screens of the untextured assets I have so far in a second.
The environment is supposed to be a cubicle farm for a sort of ominous supercorporation that makes clones. So they staff their offices with clones and little thought is given to aesthetics, or creature comforts, or worker morale, or that kind of thing. The office furnishings are semi-futuristic (it's a paperless office), but since they didn't want to spend extra money to design and manufacture their own office equipment, they just bought the most simplistic and basic supplies off-the-shelf. I'm going to include things like department signs, evacuation routes and 'loyalty reminders' around the area, but there aren't any personal touches (family photos or doodads on desks) because the clones aren't granted any individuality.
Most of the designs I've built make use of large angular flat faces with some small asymmetrical corner bevels. I wanted to make the objects look simple to manufacture and sort of 'soul-less', but also catch light and shadow very dramatically.
just super subtle stuff for a clean surface. Everything has dust, everything has smudges or streaks left by cleaners -- they'll just be tucked away in harder to take care of areas, and very subtle (get too obvious and someone will clean it!)
Also, pay very close attention to surface material. My monitor has two visually different types of plastic. The change is subtle, but it's more than just color, and catching on to things like that will give interest and depth to your textures.
Also keep in mind that just because its in the future doesn't mean everything was made that day. My keyboard is 3 years old and believe it or not some of the letters are starting to fade (shocking I know, with what little typing I do...) Like Sup pointed out you can gently use things a little, sometimes not much more than some junk in the spec.
Everything has a small amount of wear as was previously mentioned, but it takes a different form than your usual scrapes etc. It's more subtle and leans heavily on creating a convincing spec map rather than a strong diffuse.
Dust, dirt, and pollen creep into little corners and like to sit there. It usually never gets cleaned out. Have a look into the bevels of this gamegear and you'll see what I mean. This is something I like doing on textures quite a bit.
http://www.peteglover.com/junkstore/gamegear.jpg
More discoloration and tones. From prolonged sun exposure, people rubbing their sweaty palms whatever. It gives a nice subtle effect. A prime example being old electronics and laptops that have been used for day to day purposes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/cohenic/discoloration.jpg
http://images.appleinsider.com/macbook-discoloration1.jpg
Tiny dents and nicks, and little white specks (like pollen) can help too. Just don't overdo them.
http://www.kdomus.com/petek/cobra/mods/Spats/PICT0016.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1725586/grungeexample1.jpg
As for the specular, I'd suggest putting a lot more unique detail in it, since a lot of this grunge won't show up in real life until there's a light shined on the area. Take great care when making a spec map for clean-ish objects as you certainly don't want to overdo anything.
Here's some good examples of details that only show when a light is shined on the surface:
http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2009/june/nespod_2.jpg
http://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww164/JustDanD/Guns/Colt_and_Sig/Colt_Mustang_profile2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1725586/thermold.jpg
good example of a nice subtle spec map (by ben garnell)
http://www.b-cog.net/images/Door/Main.jpg
I hope this helps to give you some ideas when making clean textures. A lot of artists just cover things with grunge and it's not at all necessary or realistic.
Plants. Water Fountains. Electricity outlets. Posters on the wall.
James Cameron is a MASTER of creating detail, and forcing it on the audience.
When he has a can of soda, it's not just a can of Soda. It's a can of Diet Pepsi. He'll make sure you see the barcode on the side along with the nutritional information, and a couple of dents it made when it came out of the vending machine.
Right off the bat, with the desktop, I think it's missing a family photo, and a calendar.
The chair should have a brand name on it, with that warning sticker, with adjustable height contraption thingy, and some additional details that makes it look like it can spin and rock.
If you're looking for a more futuristic feel, think of those elegant holographic image thingies that float in the air (like Minority Report).
The danger you're running into right now, is that it's looking SO simple, it's almost looking like you're not showing you have a lot of skill or eye for details.
The other issue I'm finding is that there doesn't seem to be a lot of elegance in many of your industrial designs.
When things are invented, they look merely functional (steampunk), but when things become more refined, the focus becomes less about the functionality, and more about how to make it more minimalistic, and elegant.
Think of the difference between the Henry Ford cars:
And what futuristic car concepts are looking like:
(This is a real BMW concept car)
Think of a steampunk style steam clocks:
Compared to a more futuristic looking digital gucci watch:
Something to think of with all the designs of the appliances, like your desk windows and chairs etc.
BTW I think you could also create a more minimalistic feel if you went with more mirrors and glass, and various other interior decorating devices that are used to create the illusion of space.
I highly suggest you start looking for references. References you want for lighting, design, materials, textures.
EDIT: The more I think about it, the more I think I can add a holo-calendar somewhere in there without it looking too humanized. Even automata have to make schedules.
If it helps clarify the underlying themes for this, this environment and the motivations behind it are meant to be partially allegorical to Dante's Inferno.
I really like your ideas of mirrors and glass, however. That wasn't something I'd originally thought to incorporate, but I'm definitely going to work that in somehow.
That angular console in the center is actually a holo-projector that functions as the story's equivalent of a computer monitor. Definitely had Minority Report in mind when I sketched it out - and also Deus Ex, where a lot of my inspiration for this is coming from.
and the walls are usually somewhat subtile dirty where people are
so maing dirty spots, emty bottles of water and coffee cups ( http://images.pixelio.de/data/media/15/2004_06_106kb.jpg these fellas are to find very often, but only after tuesday or something)
and future means not only fancy crap
for eg wired telephones havent hardly changed in the last 20 years (optically)
to sum up, people are dirty, so around the seats of people there is somewhat wear and thear, but where noone works around there is no dirt at all
and the paths from exit to seats is usually somewhat dirty too
i think im talking crap again