Tiling Textures?
polycounter lvl 7
Okay PC'ers,
I've been through the trenches of the forums (PC and ZBC) and I noticed something interesting about the environments seen there: I haven't found anyone saying they use tiling textures.
my question: using a 1/2k map with normals, how large would you consider making a pillar, for example, before single maps are no longer feasible and tiled textures are a better option?
Thanks,
- frustrated artist
I've been through the trenches of the forums (PC and ZBC) and I noticed something interesting about the environments seen there: I haven't found anyone saying they use tiling textures.
my question: using a 1/2k map with normals, how large would you consider making a pillar, for example, before single maps are no longer feasible and tiled textures are a better option?
Thanks,
- frustrated artist
Replies
Nothing but tiling textures here boss :
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86970
A modular pillar mesh in a game engine today would be either created from a tiling texture, or if it's very unique, get a 512 to a 1024. That help?
Use tiling textures where you can, and where it makes sense. Use unique texturing where you need it.
Daaark: That's good advice. I'll have to keep that in mind as this environment progresses.
I guess I was getting confused as to the scale of the textures and how they tile. You really can have tiled textures with a good amount of normal detail. Perhaps I was just tiling my textures too many times. I'm going to do some experimenting.
I am asking couse I want to learn this stuff on how to be more efficient with using textures in environments. If you have any good reading source or tips on this on this I would appricieate this.
@SouthpawSid : Did you assing a multi sub object to your house and used a couple of tiling textures on it ?
Generally, when an object has it's own texture, then the normals will come from the object, baked into a texture. When something like a brick wall, or a grassy field is using normal maps, the normals come from the texture data. (Which makes no difference, a normal map is a normal map...)
I go over using the idea on a crate here:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1223840#post1223840
Sticking to a pixel/unit ratio also helps you maintain a more consistent texel density through out the game and clears up the whole "how big should my map be?" question a lot of people starting out run into. The more you work with it, the easier it gets to guess and gauge the right size.
not only is it way quicker than uniquely unwrapping everything, but it also saves a ton of memory if most of the assets in an area are using a common texture pool. this is pretty essential, especially for console games.
I tend to build the overall environment with tiling textures, then look at it when its pretty much all built out and see what absolutely needs a unique sheet and go from there. usually its not much besides props, that need them. even then in most cases you can use your tiling sheets and trims to make some props. it comes down to time/resource management and being able to look at the environment as a whole rather than a ton of individual little assets.
Mark thanks for that tip. Will try to remember that when choosing texture sizes
Mark: That's a good system for gauging. You are right, the "how big should my map be" question is one I've run into a lot when dealing with this environment.
PixelMasher: We haven't gotten to the actual texturing stage for this environment (it's for school), but the idea of using a set of textures for a majority of the environment to keep the look and feel cohesive is a great idea. I'll have to look into what "vertex blending" as I will need to find ways to break up a portion of the tiling.
http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/UDK_Advanced_Vertex_Painting.html