(although not too many - I initially only had one tile because I wanted the stones to be big)
I'm not sure how amount of tiles can affect size of the stones. Its all about finding proper scale for UV chunks. Scaling them down will make stones look larger, and you still have other benefits. The only issue here is texel density. If you scale down UV chunks too much, texture will appear as lowres compared to nearby parts. But you can solve it by making texture larger. If 1 tile = 128*128 then for 4 tiles make it 256*256 and so on.
i think the "bathroom tile" effect is coming from how sharp your corners are, and that every tile is pefectly square, i'd try to crack some of them in half, and bring more variation to where the corners intersect.
Realllll shitty paint over, but you get the idea:)
another thing to take from haiasi's reference is the placement of large/mid range stress cracks- currently your rocks look like a swordsman came along and slashed at the stones edges leaving lots of sharp almost uniform gashes on the edges. Instead I would think about areas of stress and deterioration which tend to be caused by weight and ground settlement. the rendering seems nice enough though.
This thread is helping me a bunch as i am starting to really get into hand painted textures.
I just wanted to say thanks and tell you how awesome it is to see you improving!
Now that I look at it, I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna align correctly on the platform mesh, since the stones no longer make straight lines. I think what I'm gonna have to do is cut straight lines everywhere, but I'll do that laterr haha . . . and then I can keep this texture here for something else, like interior flooring. Why do I notice these things at the very end?? -__-
I'm currently working on the roof tileable. Critique and comments welcome!
Painted real well the large, darker stone value could be closer to the rest of the stones. It sticks out a lot. Otherwise this is great. Really nice job.
Now that I look at it, I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna align correctly on the platform mesh, since the stones no longer make straight lines. I think what I'm gonna have to do is cut straight lines everywhere, but I'll do that laterr
here is little trick you could use. I think its pretty self-expanatory, but feel free to ask
nice! linkov nailed it, this is how tiling textures are used.
depending on your mesh, often you'll only need things to tile left and right. the full 360 tiling is mainly used for ground textures and basic walls, things that cover large areas. looking at your model, i don't really see the need for that kind.
for the texture, i'd love to see some color in there. keep it subtle, but some color in the light/shadow would help.
also, watch the edges. you have an awful lot of splits/cuts on the edges. almost more like wood than stone. stone doesn't really do that, unless someone has been running around swinging a very strong axe at every paver.
You can also build your mesh around it to a degree. The base doesn't have to be exactly square does it?
Try making a plane, put the tex on it, then use the shape tool to trace around the stones for a non-square shape. Then extrude it for thickness, touch up UV's.
Also, another question: when texturing in this tiling method, should all the uv shells on the model still be pretty normalized to each other?
Yes. One of the most jarring things you can do is have two objects sitting next to each other at different texel densities. Try to keep the texel density as close to each other as possible.
Great work so far and great improvement on that ground texture.
Just wanted to say that the explanations on how to use tileable textures in here is immensely helpful. I always had trouble understanding how to utilize them on things other than floors, walls, etc. Thanks a lot!
Jessica, I'm really enjoying watching you progress. Your hand painted textures look amazing so far. Really eager to see the finished product.
One very minor critique, like Sectaurs said, the wear at the edge of the stones looks like the sort of splits that a bladed edge would make. And stone doesn't really give like that, it would chip instead. And erode with time. Like this: ( apologies if the text hurts your eyes I was in a hurry >.> )
Wow, thanks so much for the comments and help guys. linkov, that picture is worth a thousand words - I totally see what you mean! xD
Sectaurs, I will definitely add some subtle color in there, although I am intentionally keeping the overall palette of this particular texture pretty desaturated because I want to make the cobblestone tileable much more colorful in comparison.
Baddcog, I will play around with my mesh later to see how I can match it up with the texture better. I like your idea about tracing a plane for it!
Quack - thanks for explaining about texel densities. I thought everything should be pretty normalized haha.
And thanks Sybrix! Looks like I still need to take it easy on the slashes and go for chipping and erosion instead. I will post a revised stone texture when I post the roof texture - probably some time tomorrow.
Hey Simon! Thanks! I'm still alive guys xD The semester started, so I have to kick my butt into gear for the bigger picture now. I'm starting into my environment (first environment! nervous..), although I will be sticking the well in there, so it'll get done eventually too. Here's an update on the stone texture for the well base. Took out a bunch of the cracks, and put some blue in the shadows and peachy warm in the light. I like it much better now, so thank you for all the crits :
Here's a brief of my environment. It's going to be made in 3Ds Max and UDK. I want it to have a pretty fun feel. Mostly it's going to be an organic place, with an emphasis on the foliage and landscape as opposed to manmade structures. There will only be a handful of the structures (for example, the well, and maybe some inn or something I haven't quite thought of yet), and they will be kindof integrated into nature, like kinda covered by grasses and vines, etc. (I guess I'd do that with floating alphas since the structures are using tileables too?) My inspiration is spring in the Tuscan countryside, so there will be rolling hills and a lot of green, and I have picked a couple of the dominant trees and plants to elaborate on. I have collected a lot of reference! Below is my sketch, as well as my study sheets and a color key:
Currently I am sculpting my terrain, as well as working on the tileables for it. I plan on creating 7 terrain textures:
sand
grass
lake pebbles (I'm gonna attempt a small body of water, heh)
smooth rock (for the cliff faces)
cracked rock (for crevice areas and general variation)
transitionary texture between sand and grass
transitionary texture between sand and lake pebbles
So far I have four of those textures below. Critique and comments appreciated!
Thank you guys! Here are the lake pebbles. Revised cracked stone texture and transitionary tileables will be posted soon. Critique and comments welcome:
Haha thanks EVIL, xXm0RpH3usXx - that's a real compliment! xD I really love that game, maybe when I'm all done with this project I'll figure out how to make a texture pack from them hehe. Thanks gilesruscoe, takes a looooong time to put all the variation in there haha. Keep working Kyuzo! I always make a lot of bad drawings and paintings first before I ever come up with something ok.
SimonT, here's a little about my workflow. The process was recreated just kinda quick and dirty, so pay more attention to the words than the pictures ahaha:
Really nice work with pebbles :thumbup: My only concern is this outline you have around each stone. Kinda makes it look flat. Try varying its thickness, maybe small pebbles on top should have thinner outline, than ones that hiding underneath larger stones. Something like that.
Thank you for pointing that out SgtNasty - it's good to know what I'm modeling hahaha xD I shoudn't always trust google I guess . . . >_>
Thanks linkov! I was kindof uneasy about the outline too, so I will try softening it in some areas and varying thickness and whatnot. And all the stones actually ARE flat, just laid out next to each other, so I should work on developing another layer or so of stones.
No idea how I missed this for a few pages. Great progress Jessica. Super inspiring and motivating to watch.
Your grass texture could use a lot of refinement. Define blades of grass and add shading (depth) to the texture.
Your pebbles texture is leagues better than all the ones in the post with the grass texture. It'd be great to see the refinement you have on the pebbles with those ones.
Thank you for the crits jeffro. I will revisit the other tileables and bring them up to par! I did work the longest on the pebbles so far, and I agree I need to revisit the grass especially haha. If you look really closely you can still see the effects of the clone-brush
Nice progress, Jessica. Your textures look nice but it would be cool to see how they look on objects. You should create a small scene(if you haven't already) just to see how well they work.
Epic learning thread, this. Might as well bookmark now..
I really like the way you think about the palette and the volume of your sketches/thumbs. Just don't get too caught up in making your 3d assets low poly and be confident in your own style. Your first well concept were far better than the reworked one in that respect. People will tell you when you have thrown in too much, and help you optimize it. But that is just the technical stuff, don't let that get in the way of the style - just translate it.
Replies
I'm not sure how amount of tiles can affect size of the stones. Its all about finding proper scale for UV chunks. Scaling them down will make stones look larger, and you still have other benefits. The only issue here is texel density. If you scale down UV chunks too much, texture will appear as lowres compared to nearby parts. But you can solve it by making texture larger. If 1 tile = 128*128 then for 4 tiles make it 256*256 and so on.
Realllll shitty paint over, but you get the idea:)
Wow, that makes so much sense, I didn't think of that! Ok, now I can tile without worries xD
If you look at my attachment, you can see each of the bricks has a unique shape, if even by a little bit.
Lol Dan! xD Ok I will go lightly on the sword slashes and think more about dips and wear now. Update coming soon.
I just wanted to say thanks and tell you how awesome it is to see you improving!
Keep up the good work!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here it is, shown tiling:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now that I look at it, I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna align correctly on the platform mesh, since the stones no longer make straight lines. I think what I'm gonna have to do is cut straight lines everywhere, but I'll do that laterr haha . . . and then I can keep this texture here for something else, like interior flooring. Why do I notice these things at the very end?? -__-
I'm currently working on the roof tileable. Critique and comments welcome!
here is little trick you could use. I think its pretty self-expanatory, but feel free to ask
depending on your mesh, often you'll only need things to tile left and right. the full 360 tiling is mainly used for ground textures and basic walls, things that cover large areas. looking at your model, i don't really see the need for that kind.
for the texture, i'd love to see some color in there. keep it subtle, but some color in the light/shadow would help.
also, watch the edges. you have an awful lot of splits/cuts on the edges. almost more like wood than stone. stone doesn't really do that, unless someone has been running around swinging a very strong axe at every paver.
You can also build your mesh around it to a degree. The base doesn't have to be exactly square does it?
Try making a plane, put the tex on it, then use the shape tool to trace around the stones for a non-square shape. Then extrude it for thickness, touch up UV's.
Yes. One of the most jarring things you can do is have two objects sitting next to each other at different texel densities. Try to keep the texel density as close to each other as possible.
Great work so far and great improvement on that ground texture.
Jessica, I'm really enjoying watching you progress. Your hand painted textures look amazing so far. Really eager to see the finished product.
One very minor critique, like Sectaurs said, the wear at the edge of the stones looks like the sort of splits that a bladed edge would make. And stone doesn't really give like that, it would chip instead. And erode with time. Like this: ( apologies if the text hurts your eyes I was in a hurry >.> )
Sectaurs, I will definitely add some subtle color in there, although I am intentionally keeping the overall palette of this particular texture pretty desaturated because I want to make the cobblestone tileable much more colorful in comparison.
Baddcog, I will play around with my mesh later to see how I can match it up with the texture better. I like your idea about tracing a plane for it!
Quack - thanks for explaining about texel densities. I thought everything should be pretty normalized haha.
And thanks Sybrix! Looks like I still need to take it easy on the slashes and go for chipping and erosion instead. I will post a revised stone texture when I post the roof texture - probably some time tomorrow.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here's a brief of my environment. It's going to be made in 3Ds Max and UDK. I want it to have a pretty fun feel. Mostly it's going to be an organic place, with an emphasis on the foliage and landscape as opposed to manmade structures. There will only be a handful of the structures (for example, the well, and maybe some inn or something I haven't quite thought of yet), and they will be kindof integrated into nature, like kinda covered by grasses and vines, etc. (I guess I'd do that with floating alphas since the structures are using tileables too?) My inspiration is spring in the Tuscan countryside, so there will be rolling hills and a lot of green, and I have picked a couple of the dominant trees and plants to elaborate on. I have collected a lot of reference! Below is my sketch, as well as my study sheets and a color key:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Currently I am sculpting my terrain, as well as working on the tileables for it. I plan on creating 7 terrain textures:
sand
grass
lake pebbles (I'm gonna attempt a small body of water, heh)
smooth rock (for the cliff faces)
cracked rock (for crevice areas and general variation)
transitionary texture between sand and grass
transitionary texture between sand and lake pebbles
So far I have four of those textures below. Critique and comments appreciated!
Smooth Rock
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Cracked Rock
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Grass
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Sand
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Fast paintover
edit: Forgot to mention that I love that environment concept
really love the start of those!
And merecraft nailed what them rocks need
Your textures are really coming together.
Can't wait to see how this turns out.
Thanks for all the posts regarding proper use of tiling textures in UV space!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Thanks!
Jessica
would use those instantly!
SimonT, here's a little about my workflow. The process was recreated just kinda quick and dirty, so pay more attention to the words than the pictures ahaha:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Btw, I reallly looove your environment work, makes me want to make something high-poly again haha.
Hope it helps, and now, off to class!
Jessica
In your wheat study image, the plant in the top left image, and your drawing beside it, is canola, not wheat.
Cool work though, and nice little tutorial. I look forward to more updates.
Thanks linkov! I was kindof uneasy about the outline too, so I will try softening it in some areas and varying thickness and whatnot. And all the stones actually ARE flat, just laid out next to each other, so I should work on developing another layer or so of stones.
Your grass texture could use a lot of refinement. Define blades of grass and add shading (depth) to the texture.
Your pebbles texture is leagues better than all the ones in the post with the grass texture. It'd be great to see the refinement you have on the pebbles with those ones.
I really like the way you think about the palette and the volume of your sketches/thumbs. Just don't get too caught up in making your 3d assets low poly and be confident in your own style. Your first well concept were far better than the reworked one in that respect. People will tell you when you have thrown in too much, and help you optimize it. But that is just the technical stuff, don't let that get in the way of the style - just translate it.
Keep on truckin'