Texture Styles Exploration

etb342 · Dec 2010

Not really sure if the Pimping and Previews thread is the right place but I'm looking for pointers, critiques, tips or anything else I can gather to help improve my overall workflow (with emphasis on texturing). Just trying to keep it simple so I can focus on visual communication with textures and styles.

Cheers!

First one...the always lovable barrel.

And the two main materials I had made for it. First time attempting the 'hand painted' approach to this sort of thing.

Rurouni Strife · Dec 2010

I'm not terribly good at painted textures. However, the metal rims look sloppy. Not that you didn't take your time, but that's just how the texture reads.

etb342 · Dec 2010

You're right Rouroni, I probably should have spent some more time on the metal. In all actuality, I was a bit lost as to what to do with it to retain the more cartoon stylization. I revisited them and added a little more detail and depth to try to make it work better.

etb342 · Dec 2010

Also...I've tried embedding images in my responses but it appears the Attachment not found.

etb342 · Jan 2011

Well its been awhile since I posted so I figure I'll throw what I've been working on up here to get some critiques and suggestions on these.

tristamus · Jan 2011

Some really nice little props there! Hand painted by you I assume? Well done man. Can't say I'd change too much! If I had to nitpick though, I'd say the bolts on the treasure chest there could benefit from being more pronounced, with a normal map. It doesnt look like you actually have a normal map on it yet, am i wrong? And the ropes there look a little bit 'Squished'. As in, it looks as if the ropes are being pulled down by gravity a bit too much. But even that critique is stretching it. I think the props are well done.

etb342 · Jan 2011

Thanks for the words of encouragement. At this point I haven't been using anything beyond the Diffuse/Color texture map. It seems like many games that utilize the handpainted look and feel tend to not bother with that step in the fabrication process? Please, if anyone knows otherwise feel free to correct me on that. I just noticed that games like Donkey Kong Country Returns (a big influence on this kick) kept everything on the simple cartoony side.

On that note, a new prop for today. Concept to 'completion' was close to 4 hours. Critiques and suggestions for how to improve it are always welcome.

Builder_Anthony · Jan 2011

I am so intrested in handpainted stuff.

I love this style.

The colors are just great, and what fun looking items youve made so far

One thing i might do though is just make the eyes glow on the sword.Not sure if your game engine supports it.

Rurouni Strife · Jan 2011

Nice improvement on some of those props. These props seem to be targeted to a NDS or something like that, but part of it could be your images. One thing to remember when only painting diffuse textures is that the specular needs to be shown and come through in your diffuse map. Some of your work (boxes) it's pretty spot on to me. Your sword though is not. It's super flat, especially the blade.

This is what I think. Again though, I'm not much of a painter right now so what your doing is mad props to you. Still working on learning.

Tili · Jan 2011

Your barrel looks like it is made from one block of wood. It needs to look like its made of multiple boards. I like the rest

Cremuss · Jan 2011

Cool start

I like the sword style :poly142:

Here is a quick little overpaint I just did for the barrels/crates so they look at little less flat to me, maybe it can helps you.

Keep it up

etb342 · Jan 2011

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback. It helps incredibly when some input and suggestions are out there to consider.

Rurouni - I was thinking that but I'm a bit stuck on where to go with the blade to get that volume.

Tili - Haha! I read your comment and said to myself "What on Earth is he talking about?" I just looked at the barrel and you're right! Looks like solid chunks of wood strapped together...GAH.

Cremuss - Thanks for the visual demo. I agree, they look much better there with the bolstered saturation and the tops are significantly more appealing. I'll have to revisit those guys with some of these ideas and see how they turn out.

etb342 · Jan 2011

Busy week but here are some quick updates. Revisited that texture on the barrel to separate the lid from the rest of the object more.

Also started in on a trap design featuring a giant Mayanesque wheel running along primitive tracks.

RAWTalent · Jan 2011

I love the style, is there any chance of a mini tutorial/step by step on how you go about textures the way you do?

etb342 · Feb 2011

RAWTalent: Probably not anytime soon but I will say that there are some great tutorials out there already that can help with the painterly style. It's time consuming but a great exercise to better grasp texturing.

In other news, just a quick update with another prop, though not hand painted this go around. Just felt like trying to throw together a new one on a time crunch (about 4 hours in total for this one too).

Snader · Feb 2011

Though this thread is aimed at textures mostly, don't forget to think about the mesh. That shield is very inefficient with regards to the silhouette - the dome gets far too many polygons.

Texture Styles Exploration

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