Texel Density VS Trim Sheet
polycounter lvl 2
Hi. first of all apology, if this have been discuss before, but I have not read any topic where both are discuss at the same time.
These have been bugging me, after understanding the concept of Texel density, I came across a workflow where Trim sheet is used, and it totally ignores everything about TD, UVs being stretch here and there. So is TD not that important? Which is more effective in the current gen development?
Can someone clarify these. Thanks in advance.
These have been bugging me, after understanding the concept of Texel density, I came across a workflow where Trim sheet is used, and it totally ignores everything about TD, UVs being stretch here and there. So is TD not that important? Which is more effective in the current gen development?
Can someone clarify these. Thanks in advance.
Replies
They're not mutually exclusive either, tileables and trim sheets can (and should) still be used at correct texel density.
Generally you'll find unique maps are used on instanced prop objects and Tileables/trims are used on unique / large scale world geometry - largely because that makes the most sense in terms of resources/render performance.
Anyway I'm planning on using trim sheets on my new project, and having consistent TD as much as possible. And the only way I can see these work, is to have 2 UV (1 for scale-all-you-want NM detail, and other for texel-consistent UV)
I just read this a while ago, and helps as well
http://polycount.com/discussion/118678/consistent-texel-density-vs-importance-space-efficiency
http://polycount.com/discussion/192294/texel-density-and-units-in-depth#latest
Consistent texel density is very important in most games, from most angles, most of the time. There are specific instances where it is less important, and rules can bend or even be broken, but one should definitely understand the main concepts of consistent texel density first and foremost.
Specifically to this thread/trims: Trims are often combined with the primary material using a secondary UV set, added as additional detail on top of a regular material which has consistent texel density relative to the rest of the environment. Usually a trim texture has a bevel detail or something like that which is specifically designed to be stretched (this means it doesn't have fine noise-like detail that would make stretching evident), or it might be added at a different texel density than the base layer (wildly differing densities can be very apparent so they should generally be avoided). Texel density may be less a concern specifically for the trim component of the material, but for the base content consistency is nearly always important.
Density variance can sometimes be a useful trick, for instance if you're creating a first person view weapon, you'll generally want more texel density given to the areas closer to the camera, especially elements like sights or scopes if the user can look down them. Areas further away or offscreen can be given less density. For this sort of case it's a very logical matter of how large the pixels will appear in 3D space.
On the other hand, applying varying texel density to things that are arbitrarily deemed "more important" is often a very bad idea. For instance, using a 4K texture for the head of a character and a 1K for the body - there have been some games that have done stuff like this, and it always looks terrible. It's generally better to have consistent density than wild variances that give more detail to whatever the artist is most interested in.
These stuff really are confusing
Uh so I can have a plane with its uv0 with correct TD base metal (tileable) for example covering entire 0-1 space and second uv1 covering may be a small part in 0-1 space based on trim sheet, correct? but what about when its unique asset that you must fit in 0-1 space with different parts and unique painted details?
Earthquake suggested A way to handle this, not THE way. You have to assess lots of factors and make a call as to the best option for your situation.