Texel Density & Texture Map Resolutions - Reference Sheet
polycounter lvl 5
Hi everyone. I haven't been around for a long time and I have been refreshing my fundamental knowledge of 3D art. I spent some time this week studying optimal texel densities and texture map resolutions, which led me to come up with this reference sheet:
It's the result of some study notes and a deeper exploration in all the different kinds of combinations of variables, such as; texel density, texture map resolution, display resolution, object distance from camera, the screen space area being used per square meter of object/texture tile, the scale of a seamless object/tile that needs to fit within a single UV tile. All the values used are ideal figures and yours will fall somewhere in between. By referencing this sheet you can find a close enough estimate that will allow you to determine your texel densities and texture map resolutions for your assets.
This sheet can be used as a study guide to help understand texel densities and the relations it has with other variables to optimise your scenes, or it can be useful as a development tool to help determine your texel density goals for your projects. At the least, creating this really helped me come to grips with texel densities and I hope it might be useful to other people as well. Feel free to download, print and reference this sheet wherever you wish.
I hope its not too confusing and that I can further refine this sheet based on the community's feedback.
High quality versions of the reference sheet can be downloaded here: pdf jpg
EDIT:
- Updated the graphic style.
- The fov was measured by creating a physical camera in 3D studio max with a "35mm (Full Frame) sensor" with the 'FOV' parameter set to 55 deg, which correlates to a focal length of 34,556mm (approx. 35mm). These align to what is widely believed to be the closest match to the human visual cone of attention. The camera is then given an aspect ratio of standard 16:9 to determine the screen space areas.
It's the result of some study notes and a deeper exploration in all the different kinds of combinations of variables, such as; texel density, texture map resolution, display resolution, object distance from camera, the screen space area being used per square meter of object/texture tile, the scale of a seamless object/tile that needs to fit within a single UV tile. All the values used are ideal figures and yours will fall somewhere in between. By referencing this sheet you can find a close enough estimate that will allow you to determine your texel densities and texture map resolutions for your assets.
This sheet can be used as a study guide to help understand texel densities and the relations it has with other variables to optimise your scenes, or it can be useful as a development tool to help determine your texel density goals for your projects. At the least, creating this really helped me come to grips with texel densities and I hope it might be useful to other people as well. Feel free to download, print and reference this sheet wherever you wish.
I hope its not too confusing and that I can further refine this sheet based on the community's feedback.
High quality versions of the reference sheet can be downloaded here: pdf jpg
EDIT:
- Updated the graphic style.
- The fov was measured by creating a physical camera in 3D studio max with a "35mm (Full Frame) sensor" with the 'FOV' parameter set to 55 deg, which correlates to a focal length of 34,556mm (approx. 35mm). These align to what is widely believed to be the closest match to the human visual cone of attention. The camera is then given an aspect ratio of standard 16:9 to determine the screen space areas.
Replies
For it to be used accurately though, you need to specify how the fov is measured as that isn't necessarily consistent.
It's probably also worth adding the formula for recalculating densities based on fov values
I'll look into the formula for recalculating densities based on variable fov values, but for now, I feel that the 'close-to-human-vision' approximation is a good starting point.
A lot could be said about the relative usefulness of it so I won't go there (especially since everything can be figured out without using any formula, by just applying a clever reference texture to a bunch of assets placed in a scene...).
But I think it would be very beneficial to show some practical examples to put things into actual context. For instance indicating the numbers for assets from Mario Galaxy/Odyssey (third person, small screen pecentage, SD vs HD) against the numbers of, say, first person weapons and hand models from Valorant on high end PC - since using existing assets as a yardstick is just as valuable as following a formula.