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Learning Substance Designer

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  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 1: Nature

    For today's material I couldn't help but to create an Animal Crossing style grass since I've spent so much time playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons over the last month. Let me know what you think!


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 2 - Beach:

    I've always wanted to try my hand at a stylized sand materials so I figured today was the perfect day. I took inspiration from the Stylized Desert Sand material by Jan Wyss and gave it a shot.




  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 3 - Harvest:

    For today's prompt, the first thing that came to mind was a farm so I decided to try and create some stylized hay bales.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 4 - Sin:

    Today's material began as some stylized lava but as I continued to work on it, it slowly evolved into this swirling hell portal.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 5 - Adventure:

    For today's material I wanted to attempt an old-timey hot air balloon to capture the spirit of adventure. Unfortunately without the basket it's a bit harder to make out that it's a hot air balloon.





  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 6 - Circus:

    My daughter really wanted me to make a ball that the seals use to do tricks so I couldn't say no. It was pretty simple so I did what I could to add some detail and interest.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 7 - Ancient:

    Today's prompt immediately made me think of Breath of the Wild and after some brainstorming and tinkering I landed on this. Rather than directly recreating a material, I made this using elements from the Shrines as inspiration.



  • pixelpatron
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    pixelpatron polycounter
    This thread is RAD! Bravo!

  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator
    This thread is RAD! Bravo!

    Thanks, Glad you like it!

  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 8 - Junk:

    I bit off more than I could chew with today's material. I wanted to make a stylized junk material but had trouble layering the different pieces of junk without clipping. I've definitely got to find some solution to this issue.


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 9 - Quilted:

    I've never done a material like this before so today was a fun prompt to figure out. Today I decided to try and create a rainbow patterned quilt.


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 10 - Vaporwave:

    My first idea for today was just stacked monitors with a vaporwave screen but as I worked on it I kept adding more to it. I'm happy with how the broken screens turned out and the static (my wife's idea) helps to break things up.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 11 - Electrical:

    For today's material I was inspired to attempt Iron Man's Arc Reactor. I ended up going a little bit outside of my comfort zone and leaned more toward realism than usual but I think it turned out okay.


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Day 12 - Meal:

    Today's prompt was an obvious choice. I just had to try to create a pizza material since it's my daughters favorite food. This one was a challenge as I've never attempted food in Substance Designer before but it was fun to try and figure out.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 13 - Time:

    I didn't expect to be doing another Zelda inspired material during the challenge but how could I avoid doing a Temple of Time themed material with today's prompt?


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 14 - Musical:

    My original idea for today's prompt was piano keys but I quickly switched to a beat pad and then quickly switched again to a club dance floor. I'm glad I jumped around so much because this was a fun material to make.



  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Hey, wicked thread. For the clipping issue on your junk material, I have a possible solution that miiiight work.

    Start with the big shapes. When you scatter one big shape using tile sampler, create a mask with 100% contrast and a slight blur, and inverted. Then when you add your next item using tile sampler, you can use the mask from the previous shape so this next, slightly smaller shape doesn't land in the same area. Then, add the new shape to the mask, and repeat steps.

    There might be a better way, but that's how I would do it. Haven't created something requiring that in a while though, so the process might also suck haha
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator
    Hey, wicked thread. For the clipping issue on your junk material, I have a possible solution that miiiight work.

    Start with the big shapes. When you scatter one big shape using tile sampler, create a mask with 100% contrast and a slight blur, and inverted. Then when you add your next item using tile sampler, you can use the mask from the previous shape so this next, slightly smaller shape doesn't land in the same area. Then, add the new shape to the mask, and repeat steps.

    There might be a better way, but that's how I would do it. Haven't created something requiring that in a while though, so the process might also suck haha

    Thanks for sharing! I actually started playing around with something similar in my free time between work and the daily materials I've been making. Hopefully I'll find some time to finish fixing that Junk material.
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 15 - Beans:

    For today's prompt I couldn't help but make my favorite bean.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 16 - Frozen:

    For today's prompt I decided give the Heroes of the Storm style ice I had started a few weeks ago another attempt. This material is based on the ice from the Alterac Valley map by Michael Vicente.




    Reference:


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 17  - Plague:

    For today's prompt I was inspired by the plague barrels in World of Warcraft so I decided to try and recreate one in my own style using Substance Designer.



    Reference:

  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 18 - Magic:

    I was inspired by Flora Silve's Sky Kingdoms Rune Concept so I decided to try and create a similar pattern for today's prompt. It was a great opportunity to learn the Shape Mapper node!





    Reference:

    https://www.artstation.com/artwork/v19Zq3


  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 19 - Planet:

    For today's prompt I decided to pay homage to one of my favorite Mario games: Super Mario Galaxy!



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 20 - Medical:

    For today's prompt I decided to create a tile material that could be found in an abandoned hospital. It's crazy to see the improvement between the tiles I created for Nodevember and these tiles. Learning more and more each day! 💪




  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 21- Puzzle:

    Today I decided to make a Rubik's Cube. That's technically a puzzle, right? It started pretty new and clean but as I went I gradually added scratches, chips and grime until I got it to a point that I liked while still being stylized.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 22 - Elemental:

    Today's prompt went through a few iterations before I settled on the elemental fire ruins. Initially I chose a bramble/forest elemental material but realized I wouldn't have the time to finish it. I'm definitely glad I switched!




  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 23 - Technology:

    Today's a busy day so I had to stick with an easier material for today's prompt. I decided to create Rehoboam from Season 3 of Westworld.



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 24 - Stone:

    For today's prompt I chose to create a simple stylized cobblestone material. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!





  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 25 - Retro:


    For today's prompt I decided to re-create a classic NES controller in Substance Designer.  It was pretty straight forward to create, just lots and lots of shape layering.



  • Phoenix995
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    Phoenix995 interpolator
    JMBraley said:
    Worked on another Valorant material study today. This time I chose a corrugated metal material from the map Split (B Lobby). As always, I'm always open to feedback!

    Corrugated Metal:


    Reference:


    looks good! but can you change it so they look like they are overlapping?
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator
    looks good! but can you change it so they look like they are overlapping?

    Unfortunately, I was having a ton of issues with the overlapping which was why I settled on this for now. I'll probably go back and see if I can improve them after Mayterials is done. 
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 26 - Casino:

    Today was a very busy day so I opted for a simpler material. I decided to create some Mayterials themed poker chips in a variety of values.




  • teodar23
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    teodar23 sublime tool
    I honestly dont think these type of rapid fire daily exercises help anyone learn. I think you learn by experimenting and taking your time with something. Doing a bunch of stuff as quick as possible and just plowing through daily tasks can only give mediocre results at best and the learning aspect is pushed somewhere to the side. Learning requires time for the aquired knowledge to "settle in". You can do an all nighter and read an entire semester worth of material for the next day exam, but after you take the exam that knowledge is gone. You won't remember 5% of that.
    This is not a rant on your work, its about the idea. These types of daily challenges should be tackled later on when you feel very comfortable with the program and feel the need for a challenge, not during the learning phase. Just saying...
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator
    teodar23 said:
    I honestly dont think these type of rapid fire daily exercises help anyone learn. I think you learn by experimenting and taking your time with something. Doing a bunch of stuff as quick as possible and just plowing through daily tasks can only give mediocre results at best and the learning aspect is pushed somewhere to the side. Learning requires time for the aquired knowledge to "settle in". You can do an all nighter and read an entire semester worth of material for the next day exam, but after you take the exam that knowledge is gone. You won't remember 5% of that.
    This is not a rant on your work, its about the idea. These types of daily challenges should be tackled later on when you feel very comfortable with the program and feel the need for a challenge, not during the learning phase. Just saying...
    Everyone learns differently and I can definitely say that between Nodevember last year and Mayterials this year that I have learned a lot. I use quick iteration materials like these to try new nodes and experiment with different methods without the pressure of needing to make it look absolutely perfect. Having such a small window of time to work on each material forces me to see things differently and to think how I had approached different problems in the past which helps me remember these solutions in the future when I encounter similar issues. 

    No matter what my skill level is, I'm always trying to push myself and learn more so if I wait until I'm out of the learning phase to try challenges like these than I'd never be able to. Also, they're just lots of fun and in times like these it's important to have some fun. 
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 27 - Sewer:

    I originally was planning on making a street / manhole but I saw quite a few of those today. I decided to take today's prompt in a different but similar direction and do a medieval-style sewer of some sort.





  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 28 - Abandoned:

    For today's prompt I wanted to try and create some wallpaper that could be found inside of an old, long abandoned hotel. I worked on it longer than expected and ended up adding plaster and bricks poking through






  • ArcaneOwl
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    ArcaneOwl polycounter lvl 3
    Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing on gumrod!
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator
    ArcaneOwl said:
    Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing on gumrod!
    I'm happy to share them! Hopefully I'll have more to share soon.
  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 29 - Desert:

    I love Diego Silva's Cartoon Cactus (https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6adwrO) so I decided to use today's prompt to give it a shot. I'm pretty happy with the results!



  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 30 - Nautical:

    I've always wanted to try my hand at an Overwatch-inspired material so I figured why not today. For today's prompt I created a stylized ship material complete with porthole and barnacles.





  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials Day 31 - Community:

    Today is the last day of Mayterials! I wanted to use today's prompt to recognize the amazing community that is The Club (https://discord.gg/Vq4F6gA). I wasn't sure what to make, until it was suggested to make a sticker sheet.





  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Mayterials 2020:

    It's been a long month but it's finally complete! I'm extremely happy with how most of the materials turned out. I've learned a ton of new tricks and techniques that I'm going to be implementing into my workflows going forward and I've had tons of fun figuring out the prompts and how to approach them each day. Making daily materials alongside such talented artists has been hugely motivational and humbling. I can't wait for the next material challenge. Bring on Nodevember 2020!

  • JMBraley
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    JMBraley interpolator

    Stylized Roof Tiles

    After Mayterials I wanted to take all of the new tricks that I learned and use them to make a more detailed material. I've been working on it in my free time for the past few weeks and this is what I came up with. I was initially inspired by the Roof Material in Darksburg made by Lary Kummer (https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0XN8JE) but I decided to take it in my own direction rather than just trying to replicate it.




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