Project Support/Studies Advice
I had an issue where there was a white line between two UV shells on the display base part of the model. I thought this was a texel density issue, but wasn’t overly worried about it since in some Sketchfab test uploads it wasn’t that noticeable. I asked Henry about it anyway during Wednesday’s project support session, he thought it might be a texel density issue as well and to maybe add another material for that part and increase its texel density. However, despite doing this, the white line didn’t disappear. I later realised that it wasn’t caused by large differences in texel density but because the UV shells here didn’t perfectly stack with each other, leaving a thin line of difference between them, causing the white line visible here:
I fixed this by moving one of the shells to its own space so it didn’t overlap anymore. During the session, Henry and Mike said that the model was looking good.
Texturing in Substance
I’m glad that the sculpting part worked out and baked properly as the curvature maps baked from the high poly really helped in creating the stylised look I was going for. I learned my workflow for texturing from StylisedStation’s videos in the past which uses a lot of generators and black masks with fills to achieve various stylised textures. The process is also very helpful for creating realistic textures as well. Without the baked curvature maps, I think adding details like edge wear would be very difficult to apply procedurally, which would achieve a similar result as handpainted texturing but saves time. I did try to texture the low poly model as it was but I didn’t like the results I was getting.
I learned a lot about texturing in Substance from this playlist of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLff8S6TAmcOSAREspNxed-iUrCqPX9Y7m
Texture Progression
I did some test uploads to Sketchfab every so often to see how the textures were reacting/looking there. This was also helpful in seeing how the textures changed/updated as I progressed.
I wasn’t sure how to approach creating a stylised texture for the wall of the windmill but I remembered seeing this video in my recommendations a few times and thought this would be suitable. I learned about the blur slope filter which blurs textures/grudge maps in a way that helps them look more handpainted/stylised. I then started using that filter for any texture afterwards that I thought it might work for, it was super helpful for quickly texturing the grass base portion of the model as well as adding moss to the waterwheel later.
My final textured model + texture reference moodboard
Marmoset Toolbag Render (i downloaded the free trial)
Sketchfab Render
The textures for my own model were referenced from these images, I think my model is clearly influenced by various elements of each of these references but manages to have its own originality. The heaviest influence in both model design and textures is probably the viking house scene in the left corner of the moodboard. I liked how it was presented and the display base it has, the overall texture aesthetic and style was also what I was imagining for my own project. A lot of the other references I gathered earlier, seen in this post was also very influential to my final outcome. I also noticed that in a lot of the references the main colours are a lot of reds, oranges, greens and blues, I therefore also used that for my own textures.