Realistic Texturing Pipeline Tips

Isabelle Palmer

Basic Overview

• Gathering references
• For realistic projects, using photo references is best
• Find references for materials/decals/wear specifically, often separate from model references
• Setting up Substance Painter to make results more similar to render engine
• Material creation
• Decals and using Megascans
• Render setup
• Basic setup in UE, Marmoset, or render engine of choice with 1st pass of materials and lighting
• Iterations between texturing and rendering software to ensure best results

Substance Painter Settings

• Goal: speed up texturing process by working with something closer to the final visual result
• Roughness and metallic especially difficult to gauge
• Using same HDRI in Substance and UE
• UE Path Tracing lighting option
• Viewport settings recommended by Eric McGinnis [and other previous FIEAns]
• Studio Tomoco environment map
• Activate Post Effects
• Activate tone mapping and change function to sensitometric
• Activate color profile and change to sRGBf

ACES LUT

• Alternative method – ACES LUT by Brian Leleux
• https://bleleux.gumroad.com/l/lHiVg [free download]
• Import as ‘colorlut’ in Substance Painter
• Requires minor adjustment in Substance display settings
• Iteration still important between material creation and rendering

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Minor Texture Adjustments in Substance

• Add a fill layer with AO map, set to multiply, lower opacity to 50% or lower
• Add a fill layer with curvature map, set to overlay, lower opacity to 50% or lower
• Can be in a folder if desired

Before After

Quixel Megascans

• Quixel has megascans available of almost anything: brushes, decals, foliage, rocks and environment assets, and other 3D assets
• Works with Unreal Engine
• Great for tileable decals and extra detail, or material references
• When using megascans for 3D models, LOD0 is highest and LOD5 is lowest quality

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Decals in Quixel Megascans

• When downloading assets, there are different resolution options: 2k resolution is best for decal downloads
• Decals appear in ‘atlases’ folder in Unreal Engine; material automatically created that can just be dragged into scene
• The way these work is a box projection, so be careful for stretching on geometry facing different directions [the blue arrow indicates which way projection is currently going]

Decals Perks

• A great thing about using decals is that they don’t change the base material, so they can be used to quickly add weathering, damage, or other interest to an existing model in a non-destructive way.
• Decals can be used to experiment with looks before creating custom decals or materials, or as a final product.
• Building a decal library helps with personal texturing efficiency but is also great for teams and unifying the look of models if multiple artists are working on a project.
• I will use decals and trim sheets to texture the 22+ pieces of my modular subway instead of having many separate materials and trying to make the grunge and weathering look unique.

Layout and Presentation [Marmoset]

• Create a black and white blurred circle image in Photoshop [black will indicate transparency]
• Import simple floor plane model into Marmoset
• Use PS alpha for opacity mask and roughness for that material
• Turn on ‘use ray tracing’ in render options
• Play with Clearcoat Reflection options to get some cool results, especially for metallic objects

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Reflective floor with fadeout in Marmoset

[Military Radio by Paxton Klotz]

Layout and Presentation

Regular With ‘Newton’s Rings’