mud texture problem

[Billabong]

I am trying to create a mud texture for the banks of my inland waterway, but so far I am hating my results, does anyone have any suggestion making this properly? and I have no idea yet what that is in the water, everytime i look at it, i keep thinking did I drop something in there

[Logitek]

Hello Brandon,

 

I think I would put a gradient ramp in the diffuse to have the mud darker in the water and a little bit above water level (activate the noise in the gradient).

I would definitely look for a reference picture before trying anything out though... Do you have one?

[Billabong]

Hey Matthieu,

 

Thanks for replying, this is what I have been wanting to achieve

 

http://www.neoperceptions.com/fauna/birds/scbirds/images/lesseryellowlegs1b.jpg

[blowback]

Brandon,

 

You might also want to try render to texture. This way you can paint and photoshop the sand just the way you like it.

[Billabong]

Thanks Kris, I may try that, though I have never done it. First time for everything

[shaneis]

You'll get much better results if you map the specularity/ reflectivity as well as the diffuse channel. That way the sky reflection will fall-off correctly...check your reference picture to see what I mean. You could desaturate and adjust/ paint your diffuse map in Photoshop to get the desired result with a lot more control as well.

[blowback]

I am no means an expert. This is a sample of a concrete texture that I rendered to text. added some extra color and graffiti, mapped back on the re-rendered. I am still trying to get more comfortable with it so I can incorporate into the work flow.

[Billabong]

Thanks so much guys, IM gonna give this a try, but like I said unwrapping , tand texturing in PS, is not one of my strong or knowledgable points for that matter

[shaneis]

Thanks so much guys, IM gonna give this a try, but like I said unwrapping , tand texturing in PS, is not one of my strong or knowledgable points for that matter

 

I think the hardest part in mapped textures is knowing which channel you are controlling and then how to achieve that in your 3D app or adjust/ create maps in Photoshop to get your desired result. Looking at your first image, I'm assuming you're using a procedural bump map. Try using an image. Take it into Photoshop and desaturate it so you have a greyscale. In 3D app, use your colour image for the diffuse and your greyscale to drive the bump and specular and reflective type channels. This should create an effect where the "high" parts of the mud are less reflective than the "low" wetter areas.

 

See the attached images below, both renders use the same colour map in a Blinn's diffuse channel. Both use the "subtleMap" for displacement. "mudBits_01" uses "subtleMap" for the reflectivity, eccentricity and specularRollOff channels, BUT I have inverted the image in my 3D app (black to white, white to black). "mudBits_02" uses the "exaggeratedMap" for the same channels.

 

They're not finished images by any means, but hopefully it will give you an idea how to go about it.

[Claudio Branch]

I would recommend that you use some Blend materials on the grass and dirt to break up the obvious "CG" consistency. And perhaps an opacity mask along the water's edge to give it a touch of transparency where it meets the shore.

 

I usually will use a Blend material with another Blend Material in each slot and a custom made mask for the top Mix slot. If you isolate your terrain geometry you can very quickly render out a black and white mask and take it into Photoshop to customize it.

 

Using Blend materials in the dirt and grass slots allows you to use separate grass and dirt maps for more of a random "natural" appearance. Use a Noise map in the Mix slot of the two materials and it will completely remove tiling as well.

 

I know it probably sounds a little confusing. But, I have a few images that I can show you the results of using this approach. Perhaps tomorrow?

[Billabong]

Thanks guys for helping me. Both posts sound a bit confusing but everything is when you first try something in the business, I'm going to practice a good bit on that mud method that you stated Shane, tomorrow. Hopefully I will get the hang of it.

 

Claudio, your method pretty much lost me at "I" (j/k), but I would really like to try that method of yours, but I've sat here read it 4 times now and it still confuses and loses me at making the mask(well just not that the whole process basically) I hate to sound idiotic, but I do not understand how to make something like that. Thanks again though for trying to help

[Claudio Branch]

I hate to sound idiotic..

 

You don't...you mentioned earlier in your post that texturing isn't your strong suit. And trying to explain several levels of the Material Editor with words was idiotic on MY part...

 

I will try to clarify with some images later.

[Billabong]

I really appreaciate you taking the time Claudio

[Billabong]

So I have been working on this mud, I have been using your advice Shane and i think its working really well, but my problem is I don't have any variance in the color. I was hoping you guys could give me some insight on what I should change. Im posting a render of the mud and my mat settings. Thanks

[Claudio Branch]

Here is an image I created for a dam modernization project earlier this year. It has many of the same elements that you are interested in creating - mud/dirt, long/short grass and water. I used V-Ray displacement, Blend Material, Mix Material and Particle Systems.

 

The "Spillway Prelim" image shows the mask that I created for my primary Blend Material consisting of procedural "dirt" (black areas) and grass (white areas). The "Plan View Mask" shows the specific isolated portion of terrain that was used to render out the mask initially and a bitmap viewport showing the extents of the mask bitmap itself.

 

To create the mask, I isolated the appropriate portion of ground geometry, assigned a pure white material to it and made my background black. I took that black and white image into Photoshop and cropped the extents first so it's proportions would match the gross x & y values of the geometry itself. After that, I painted a broad black stroke where I wanted my "muddy" riverbed to be and then just added variety to the edges by using different brushes and opacity values.

 

I also used V-Ray displacement on this piece of geometry as well. I wanted the displacement values of the grass and mud to be different, but they are both part of the same geometry. To achieve this, I created a Mix map with separate noise values, but reused the same B&W image in it's mix slot. Where there is black (mud) the displacement is larger and rougher. And where there is white (grass) the displacement is smaller and smoother.

 

To sum it all up, you have to get familiar with how, when and where to use Blend and Mix. These are very effective texturing tools that are easy to use once you understand how they work.

 

I hope this helps a little more than my previous response to your post. If not, keep the questions coming. You will get there....

[Billabong]

Wow!. This is deff. going to take some practice. I'm goign to tneed to read this a few times and just see where I start to fall short on this, I'm sure I will have a load of questions, but let's see how far off I get from this first. Thanks so much for your help Claudio

[Billabong]

Ok, first question

 

To create the mask, I isolated the appropriate portion of ground geometry, assigned a pure white material to it and made my background black. I took that black and white image into Photoshop and cropped the extents first so it's proportions would match the gross x & y values of the geometry itself

 

Ok how exactly did you do that, What i have done so far is created a plane and then added a subdivide modifier to it collapsed it and then painted out the polys I wanted to isolate, hid the unselected polys but now im a little stuck. Do I add an unwrap modifier to this or do I just render it out in the top view

[Claudio Branch]

You don't need to "paint out" any polys or use an Unwrap modifier.

 

Set your background to black and your isolated geometry to pure white. Change your viewport to the top view and turn on your safeframes. Set your render output to something like 1024x1024 (or bigger if you like) and hit render.

 

Save your B&W image and then get into Photoshop...

[Billabong]

Ok, thanks Claudio

[Billabong]

I am still struggling just with this mud texture it is driving me insane. Nothing looks right as you can see. I have been using a vray blend, but just looks terrible, Ive tried tow different kinds of mats as you can see in the render one od the tilings is god awfull. Thanks for any help

 

[Billabong]

Ok, Claudio I have been racking my brain and I think I am finally getting my head around it. I was actually able to create the ground and river bed with my mask and such, but I have one question. I need my grass to look better but to do that i need to add a vray displacement modifier to it, but that will affect the entire ground and I need it to just affect the grass, Is this possible, if so, how. Thanks so much Claudio for being patient. I'm getting there man

[Claudio Branch]

 

...I'm getting there man

 

 

Yes you are! Great progress.

 

You just needed a couple of days to let it sink in...

 

I got your PM...displacement will make the grass and dirt look so sweet, but the price tag = , know what I mean? I posted up some stuff in the WIP forum that has displacement on the grass and gravel in my scenes and you don't want to know the render times on those friend.

 

I am working on a material right now that will help achieve the appearance of displacement, but minus the price tag. I too am racking my brains on this.

 

That damn displacement is the CRACK OF CG...( then )...once you start, you don't want to quit. Let's try to kick the addiction together then!

[Claudio Branch]

You need to decrease the scale of your dirt, by increasing your tile values.

 

And if you use two dirt maps in a Blend Material with a noise map in the mix slot, it will help hide the tiling.

[Billabong]

Let's try to kick the addiction together then!

 

Sounds good to me, I tried cloning just the grass part and adding a vray displacement modifer to it, even if I add a meshsmooth to it with 2 iterations, it still gives very jagged edges to part I cloned

[Claudio Branch]

I researched this issue heavily on the forum and someone suggested converting the terrain into a proxy and then adding a noise map to the displacement slot of a V-Ray Matl that you assign to the proxy. I tried this, but couldn't get it to look the way I wanted.

 

I researched further and then saw the suggestion to add a displacement modifier to the geometry itself. I got that to to work pretty good. The problem is still one of face count. You have to get the mesh super fine to make it displace nicely and that takes time. You have to be very strategic and select only geometry within the camera's field of vision.

 

I have also used Particle Systems with very nice results and agreeable rendering times.