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Any tips on how to paint a good block/brick texture?


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I have been trying to reproduce a brick/block material in MAX and I need some help.

 

I tried using bitmap textures - they looked good, but did not accurately describe the true matrial I am after.

 

I tried procedurals and it got me much closer, but still not what I wanted. I need to show differing sized course heights.

 

So I decided to unwrap the model and paint it in Photoshop. I got the unwraping down pat with help from a great tutorial, but I cannnot find a decent tutorial on methods to reproduce a brick/block material in this way.

 

This is a picture of the chapel I am modeling. It shows the brick/block I want to mimic.

 

Chapel.jpg

 

I am trying to make a material which shows this chapel in perfect condition. Excessive wear and dirt is not necessary. (I don't think so, anyway)

 

Also, any ideas on how to correctly show the coats-of-arms above the door?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

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The best is to make photos of the textures you need and clean them in your image editor. For special textures like arcs its better to modell them than to make complicated textures. Just look at the Sponza Atrium contest here.

 

HTH

 

ingo

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Thank you all for your help.

 

I looked into the atrium post by ingo and the downloadable maps which were available on the site were a close match. I will start there and see how it looks.

 

Nisus, I agree with you. It actually surprises me that you said that, most people think that a bright sunny day is better. (for beers maybe) Anyhow, this building is in England and I am in the US so I did not have the option to take my own pictures. I downloaded this one off the internet. I found out it's not just for porn anymore.

 

Thanks all,

Jeff

 

BTW - did anyone have any idea about the coats-of-arms? At first look I thought maybe a displacement map, but I do not have good results from them.

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It actually surprises me that you said that, most people think that a bright sunny day is better.
Taking pictures on a bright sunny days and using them in a 3d-scene afterwards will always have 'two' suns: the one casting shadow in the photo and the one in the scene. If people were to stop and think about this for 1 second only, I'm sure they would find out...

 

As you said, not many people stop and think ;)

 

rgds

 

nisus

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  • 1 month later...

I always photograph early in the morning under diffuse light, instead of direct sunlight.

 

 

As far as your texture, you are most of the way there with you photos. How close will you be to the building in your Images? I would generate textures in Photoshop from whatever photos of the building you can take, including the coat of arms. I may be able to help you more if I know the specifics of what you are trying to accomplish through this process and/or final imagery.

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Well, I asked someone here at work who has been near there how far is is from here to there and he estimated it at about 5,000 miles. I am in Detroit, MI and the building is in jolly ol' England. I know what you're thinking, take some photos perpendicular to the surfaces of the stone and use them for the texture mapping. Boy, I wish I could do that, however the distance is obviously too great. To add to this, I am trying to produce renders of what this building (and another larger one on the same site) would have looked like newly constructed without all the soot and weathering.

 

I did find a fairly decent jpeg which I am using as a starting point. I have altered the coloring and applied it to a tiled material withing MAX. This worked fairly well, but left nothing for the coats of arms. I am thinking that maybe I could tile the jpeg withing Photoshop and then modify the new jpeg to include the coats of arms. I have tried to do this, but my knowledge of Photoshop is limited and I could not find a tool to tile an image other that pattern maker, which I could not control well enough.

 

If you have any suggestions please let me know. This whole project has been one great learning experience after another.

 

Thanks,

Jeffrey Ries

Detroit, MI

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hi There

 

SB

 

check This out, a Link to a List of Links:

 

Textures:

 

Wall Exterior:

 

http://www.viz2000.com/html/alfa/wall-exterior.html

 

Wall Interior:

 

http://www.viz2000.com/html/alfa/wall-interior.html

 

Flooring:

 

http://www.viz2000.com/html/alfa/flooring.html

 

****

 

StoneCad by Cultured Stone

 

http://www.stonecad.com/Index/index.html

 

They have a "free" cd for Stone Textures

 

here is the direct Link for That:

 

http://www.stonecad.com/About_StoneCAD/Get_StoneCAD_R_/get_stonecad_r_.html

 

it says:

 

"... tour the photo gallery of more than 300 Cultured Stone® applications, cataloged by type of project for easy reference."

 

****

 

let me know if This is helpful

or if you find any other resources

 

Thanks

 

Randy

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hi There

 

Sb,

 

(almost forgot)

 

for Bricks: check This out, a Link to a List of Links:

 

Wall Exterior: Accurate-Image online Masonry Designer(s):

 

http://www.viz2000.com/html/alfa/wall-exterior.html

 

This is a "must have" for doign brick work, This is so way cool

download the "free" designers and make your own Brick Textures

 

Acme:

 

http://www.acmebrick.com/md/index.htm

 

Belden:

 

http://www.beldenbrick.com/

 

McNear: (rustic bricks and pavers!!!!)

 

http://www.mcnear.com/

 

****

 

check it out

 

Thanks

 

Randy

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