Modeling Brick instead of using Bitmap Textures

[yourfather]

Hi everyone,

 

i would like to create this brick...(see image) and im betting that its better to model this brick instead of just making rectangles and trying to texture map it.

 

I need the most photoreal solution that wont make my computer crawl (six core xeon, 32 gigs of ram, 4000 quattro).

 

I think the process would be:

1. create simple rectangle

2. apply some sort of "modifier" on it to roughen and deform the shape?

3. take that one brick and create multiple instances of it and make the pattern shown in the picture one brick at a time.

 

I like this technique because all the rough variations in the brick will be modeled and will interact nicely with the light.

 

Alternate process:

1. creat simple rectangle

2. apply a displacement bitmap to it which would creat the rough variations as geometry?

 

Do my theoretical process sound like they would be efficient?

Do you know any tutorials on the above methods are perhaps a different method?

 

Thanks!

[Scott Schroeder]

http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/materials/tilesold/tilesold.html

 

http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/materials/tilesbricks/tilesbricks.html

 

RailClone (free or Pro) will be your friend. Though the free version you'll need to do a little more work since you can't do 2 direction arrays.

 

Your image isn't showing so I'm not sure what kind of brick you are looking to create.

[CliveG]

http://forums.cgarchitect.com/74863-looking-certain-brick-type.html

 

This thread had some good links and suggestions. Mighty tiles looks interesting for this too, but seems to have a mixed reception.

[salvador]

Avis Studio - ATiles will do your parametric brick walls, tiles, pavement, etc. Google it.

[hoseinasadi]

i personally think any other method rather than using textures to create breaks etc is a waste of time.

[yourfather]

Here is the image of the bricks i need to create.

 

 

1. Would it be a bad idea to just make a couple bricks then arrange them in 3ds max to form a wall?

2. Wouldn't this render better than using a bunch of High Rez displacement maps ect.?

3. Am I asking for trouble if I use the process of making a couple of rough bricks as geometry (which the NOISE Modifier) then instancing them?

 

Thanks guys, and girls.

Edited December 9, 2013 by yourfather

[hoseinasadi]

obviously if you create the bricks one by one they'd look more realistic compared to displacement maps. they also add a sense of realism to your wall. tho it comes with a price which is time time. why dont you try both methods and put it here so we can all see.

[yourfather]

Hi M.H.

 

Believe me, I would like that too. But there are a few things keeping me from posting samples of my work. The first one is that my client wouldn't appreciate it. And the second one is time. I just got done working a quadruple shift, then a regular work day, then another all nighter, then another regular work day then another all nighter. I'm still trying to recover.

 

I think I am going to go with the displacement map option because the bricks are about 20 feet from the camera.

 

Thanks for your post.

 

RS

[jasonstewart]

Should be easy. Make a new plane over the wall(s) you want to add the bricks to cut edges until you have even rectangles the proper shape. Tesselate enough times to get the right size for each brick. If you want a running bond pattern use the graphite modeling tools generate topology tools to offset the bricks. Select all the faces and inset them by a small amount to leave a little gap between bricks. Invert your selection and delete the sections that are between your "bricks". Add a uvw map box just to get it out of the way. Add a material by element modifier with a random distribution and however many different elements you think you will need brick heights (maybe 6-10). Add edit poly modifier, select material ID 1 and extrude however thick you want...Repeat the last part to create all the different levels. Apply a material with a bump map or vray displacemod to give the bricks texture. Render.

 

I do agree though, displacement would work well for something that isnt right next to the camera. You could also use this technique to create a small section to bake off a quick displacement and AO and whatever else you want to use for your final scene.

[yourfather]

wow

 

that sounds great. though maybe i little over my head. I will go over your suggestions one by one and see what happens.

 

Thank you.

[jasonstewart]

It should make sense with max in front of you, let me know if you you cant figure anything out. I just reread what I wrote and you will need to uvw later, after you extrude at least. Another thing you can do is use a multi sub object material to give some color variation. Just apply the material by element again so that it doesnt correspond with the depth of the bricks.

[Dejan Sparovec]

Sounds like a job for this script http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/stone-placement-tools

[yourfather]

Hi Dejan.

 

the link says "site is offline". I will check it out tomorrow.

 

Im using a simple displacement map and though i am still rendering my first couple of test, the results look very promising.

[Dejan Sparovec]

Now I can't open the website either.. Until it gets back online, you can see what the script does in this video

[yourfather]

Hi Dejan.

 

i downloaded the script and its awesome. However, it doesn't allow for that much customization as far as displacement settings and how sharp or rounded (aged) the bricks are. But i still like this script a lot.

 

Thanks.

[reidhbeallagh]

Hi everyone,

 

i would like to create this brick...(see image) and im betting that its better to model this brick instead of just making rectangles and trying to texture map it.

 

I need the most photoreal solution that wont make my computer crawl (six core xeon, 32 gigs of ram, 4000 quattro).

 

I think the process would be:

1. create simple rectangle

2. apply some sort of "modifier" on it to roughen and deform the shape?

3. take that one brick and create multiple instances of it and make the pattern shown in the picture one brick at a time.

 

I like this technique because all the rough variations in the brick will be modeled and will interact nicely with the light.

 

Alternate process:

1. creat simple rectangle

2. apply a displacement bitmap to it which would creat the rough variations as geometry?

 

Do my theoretical process sound like they would be efficient?

Do you know any tutorials on the above methods are perhaps a different method?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Theres a free plugin in the Free Blender 3D program called Masonry;

 

seeing that all is free check it out here;

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Add_Mesh/Masonry

[Zdravko Barisic]

Sounds like a job for this script http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/stone-placement-tools

 

WOW!

Thats what I need! For next bridge...

...

Also, this may help for simple brick walls...

 

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/wallbuilder

 

PS - if the home page link is broken, you have DL link just lower of the script, marked with red

[liorsturlesi]

You should maybe use floor/wall generator and play with the random settings to get the effect you'r showing here..

[yourfather]

Hi Lior. We used Wallbuilder. It worked great.

 

 

Heres the link

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/wallbuilder

[Jesper Pedersen]

Hi, we had a (very quickly) look at the script and it looks good. How well does it deal with openings on a large area of wall (with say 50 windows?

Also, as it is probably not realistic for the scale of bulding we are working on, can anyone recomment a good resource for brick textures? Thanks.

 

Regards

Jesper Pedersen

http://www.pedersenfocus.ie

[Chris MacDonald]

[nileshbhagwat]

nice one