Mapping a floor created with FloorGenerator

[Marco Manunta]

Ok guys, i use Multi-Texture too and it's great.

 

But somehow i would like to know if it's the only plugin that you use to map a tiled floor (except already tiled maps).

 

I'm always stuck using some of the textures from CG Source, i guess that i could take an hires wooden texture and cut it in vertical slices, but i don't know if it's the right workflow. Recently i took an Evermotion Archinteriors Scene with a wooden floor geometrically tiled, and the shader was not a multitexture shader. It was a normal wooden texture applied somehow randomly through the tiled floor.

 

How do you manage that ? thanks!

[Marco Manunta]

guys i don't want to be boring, but i really need some advices..i wrote in both Evermotion and other site forum, but nobody answers is it a too silly question ? or is it too hard ? What i'm looking for, in other words, it's a script which is able to apply the same texture to different elements of an editable poly which have different ID assigned. Exactly the opposite of the MaterialByElement modifier

[Tommy L]

Your problem isnt clear from the question.

You have a editable poly with multiple Material ID's, everrything is mapped per element, you want to apply materials by ID, but the material to be the same? Well cant you just use a regular material then, so it only has one material to apply?

[Marco Manunta]

Sorry Tom if i was not clear.

 

I ve a floor generated with Floor Generator. So it's a floor made by boards. Every boards has different ID. Normally this helps Multi-Texture to put a different wood texture to each board. (if not, Multitexture would be nearly useless)

 

I want to achieve the same results without using Multi-Textures. (or at least, using just one wood texture). For example, Evermotion is able to make some wooden floors (with boards) using only a normal wood texture. They're able to put this texture randomly on the floor boards, so you have a realistic wooden floor.

 

Until now i have two solution:

 

1) Use Multi-Texture : cut your wood texture in a good number of slices (say 10). Load them with MT and you will have your floor.

2) Detach each floor board element, apply to each one of them the same texture with different UVW Map (fortunately there's a script which randomize the UVW Map Modifier). Re-attach the boards together, or simply group them, and you're done. Unfortunately with this method you can't work with Hue/saturation/gamma variation like with MT.

 

I just want to know how you people do when you need to map a floor made by boards, and you don't want/have to use the CG-Source ready textures.

[Tommy L]

There's nothing special or different about the bitmaps from CG-Source. I mean, they are awesome, but they are juts textures. If you want to randomize the look of the boards then you can use the MT material to do that, but I really think you're looking for a solution that you already have a solution to.

[Marco Manunta]

i know that my problem has multiple solutions. I just want that people here share their floor mapping workflow. What you say it's not that "easy". Cg Source textures are already cutted in boards. To make the same thing, you ve to divide your personal wood texture (taken, say, from CG Textures) in multiple files and then load them to MT. Since i studied some evermotion archinteriors scenes, some of them have modeled wooden floor + variation of the boards without using MT with multiple textures,but just one single texture! (if you make the eye drop on some of their floors, you'll not find a Multi-Texture shader, but a normal vrayMtl, or vrayblendmtl or whatever). Do you understand what i mean? I want to use one single texture to make floor variation. Logically without the use of a parquet texture on a flat surface

[Zdravko Barisic]

^

Evermotion textures, are a little bit tweaked, if you look them carefully. How?

With gradient lightening from left to right, or up/down, whatever it is the same.

So, basically what do you need is further:

1. Find some big texture, and make it darker in left part and more bright on right side, with some good gradient tool within Photoshop.

2. Apply texture with proper UVW on floor boards, one UVW map, yet.

3. Find some UVW randomize script OR

4. Apply random UVW by poligons, manually, selcting only upper poligons or whole desk objects, but do not be afraid, for 5mins, you'll select 5-6-10 variations, and it is good enough for nice UVW scattering.

You just need UVW maping by elements, like here

 

Good luck and cheers!

[RyderSK]

Or alternatively, you can use single simple unwrap ( 'flatten' mode ).

 

This way, each element ( plank ) will get unique portion of larger texture.

It's pretty common approach, although not as suitable for wooden floors as planks are usually rather strictly cut in reality, each having their pattern running naturally in middle. So you would end up with more random look visually.

[Tommy L]

So what you're saying is (unless this is for Realtime or something else that cuts available render resources) you dont want to spend the time making the textures? But making textures is so easy. As is buying the fabulous textures from CG-Source. Heck, there's a hundred sources for textures out there, so why try and fake having lots of textures? You want to make your workflow easy? Then why not use the Floorgenerator and the Multitexture plugin....

[Marco Manunta]

thank you folks for yours advices! They were useful.

 

At the end i think that for my purpose, i ll select all the planks (which with floor generator are already attached), use a detach element to object script, apply one single UVW, make unique, apply a randomize UVW script, and i'm done. The gradient tool trick is not bad at all.

 

The UVW element method is brand new to me, it's really interesting and for other purposes i ll keep that in mind.

 

Tom i love making textures. It's just that Multi-texture is so easy to use when you have multiple bitmap files. I just wanted to know how i could do it with one single texture. Normally i create lots of nice textures by my own, well tiled and so on...but in this case i just wanted to know some of the ways PROs like you all use to achieve a good variation on mapping a floor without forcely having 10 different bitmap to apply

 

Thank you again people!

[Francisco Penaloza]

The floor from Evermotion is using an Unwrap modifier.

They create the floor with floor generator, but then they apply and unwrap modifier and adjust the planks to fit the single wood floor texture.

I am not saying this is the best way to do it, just explaining how it is done.

Best luck.

[Marco Manunta]

wow, that would be a little long to make..but the results sometimes are excellent. Thanks

[Stephen Thomas]

There's a big difference in resolution between individually mapped boards and cropping a plank out of a tiling floor texture though. Something to consider. If you're looking for alternative texture sources I have used a couple of these and they are great quality and very reasonable price: http://3docean.net/user/foundationcgi/portfolio?WT.ac=portfolio_item&WT.z_author=foundationcgi

 

I would stick to either the simplicity of a whole floor tiling texture setup or the more complex, but higher quality setup of floor generator. Seems like you are trying to combine the worst parts of both!

Edited March 6, 2015 by stef.thomas

[elipan]

I think CrossMap (VIZPARK) and BerconMaps might suit you..

[shawnlim]

You can try create a multi/sub-object material and make it few different tone wood material.

Choose your object and add MaterialByElement in modifier list.

Under list frequency u can adjust percentage of multi/sub-object material.

[Marco Manunta]

You can try create a multi/sub-object material and make it few different tone wood material.

Choose your object and add MaterialByElement in modifier list.

Under list frequency u can adjust percentage of multi/sub-object material.

 

i don't think it would work flawlessly. You have to change tone but also each map uv, or you will have the same plank repeated. I already thought about it, thanks anyway!

[Marco Manunta]

There's a big difference in resolution between individually mapped boards and cropping a plank out of a tiling floor texture though. Something to consider. If you're looking for alternative texture sources I have used a couple of these and they are great quality and very reasonable price: http://3docean.net/user/foundationcgi/portfolio?WT.ac=portfolio_item&WT.z_author=foundationcgi

 

I would stick to either the simplicity of a whole floor tiling texture setup or the more complex, but higher quality setup of floor generator. Seems like you are trying to combine the worst parts of both!

 

yes you re totally right, i don't think that my question would lead to a better realistic way to make floor planks. It's just that i already bought some CG Source texture, but each time i have to make a floor with Floor Generator i'm a little sticked with them, sometimes i would like to have the possibility to use (wisely) custom handmade textures (not cropped). I think this process would work better for small tiles like marble squares or little wood planks.

 

This thread was born when i was studying an evermotion scene and i saw that they were able to use one single texture on a wooden floor model made with Floor Generator, + variation of tiles and color. Now it's everything more clear. Thanks to everybody who participated to this thread !!

[himanshuchoudhary]

Exactly what Juraj suggests,

 

Floor generator - material by element - UVW unwrap (flatten) - Scale/rotate UVs by ID

Works like a charm