General Tips on Texturing Metal

#1

Just wanted to ask for general tips on texturing metal parts like armor, maybe a sword etc etc

#2

An enormous part of metal is in the reflections. Getting those right will pay real dividend. Find as many references for the type of metal that you wish to replicate as possible. Look at the way the reflections work - are they glossy (blurry) or are they straight, like a mirror? Are they anisotropic? Are they more notable as the angle of the object becomes more acute (like glass)? Do the reflections have a colour tint (in metal it often does - take a look at references of copper and notice how the reflections are actually tinted that reddish/brown hue).

Getting that right will make a huuuuuge difference. Once you do that, you can go back and generate your maps - is it worn or not? If so, how does the wearing react - does it reveal a more shiny area, or less, where scratched? Add in your bump maps accordingly and, if needed, specular/reflection maps.

Reference reference reference!

#3

And here’s a few tutorials that may help…

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/metal_and_refs/metal_and_refs.htm
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/aniso_ref/aniso_ref.htm
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/aniso_highlights/aniso_highlights.htm
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/chrome/chrome.htm
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/brushed_metal/brushed_metal.htm
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/flat_metallic_surfaces/flat_metallic_surfaces.htm

  • Neil
#4

actually wanted to ask more in the lines of manually painting it
like in games and such

#5

Well, most of the look of metal (at least clean metal) comes from the shader and not from any textures. If you want to paint stuff like rust and tarnish though, maybe this will help…

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=46&t=373024&highlight=hard+surface

  • Neil
#6

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