One thing that I’m finding a bit of a challenge at the moment is deciding when and where to draw the line and say “done” with the models I’m updating. I’m extremely impressed with the way Substance Painter deals with detailing, and a fair amount of detailing could be dealt with using this software. Screws, bolts etc can all be added via alphas and then baked into the texture as a bump or normal map. But… and this is where I’m having the issue. Sometimes, it’s just nice to actually have that detailing in the mesh. For instance, a couple of the rifles I’m working on have an indented sling bar in the stock. There is an alpha for Substance that looks the part, but, it won’t really be there. I’m unsure at the moment how that would affect things if I was to add a sling. I suspect, that until the model is rendered it would look like the ring is embedded in the stock only displaying correctly when rendered. This makes me a little uncomfortable. First because it makes posing the sling difficult as you have almost no effective visual reference to work with, and, I don’t know, perhaps I’m just being silly about it, but it looks wrong somehow, and doesn’t feel right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s just one example, there are others. There is so much available for substance, and so much of it is beautifully created and works a treat, but it almost feels like cheating. Using alphas to create detailing leaves the end user with the difficult task of making sure that everything is lined up properly for their render. Whether this be hands, fingers or other items, or even – as in the case of the sling – props are aligned correctly. This could result in multiple test renders to check, when if I modelled the detailing, it would be easier and no messing around with test renders to check alignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously though, modelling this detailing would result in a higher polycount. A weight that would grow with each extra piece modelled in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, there’s the problem. Physical or virtual detailing, fewer or more polys. Computers, graphic cards and software are all more powerful now than it used to be, so high polycount is less of a burden than previously. However, when setting up a scene, it can get pretty heavy once items are added. Okay, yes, we do have the facility for multiple renders with alphas set up and then the image compiled in Photoshop, Gimp or whatever. Still, this doesn’t help with deciding where to stop adding details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahh, 1st world issues huh? The rest of the planet should be so lucky as to have to wrestle with the problem of “more poly or not”… Oh well, I’ll figure it out eventually I suppose. Just felt like wasting a few minutes of my time whinging about it here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take care, have fun. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One thing that I’m finding a bit of a challenge at the moment is deciding when and where to draw the line and say “done” with the models I’m updating. I’m extremely impressed with the way Substance Painter deals with … Continue reading