<aside> ℹ️ CTRL+SHIFT+L for dark theme — Double click images to zoom
</aside>
🪙 If textures were buildings, gathering references would be the foundation. Gathering references is the most important stage of a texturing work, as everything is done according to references. An artist should have both the information and reference images if they want accurate textures that tell a story.
🔍 The item in question should be researched and many reference images should be gathered. Some important features of the item should be studied before starting. Like materials used, how it’s made, variations of the product, finishing etc. Additionally, there should be reference images that give information about colours, roughness values, normal details, imperfections etc.
🗃️ It’s suggested to pay attention to consistency of references. Thus, reference board should be organized and a single, high-quality reference should be mainly used. Mixing and matching different references will cause an inaccurate model with inconsistent details. For accurate results, references of the item object should be mainly used and knockoff products or 3D models should be avoided because they might provide inaccurate information.
An example of a good reference board. Reference sets are grouped and there are only two main reference sets which are identical.
⚠️ Texturing is done step-by-step; before details, base features should be established. Base-material is the foundation. The term base-material usually refers to the clean state of the item with no weathering like it’s brand new. Base-material can include base colour, roughness variation, normal details (e.g. grainy, brushed surface), metallic value, production artifacts etc. Establishing these features is important before moving on to finer details.
🏗️ Instead of adding random roughness variation with random grunge maps, these key features should be studied and replicated accurately to make an good base-material. Making a base-material is basically fine-tuning until ensuring that the material reads correctly. It’s suggested to spend half of the texturing time on base-material. Experimenting is a big part of texturing.
🔰 As shown above, taking time to nail those key features that define the material is essential for creating accurate and visually interesting base-materials.
🔍 After building a solid foundation, next step is weathering. There can be many details such as discoloration, grime, fingerprint, dents, pitting, scratches, wear, chipping, corrosion, rust, dirt and dust. How imperfections occur depends on various factors such as environment, size, material, etc. Thus details should again be created one at a time, according to references. Different coats wear in different ways, different metals corrode in different ways. Going blind will result in poor accuracy and material read, so references are the key.