hi. i just want to know how the materials in the sample files in the learn tab (Matinee, RealisticRendering, Reflections, etc.) are made/used/applied that they are not tiling at all. When I open up the meshes they hold the same material (same uvs, normals, etc.) but they all look different. (and i don’t think they are material instances because material instances show a different window when opened am i right?) which is good and i really want to learn that. I’m working on a project right now for archviz and there’s lot of huge floor and wall areas that i want to texture. but with very little knowledge that i have now all i can think of is render the uv in max and texture each and every mesh differently so i can control the look and avoid tiling. can someone please explain or maybe direct me to a nice tutorial for that? basically texturing huge areas without repetition or noticeable tiling. thank you very much.
Hello thudz,
I feel the best way for you to learn and understand how to create unique looking textures that appear to never tile, would be to create a blank project using the Starter Content. Then open up the ‘M_Metal_Copper’ material and reverse engineer how it produces the result you are trying to achieve.
A combination of micro and macro texture variations scaled to different sizes help hide the visible seams where you would normally see the tiling. I suggested the copper material because it is fairly simple and easy to dissect, but almost all of the start content materials use some form of micro and macro texture variation.
Another good way to help you understand how to break up tiling, is to create a material instance of the copper material. You will first want to create a single vector scalar parameter (hold down the ‘S’ key in material editor and left click). Create three of these and connect them to the ‘B’ input of each multiply in ‘Macro Texture Variation’ section. Use the image below as reference.
Scalar Parameters - Macro Texture Variation
Once you have done this, you can locate the material in the content browser, right-click, and choose the ‘Create Material Instance’ option. Below you can see how this same material applied as a regular material versus an instance is modified to look unique. As you can see, the macro values are higher, which means they will tile more in the 0 to 1 UV space. Below is an example of how the macro texture variation can change the look of your materials quickly when used in conjunction as a material instance.
Material Instance - Texture Tiling
Notice how the one copper material instance on the left appears more uniform and has somewhat noticable tiling. The original one on the right are the values used with the default material, and you can see how it appears unique across the entire surface.
This should get you on your way, but let me know if you have further questions or need additional assistance.
Cheers,
Thanks! That’s exactly what im looking for! A nice learning workflow. I’ll do that and i’ll let you know if i have more questions.Thank you so much!