Texturing - Substance Painter | Baking | Texturing Basics |

A PBR material, which actually stands for Physics-Based Rendering material, is a virtual material pipeline that can simulate any kind of physical material to improve a 3D model. It includes a multitude of parameters such as base color, metalness and roughness. These parameters determine how realistic the textures would look in order to establish a particular look and feel on the 3D model.

In Substance Painter, the model has Texture Sets that can be used to apply different textures to. These texture sets have different channels in the Texture Set Settings shader and each channel represents the aforementioned material properties such as Basecolor, Metallic or Roughness, Height.

Within the Texture Set Settings, we have Mesh Maps where the Baking process happens. Baking is the process where geometry information can be saved from the mesh and onto texture maps. It is always recommended to go through with the baking process as it speeds up the texturing process and helps with the material placement.

For more depth and detail, I added the MatFinish Galvanized Filter from my Asset library. With the settings panel, the values can be adjusted to tweak the look and feel of the model.?

Some key points to remember when working within Substance Painter

• Always Open GL if working in Maya
• Disable Auto unwrap because UV Mapping is manually done
• Keep your Use UV Tile Workflow ON.

Texture sets can be exported as a single texture set or multiple texture sets, allowing you to texture across the model or on certain parts, respectively.

When starting with texturing, a fill layer can be created to which a base color can be assigned followed by a black or a white mask to add details to the model. With the help of the settings panel, the height, roughness and metallic channels can be adjusted. To add further details on the model, a generator or a filter can be added to add more depth to the model.?

Paint layer does not give that level of flexibility - Which is why it is recommended to create a fill layer and then add a paint layer within it.?

To view the model under different lighting, we can change the environment and enable different channels by going into Texture Set Settings > Channels.

To add fill in the model based on polygons, the Polygon Fill can be used - Create a fill layer > apply black mask.

Some things to remember:

• Thickness maps can be used for subsurface scattering during the texturing process
• When baking - set Use low poly mesh to high poly mesh always ON
• Curvature - Increase secondary rays - this adds the edges and the cavities within a mesh. Using a curvature generator and adding a black mask to it and adding the textures such as grunge can allow it to be applied on the curvature.
• For Exporting - Export textures in Substance Painter. Go to Maya, assign aistandardsurface - since you’re working in Arnold textures to the model > File > Add the file and the texture should be applied. With the help of lights based on whatever mood and tone you’re going for, the model can be seen with all the textures applied.?

Maya allows you to view the textures directly in its interface in the Substance tab. To view the Substance tab in Maya

Plug in Manager > turn substance on > then go to substance > Apply workflow to image maps > select multiple maps and now you have the textures there.?

To polish my basics and get a deeper understanding of Substance Painter texturing, I practiced using a barrel workshop tutorial created by my University professor.?My way of working in Substance is to create several folders to group my layers. This keeps my work organized and prevents me from losing my sanity while going through numerous layers during the texturing process.?

On the barrel, I applied a base color and then added a black mask to it. Then I created a fill layer on the black mask and applied a grunge texture on it. After applying the grunge texture, I experimented with its balance, contrast, seed and color to achieve the look I was going for. The look of the texture is also determined by the kind of projection used - so a tri planar projection would give a different result than a planar projection or a UV projection.

Similarly, after applying the texture to it, I started working on its roughness. The lesser the roughness, the glossier the look of the model. Since I wanted to go for a mix between the roughness and oily look on the barrel, I added a grunge and then adjusted the roughness on it. I also added a Curvature generator on the fill layer for the curves in my model to be smooth and then in the settings panel I adjusted the global blur to achieve a nice smooth curved finish.

On the barrel, I added the Dirt generator on the black mask that I created as before

Fill Layer > Create Black Mask > Add Generator > Dirt

I adjusted the dirt and where I wanted it in the settings panel which allows a great level of flexibility when achieving a particular texture. I also added another dirt generator by creating another black mask on a new fill layer to add an extra amount of detail on my model.

The main idea was to practice how to create extra details onto the model and get a deeper understanding of how to create different kinds of textures using brushes, generators and layering in Substance Painter.