Help! Making a good metal base texture.

[Matth]

Howdy!

I got some major problems getting nice metal texture going. I've tried to follow tons of tutorials, but nothing ever seem to end good!

Basically, I am trying to make a very basic base texture, which is easy to build upon with photos and what not. An example would be:

1) The kind of metal that is on a used sword. Used, but cleaned. Small scratches, but nothing that pops too much out.

2) Metal on a gun. It's clean, but perhaps a little scratched.

I see that this kind of texture got a very good balance of scratches, and just a color. Very toned down. However, the only way I am able to make a texture looks interesting, is by grunging it.

Here is a picture of my newest attempt, made in the same manner Racer445. I doesn't fit too good on the kind of things I want it for ( See http://www.game-artist.net/forums/wo...lfire-wip.html)

The texture:



So, how should I tackle this? How would you make a good base texture. A texture that is clean, yet elegant. It can be used stad-alone for very basic texture, or be pimped upon for more grunged metal.

I know this is a question asked a lot! But metal IS hard to get right :P It would, however, help me greatly to know how. Consider 90% of my models are of metal.
Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Matth!

[maxthebest685]

How to Hand Paint Convincing Metal Textures
check this out
It's Good tut. I have learned alot from this tut.

[TheChan]

I don't think it looks too bad. I'd go a bit darker with it though, and with some slight color to it.

The spec map should be the same as the diffuse, only with way more contrast.

[King Mango]

I think of two completely different colors when thinking about swords and firearms.

When I think of a sword, I think of gleaming mirror reflections with a nice hamon (cuz I automatically think samurai sword) and very little apparent diffuse.
Now in an RPG I think of a grizzled and well trusted keeper of my life so it may once have been shiny and new, but it no long has a polish even though I keep it clean enough to eat off of. In this case I would make the diffuse something greyish, no real scratches, and nerf the reflection level a bit.

For a firearm, I always think of a colt 45. I'm old, and I like em just fine especially a para-ordnance high capacity frame... But I digress... In which case I see something very much like the modified texture TheChan posted with minor burnishing along the prominent ridges/wear points. A lot of it is going to come down to how you handle the specular and cubemap/reflections. After that it's going to be color because I think you'll find a wide range of acceptability in the diffuse. After that it will be the details in each texture sheet you create from your base.

[Matth]

Thanks guys!

@Maxtebest That is the tutorial I used to make my current base texture.

@TheChan Wouldn't that be a tad too dark?

@King Mango Well, the idea of a sword is to make it rather reflective. However, it's not suppose to be too shiny, BUT it needs some scratches.

So, how should I improve what I allready got? I allready use a specularity map, but I guess I could contrast it slightly more, for a better shine.

Cheers,
Matth

[Piflik]

Metal is all about the reflections. The Diffuse alone won't look like metal, unless you paint reflections on it, and you would only want to do that for lower end systems. With a good Specular Map, Yyour metal should look good.

[TheChan]

Originally Posted by Matth

@TheChan Wouldn't that be a tad too dark?

Depends on the type of metal and the engine you're putting it in.