Texturing questions

marble

Hi.

I have Filter Forge and The Fabricator - bought with the intent of making it easy for me to apply a greater variety of textures to clothing and to models such as wall coverings, furniture, etc. But I'm not sure I understand all that I could be doing with these tools. For example:

1. Can Fabricator be used for textures other than fabrics?
2. If so, when would I use a seamless texture tile (for example, one created using Filter Forge) and when would I use Fabricator?
3. Is it possible to convert seamless tiles into Fabricator materials? If so, how?
4. This one is probably impossible but I'll ask anyway - how could I apply more than one texture to a surface area? Is it possible to divide the surface - as defined by the surfaces tab (or the surface selector tool)?

An example of #4 would be: I have a building set which has some (in my opinion) poor surface images applied. I want to change them but I find that the wall and the door/window frames all use the same surface definition, therefore changing the walls also changes the door/window frames. Is there a way to redifine those areas?

JimmyC_2009

Hello marble.

Fabricator can be used on Clothing Props and Figures, it uses JPEG images, so they can be applied to anything.

2. If so, when would I use a seamless texture tile (for example, one created using Filter Forge) and when would I use Fabricator?
3. Is it possible to convert seamless tiles into Fabricator materials? If so, how?

From the Product Page :

And you can easily add your own fabrics to The Fabricator just by making a seamless square that tiles nicely at 10 by 10 and saving it as a Shader Preset with default DS settings.

4. This one is probably impossible but I’ll ask anyway - how could I apply more than one texture to a surface area? Is it possible to divide the surface - as defined by the surfaces tab (or the surface selector tool)? An example of #4 would be: I have a building set which has some (in my opinion) poor surface images applied. I want to change them but I find that the wall and the door/window frames all use the same surface definition, therefore changing the walls also changes the door/window frames. Is there a way to redifine those areas?

That is what I would use the Polygon Group Editor for inside DS. You can create new shading areas by selecting a group of Polygons, naming them, and that area will then appear in the Surfaces pane so that you can texture it on it's own.

marble

Thanks, Jimmy.

Let's see if I understand ... the difference between Fabricator and just applying a texture tile is that Fabricator is a shader, not a texture - right? I'm still not sure when to use one or the other though. I always render in Reality (Luxrender) and Fabricator shaders seem to work well, which is why I'd probably prefer that route.

I notice that Filter Forge can creates tiles of varying dimensions (pixel dimensions) - what size would you recommend? I can always change the vertical/horizontal tiling setting but is there a rule of thumb?

Polygon Group Editor is something I have not played with much - is it straightforward? I'm quite thrilled that what I thought would be impossible (without editing the code) is, perhaps, possible - but that's why I asked the question :)

JimmyC_2009

Let’s see if I understand ... the difference between Fabricator and just applying a texture tile is that Fabricator is a shader, not a texture - right? I’m still not sure when to use one or the other though. I always render in Reality (Luxrender) and Fabricator shaders seem to work well, which is why I’d probably prefer that route.

Strictly Fabricator is a 'Shader Preset' I believe, and there is an excellent tutorial on ShareCG on how to create your own textures to use in fabricator by the creator Marieah here :
http://www.sharecg.com/v/57749/browse/3/PDF-Tutorial/Saving-Shaders-and-Packing-for-DS-Fabricator

There are loads of free packs for Fabricator on ShareCG, and I grabbed about ten or twelve of them when Fabricator first came out, there are many more now.

I notice that Filter Forge can creates tiles of varying dimensions (pixel dimensions) - what size would you recommend? I can always change the vertical/horizontal tiling setting but is there a rule of thumb?

Some of the ones I have use PNG texture files, others use JPG, some are 800 x 800, and others are 400 x 400, I donl;t think it matters too much what size they are. I'm sure the PDF will explain that.

Polygon Group Editor is something I have not played with much - is it straightforward? I’m quite thrilled that what I thought would be impossible (without editing the code) is, perhaps, possible - but that’s why I asked the question smile

It is fairly straightforward to use, you make a selection of the polygons that you want in a separate group, supply a name for them, and you can then use that area as a 'shading domain' as it would be called in Hexagon, to apply a separate material

There is also another of these packs, like Fabricator, called Design Toolbox : http://www.daz3d.com/design-tool-box-bundle and it does flooring and wallpaper and paint. There are also separate files for Reality users for Design Toolbox as well. Worth having a look at.

marble

Thanks again - I'm going to read that PDF tutorial now. I've also got a lot of those ShareCG fabrics and use them all the time. That's what prompted me to ask whether I could do the same with "hard" surfaces like brick or concrete.

The Design Toolbox looks interesting but, given what I have already, do I actually need it? If so, I will wait until the next sale - it's a bit pricey for my pocket at the moment.

I found a document describing the Polygon Group Editor but it isn't very comprehensive. I'll play with it and see how I get on.

JimmyC_2009

I bought Design Toolbox during a sale too. The main reason that I mentioned it, was because of the Reality shaders supplied with it, but you can use Fabricator just as well for now I think.

See how you get on with the Polygon Group Editor, I think it is a very useful tool.