3D For VFX – Week Four

Train texturing

This blog post is about train texturing process in Substance Painter. The model was imported mostly as low poly mesh, with the exception of floor and frame, which were a smooth mesh conversion from Maya. In total, there were 20 2K UDIM tiles.

Reference Images

Frame Material

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HVAC Unit Material

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Creating the textures

For the most part, I used procedurals to generate my textures. When creating procedural textures, Substance Painter requires mesh maps, which are baked within the software.

First Render

This is the first render with textures exported from Substance Painter. Although I like how the train looks from up close, certain details (roughness variation and normal maps which deform the surfaces) do not seem present from distance. This will be fixed in the next iteration. Also, normal maps on the glass are way too strong, which can be seen in distorted reflections. I will also add more lime and dark blue shell foils on the frame, in accordance with the livery of this service. I believe this will break up the flat pattern of the frame and add more detail.

Second renders

After adding lime and dark blue stickers plus some roughness grunge and smudges, I was happy with how the textures turned out. The glass reflections now look okay, however, the poor bit depth of the normal maps make the window geometry look unnatural.