Shellshock 2 - developed by Rebellion, published by Eidos. I worked on the third level of SS2 (modeling, texturing, setdressing, lighting, effects etc) as well as helping out on a number of other levels in addition to polishing textures and other assets.
Overlord - developed by Triumph Studios, published by Codemasters. Streamline Studios was one of the outsourcing studios. While working at Streamline I produced a number of assets for Overlord, in some cases modeling and unwraping and in others just texturing as well as taking an asset from start to finish.
When time allows I try to write short texts on various subjects such as one of the tools or some things to keep in mind when creating textures. I have also written a couple of tutorials for 3dsmax that are
avaliable here. Most recently I wrote a short text on creating metal surfaces and things to keep in mind. It was mostly intended for the juniors so they had something they could look at and get ideas from. I've copied a slightly edited text below so as to not violate any ndas.
This is just a couple of things I keep in mind when creating metal surfaces. They are by no means set in stone, it's just a few things I've noticed might help when creating metal surfaces for next gen use.
The most common problem with normalmaps for metal is that it's easy to overdo it. Depending on the engine you are using, you might not be able to get sharp, crisp normalmaps unless you use fairly large texture sheets so for the most part, the fine grainy detail will have to be left to the specular. Scratches and such do work however and usually need to be in the normalmap to make it look convincing.
Below is a compilation of different types of painted metal surfaces:
As you can see, painted metal can look very different depending on what type of paint it is and what it has been subjected to. It's important to decide what type of paint your surface has been painted with since it will affect both the normal and the specular maps. Having a history in mind when you create the textures is useful since it will help you decide how to treat it. Is it an old surface with lots of scratches, new with a few dents, so old the paint has started to flake, was it painted without being cleaned up first so you have really lumpy paint, has it been polished often? Having a history will also make the object look a bit more interesting rather than "generic metal box #6". This is of course not mandatory, it's just a mental exercise that might help when creating the textures.
A common mistake is to create a normalmap that has a lot of noise in it but this makes the surface look more like leather/elephant hide than metal. If the texture is a 2048 instead of say, a 1024, the noise might have looked more like the grainy paint above but usually, it doesn't look like a convincing metal. What I would do is to tone the noise down considerably and just keep the scratches where the paint has been scratched away to reveal the metal. In addition to that, a specular with fairly high contrast can work well since paint is usually fairly matte and non-reflective (there are of course exceptions, it is as always down to what type of surface you want to mimic) whereas metal scratches can be very shiny. Another little tweak can be to make the diffuse colder. Sometimes a texture can have a fairly warm feel, with brown and almost light orange tones as a base which can make it feel almost wooden. By simply changing the hue on the base colour layers so they are more blue-tinted can make it feel more metal-y. It's a cheap trick but it works. It is also important to tweak the specular curve of your material since the way the engine renders the light shining on your material can have a large impact in addition to your textures.
When it comes to the specular, it's almost better to put a lot of the finer detail there rather than in the normalmap for the reasons outlined above. Some detail needs to be in the normalmap and mimicked in the specularmap, such as scratches while otheres shouldn't be in the specular at all. One such example is if you have a plain metal surface that has been dented. Again, this depends on what kind of effect you want. If it's a recent dent, there won't have been time for dirt and dust to collect so it hasn't become dull yet. If it's an old dent, it will be less shiny than the surrounding areas since it won't have been cleaned as well as the rest of the surface. And just to add to the confusion, some things should be in the specular but not the normalmap such as oily surfaces, grease marks, handprints etc. This is where the idea of having a history of the objects comes in handy again. Has the object been manhandled a lot, dropped, left to stand in an oilslick etc. All these things combine to make the surface look interesting and if you put the right detail in the right map, it will look fantastic.
Peter Asberg - 02 Mar 2009
