Leo Martínez
Creating a tree texture in Substance Painter involves a combination of digital tools and artistic techniques. While specific software may vary, the overall process typically includes generating tree bark textures, creating leaf and branch assets, and blending these elements together to achieve a realistic tree appearance. Artists often rely on references, photographs, and tools like Substance 3D and SpeedTree to craft detailed trees, with particular attention to lighting, colour variations, and removing seams.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Software | Substance 3D Painter, Photoshop, SpeedTree, Marmoset Toolbag |
| Tutorials | Video guides by Nikola Damjanov, YouTube tutorials, basic courses from different schools |
| Techniques | Baking Albedo in Marmoset Toolbag, using a custom filter, generating tree bark from a single image, using photogrammetry, creating a tree bark material procedurally, using diffuse light |
| Challenges | Removing glare and seams, lighting for photography, creating realistic foliage, fruit, and branches |
| Tips | Using a photo of bark as a resource, adding color variations and gradients to textures, baking billboards inside the tree |
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What You'll Learn
Using Adobe Substance and other tools
Adobe Substance has released a new series of video guides by Nikola Damjanov on creating tree bark materials using Adobe Substance and other tools. The tutorial covers three different methods: generating tree bark from a single image with Substance Alchemist, creating a custom filter, and a fully procedural method using only Substance Designer.
The first method involves using Substance Alchemist to generate tree bark from a single image. This can be done by baking a photogrammetry-based mesh down to textures and cleaning up the seams. The artist can then use this custom filter to create the desired tree bark texture. The second approach involves creating a tree bark material fully procedurally using only Substance Designer. This method does not require any source images or textures and relies solely on the tools and nodes within Substance Designer to generate the tree bark.
Additionally, some artists have shared their workflows and experiences in creating realistic tree models. For instance, Yana Bystrova discussed her process of creating a realistic tangerine tree using SpeedTree, Substance 3D, and Marmoset Toolbag. She based her work on real photos, accurately capturing the size and patterns of the foliage, fruit, and branches. She also mentioned the challenges of working with shiny objects, such as the mandarin fruit, and the need to remove glare and seams. To achieve more beautiful color variations, she added gradients to the textures in Substance 3D Painter or Photoshop, although this extended the overall time required for the project.
Another artist shared their experience using Maya and Substance Painter to create branches with leaves. They encountered challenges in understanding how the leaves were applied to the texture in Substance Painter and ensuring that the texture appeared on both sides of the plane. They sought assistance through online communities, demonstrating the value of sharing techniques and receiving feedback to improve pixel art skills.
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Baking photogrammetry-based meshes
First, ensure you have a high-poly model ready and accessible. This model will provide the intricate details that will be baked onto the low-poly mesh. The high-poly mesh is characterised by a large number of polygons, enabling it to display high-resolution 3D details. Next, create a new project in Substance Painter and select your low-poly mesh as the base model. Navigate to the "
Select the maps you wish to bake, such as Normal Maps, Ambient Occlusion (AO) Maps, and Curvature Maps, and click the “Bake” button. Substance Painter will then process the high-poly details and transfer them onto your low-poly mesh. This baking process allows you to combine the high level of detail from the high-poly mesh with the low performance costs of the low-poly mesh. Once the baking is complete, you can refine and add additional textures. Use Substance Painter's painting tools to define the base colours and fine details, as well as the material properties of your mesh, such as glossiness and metallicity.
After texturing, export the texture maps for use in your chosen application. Substance Painter offers versatile export options to support various workflows. It is important to maintain consistent naming conventions for your high-poly and low-poly models throughout the process to streamline baking and avoid confusion. Additionally, ensure your low-poly mesh has clean and non-overlapping UVs to prevent texture issues.
By understanding and utilising the baking process in Substance Painter, you can create highly detailed and optimised meshes, elevating your 3D models, such as tree textures, to professional standards with unparalleled realism.
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Cleaning texture seams
To create a tree texture in Substance Painter, you'll need to start by preparing your 3D model. This involves cleaning up the model by removing unnecessary geometry and details that won't add value to the final render. Proper UV mapping is critical at this stage, as UVs are 2D representations of your 3D model's surface, and they must be laid out to minimise distortion.
Once your model is ready, you can begin the texturing process. To clean texture seams, ensure your UV mapping is done correctly and that your texture sets are aligned properly. You can use the Clone tool in Substance Painter to blend seams together and remove any visible UV seams. Additionally, tools like Blender and Maya can be used to unwrap your 3D model, ensuring that textures are applied correctly without any stretching or texture seams.
After texturing, review your work by examining your model from different angles and under different lighting conditions. Pay attention to details and look out for any issues like seams or stretching. If you spot any problems, go back and fix them using the appropriate techniques.
For more complex textures like tree bark, you can refer to tutorials that discuss specific methods and tools for creating realistic results. For example, a tutorial by Nikola Damjanov covers three different methods for creating tree bark materials using Adobe Substance and other tools. It includes a discussion on cleaning up the seams of the texture and creating a fully procedural tree bark material.
By following these steps and utilising the right tools, you can effectively clean texture seams when creating a tree texture in Substance Painter.
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Using custom filters
Creating a tree texture in Substance Painter involves using custom filters and procedures in Substance Designer. This allows for the addition of variation, such as ornaments and texture diversity.
To create custom filters, you can follow these steps:
Start by opening Substance Designer and creating a new project. You will be working with nodes, which are functional "blocks" that offer various functions. There are generator nodes for shapes, patterns, or noise, atomic nodes for processing data, and function nodes for specific tasks.
To add nodes to your project, you can either drag them from the Library onto the Graph window or select commonly used nodes from the toolbar above the Graph window. You can also press the spacebar while the Graph window is selected to bring up a search box, allowing you to quickly find and add nodes by typing part of their name.
For a tree texture, you might want to start with a shape node, which can be found in the Patterns section under the main Texture Generators category. This will serve as the basis for your tree texture.
To customize the node's behaviour, you can view and adjust its properties in the Properties window on the right side of the screen. Here, you can modify various parameters to create the desired tree texture.
Additionally, you can create custom procedures and filters for Substance Painter. For example, you can follow tutorials by Brent LeBlanc, Materials Technical Director at Blue Sky Studios, who demonstrates how to create a custom procedure in Designer to generate texture variations for a medieval door. This includes exposing handles and parameter types, random colours, plank size, and creating multi-switch nodes.
By utilizing these custom filters and procedures in Substance Designer, you can create a diverse and detailed tree texture in Substance Painter.
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Creating bark materials
Gathering References and Resources
Collecting reference images and resources is a crucial first step. Visit botanical gardens or natural environments to capture photographs of various tree barks. These references provide an accurate foundation for creating authentic textures. Alternatively, you can utilise online sources for additional reference images, ensuring you have a diverse collection to work with.
Baking the Base Texture
Utilise tools like Marmoset Toolbag to bake the base texture of the bark. Start by baking the Albedo, considering the topology to ensure a clean and seamless result. Address any glare issues and remove seams to refine the texture. This process forms the foundation for the subsequent texturing steps.
Colour Adjustments and Variations
After establishing the base texture, introduce colour adjustments and variations. If you're creating a specific tree type, such as a tangerine tree, modify the bark colour accordingly. You can also experiment with different colour gradients in Substance 3D Painter or Photoshop to achieve more beautiful and realistic colour variations. Remember that the time invested in this step is often rewarded with superior visual results.
Procedural Material Creation
Explore the option of creating tree bark materials fully procedurally using Substance Designer. This method allows you to craft the bark texture from scratch within the software, giving you precise control over every aspect of the material. This technique can be particularly useful when you don't have access to specific reference images or want to create unique and fantastical tree bark designs.
Cleaning Seams and Final Adjustments
Pay close attention to the seams of your texture. Utilise the techniques demonstrated by artists like Nikola Damjanov, who explains how to clean up the seams of photogrammetry-based meshes. This step ensures that your bark texture blends seamlessly and realistically onto the tree model. Make any final adjustments to the lighting and overall presentation of the bark material to ensure it aligns with your desired outcome.
By following these steps and continuously refining your techniques, you'll be well on your way to creating highly realistic and detailed tree bark materials in Substance Painter. Remember to refer to online tutorials and resources for further guidance and to stay up-to-date with the latest tools and methods in the field of 3D texturing.
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Frequently asked questions
You can create a tree texture in Substance 3D Painter by ruling the textures after baking the Albedo in Marmoset Toolbag.
It is important to remove glare and seams. You can also add some gradients to the textures to achieve more beautiful color variations.
You can take photos of references and leaves for textures. You can also use a photo of bark as a resource and modify it to match the specific type of tree you are creating.
By default, many apps will only display one side of a polygon. However, you can use a PBR with alpha blend in Substance Painter to make it double-sided.
Yes, Adobe Substance has released a new series of video guides by Nikola Damjanov, which includes methods for creating tree bark materials using Adobe Substance and other tools.
