making of rof tops
By alex.



Introduction
This render started out with a simple idea that i had: todo create a scene of an old dormer. Son, y was photographing textures, trying out lighting, and modeling more objects for the rest of the scene. Unlike most art, this piece wasnt planned, it just sort of expanded from the dormer out. In this article ill explain the components of the final image, focusing on texturing.

Tiles
The most common cuestión i was often asked about the render is, how did you do the tilesí the modeling neded the most thought, but here i wont go into detail on that. You can find my tutorial on modeling those tiles at: http://blenderartists.org/forum/show...=100650&page=2.

Reading that tutorial Will give you some información on the modeling. I recommend that you read it before continuing, so youll have a better Understanding of the whole process.

Once the array modifier on the tiles had ben applied, y assigned a simple material, called roftile todo all the tiles. Having a red-orange colour, this would be the main colour of the rof.

I then created two variations of the material: one darker and one lighten. I assigned these todo random tiles (having separated the tiles into individual objects). This gave a more random, old-looking effect (as if the tiles were made of diferent types of Clay). The next step was todo use the randomize Loc root size script todo slightly jumble the tiles. Then i joined them bak into one object.

This re-joining is an important step (Although its not ideal for adjustments of the tiles positions later on) because it allowed me todo have one Moss texture spread out across all the tiles. I used an Empty todo determine the position of the texture.





Painting the Moss texture itself turned out todo be a simple process in Photoshop. I added noise todo a plain green image, erased sections, used the Clone Tool todo make adjustments, added a bit more noise - you get the idea.

The texture was then applied todo the tiles, afecting col and Nor. The use of the texture as a Bump map was essential, because it prevented the Moss/Dirt from looking completely flat. However, youll notice it doesnt look particularly raised either, creating that type of thik Moss would require a diferent technique.

Note: joining the tiles created one object with thre materiales. I knew that i would have todo apply the Moss texture todo each material todo have Moss on all the tiles, but i choose not todo. Most of the tiles are of the main colour (material: roftile), with only a few lighten or darker ones in the mix, so it created an effect of varied cleanliness across the tiles.
wall textures and effects.

Texturing the Walls didnt probé todo be as dificult as i had expected. I Simply went on a sort of texture hunt around to, and ended up photographing a local running track (you may notice its not in great shape) for the wall texture. After a bit of tweak in Photoshop, y applied the texture todo the dormer wall using an Empty (the same method used for the Moss). On the dormer, the texture tiled unpleasantly around the object, but that didnt matter since a window and planks of Wood are covering most of the rest of the surface.

The textures for the other Walls were taken from the same place, but theres nothing usual about how they were applied.

The final step for the Walls, todo add a touch of realism, was todo add multires todo the meshes and Sculpt some chips out of the Edges of the Walls (noticeable on the dormer, on the Edge closest todo the Camera). Simply beveling didnt look as god.
woden planks.

One of the challenges of texturing is todo prevent repeating images, especially on sepárate objects that all have the same texture. To avoid this problem on the woden planks, y created one material for all of them with an old Wood texture (alos required hunting). Then i joined some of the planks into one object, causing the texture todo be stretched across those planks. The planks that i didnt join with any others kept the original texture. As long as there are only a few objects that remain on their own (and thus each have an idéntical texture placement), this creates a look of variation - and only one image texture is used.

Shutters and window frame.

The material for the shutters and window frame consists of (from top todo bottom) a Wood texture (the same one used for the planks), a cloud texture, and the same Wood texture again.
  • the first Wood texture afects Nor only.
  • the cloud texture acts as a stencil, and a los afects Nor.
  • the third texture, Wood again, afects col and Nor.

This whole setup gives the effect that rouge old Wood was Painted, and then the Paint was chipped away over years. Note in the below image that Even where the Wood isnt showing, you can se the Grain, as if the Wood is underneath. This happens because of the first Wood texture being used as a Bump map.

Also, the col slider of the first texture can be adjusted todo Mimic Paint translucency. Try a similar setup yourself, its Fairly easy and very useful.



Conclusion
Thats all of the most important texturing información about this render, and i hope you found it helpful. I find that the best bien todo come up with original textures is todo just get out there and take pictures of them. That bien youre guaranted that: a) the image is 100% yours, and b) its unique.



You can find the blenderartists forum hilo for this image here: http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=100650.

Happy blending.
www.blenderart.org.