Textures

Today in the tutorial, we have been learning how to add textures but make them look better than last year. As sometimes the textures look distorted and low quality, this will be an important factor (especially as I am creating a lot of the buildings) so keeping the textures looking detailed will add to the overall detail of the buildings and the scene as a whole.

The first thing that I did was adjust the preferences: Customise > Preferences > Viewports > Configure Driver > Mtach Bitmap Size As Closely As Possible.

Now, to make a simple building, I have made a plane and adjusted the segments so that there is only one length and one width segment. This makes applying the texture simpler and cuts down on the polygons.

Now to create polygon sections that align with the windows and the rest of the building, I have used the quickslice tool. This is another tool that I have only tried briefly before, but as I still find it tricky to use I've avoided it. But this year I will make the effort to use it as it is easier and I need to eventually get to grips with it. The first sections that have been divided using this tool are the brickwork in the texture. This was then extruded so that it stuck out from the windows.

Next, the framing part of the windows needed to be selected using the quickslice. These parts were then extruded as well, but not as far out as the main brickwork of the building. It can now be seen that the building looks much more detailed and realistic, just through having a few parts of the building extruding slightly.

To finish off, the plane that I have been working on has been cloned and rotated to fit around the edges and create a realistic looking office block like building. The planes have been rotated whilst having the angle snap toggle turned on so that the angles are precise. Another two planes have been used for the base and the roof with the colours changed to fit in with the rest of the building.

This tutorial has been particularly useful for me, as it is showing a more efficient method to create complex looking buildings simply and with minimal polygons. New tools have been learnt as well as new settings, which can be applied to other parts of the project, not just buildings.