'Stairwell', Just some filler - i

As I have been texturing the environment I have stumbled across some interesting and somewhat useful items on the world wide web! Again, this blog is purely for my own purposes and can almost serve as a resource of mine for future endeavors. So this quick update is just to highlight some interesting and useful sites (that I found):

Glass Texture
So a few days ago I did spend a fair bit of time trying to figure out how to create dirty looking glass windows and (ideally) include a checkerboard effect to them. This proved very difficult however towards the end of my searching I discovered this...

https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?6755-WIP-SuperXCM-Shaders-light

Basically this guy has managed to create something close to what I wish to do. With careful manipulation I might be able to figure out a way to get what I desire! I am leaving this for next week when I can spend a good day attempting it. This web link provides the material set-up 'this guy' used for his glass material.

Wood Textures
In the end I ended up using cgtextures.com but I thought I'd take note of this page as it looks very useful and has lots of wood textures!

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/28-high-resolution-wood-textures-for-designers/

Of course, when using textures from online, I end up editing them heavily as they usually serve as a background layer whilst I go over and over it, making it as original as possible.

Texture Sizes
When comparing my work to big AAA titles I always wonder how I can't get my textures to look as good (as detailed). I thought it might be because I am using texture files of 1024x1024. After carrying out a little research on what the next gen games use it was quite fuzzy with mixed answers. I think it pretty much depends on the teams budget etc but I did find this forum useful and interesting:

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134911

Creating Next Generation Assets
It might be a little late to be looking at this but I can certainly look to apply some of the techniques to my next project - whatever that may be...
This individual actually goes through the pipeline of creating a next gen asset which is very helpful. One thing I have always wanted to learn (which I will learn once I get a job!) is what the actual pipeline is. I know it will differ from company to company depending on a range of factors such as size etc, but I do look forward to starting a new job and immediately carrying out work in their ideal pipeline.

http://www.cgmasters.net/free-tutorials/what-to-know-when-creating-next-gen-assets/

Personal Notes

So this is a relatively long blog (compared to the others) but it is basically just a quick update some things I found interesting. I am currently looking to finish the texturing of the environment by the end of this week. That means next week will be used for:

• Lighting
• Glass Texture (hopefully)
• Final Touch up
• Apply and sort portfolio

I am really excited to finish this. I can already see an improvement to my last project (Honours Project) in terms of texturing which is what I wanted to achieve.