Looking for recommendations
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...on a good style for "sci-fi" wall panels and/or hull textures for models. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
![This is what I have been using so far. Recently realized, it is too "Manga" for what I am trying to do.](/uploads/imported_attachments/8BLE_649ShipHull7.jpg "This is what I have been using so far. Recently realized, it is too "Manga" for what I am trying to do.")
I am not looking for a source of downloadable textures. Already got those, and have already tired of the dearth of anything but Manga style hull-plating, mainly because after awhile I realized they all looked so fake. IRL, nobody would plate a ships hull that way. It would be wasteful, heavy and expensive.
I am actually looking for a discussion of various directions I should explore in my efforts to create my own new hull plating / wall plating textures. I have spent time examining images of RL spacecraft and aircraft, and while I have to admire the efficiency of the designs, they really are not much for visual texture. Subsequently, I have come to the conclusionthat I must strike a balance between visual excitement, and dull, boring, humdrum reality.
To that end, I am embarking on a project to design a bunch of my own hull textures for use in SU and Twilight, which I will be happy to make freely available to everyone here, once I am done drawing them.
So, any ideas or recommendations for visual patterning?
Cathryn -
You might try filterforge
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@spookychick1013 said:
I am not looking for a source of downloadable textures.
Completely missed that, sorry. Should I just delete it?
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Thanks, Jim. Not quite what I was looking for, though. I was looking more for a discussion of design principles and perhaps some ideas / guidelines to follow in coming up with a texture that does not look like the above example. More of a discussion of artistic styles than anything else.
I have about 10 MB of textures like the ones I saw on filterforge, all of which really don't fit what I'm looking for anymore.
Thanks for taking the time to make the suggestion though.Edit:
Ok. I retract what I said a few minutes ago, because I hadn't read far enough on the website. I did not realize this had standalone functionality, or that it was a fully functional trial. 
That said, it will take some of the slogging out of this process. Thank you very much Jim! 
ANyone who would like to discuss the artistic elements of things is still welcome to provide input, though.
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Woops! cross posted with you there. NO need to delete. It might help someone else as much as it has just helped me!
A very sincere Thank You Jim!! -
What about a tiled steel sheets with rivets around it. Might be a little cliche but who knows. Other than that many Sci-fi shows I've seen seem to want a clean 'Hospital' look with shiny white walls.
just my suggestion is all.
Rob
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@rspierenburg said:
What about a tiled steel sheets with rivets around it. Might be a little cliche but who knows. Other than that many Sci-fi shows I've seen seem to want a clean 'Hospital' look with shiny white walls.
just my suggestion is all.
Rob
Tiled metal sheet with rivets (fasteners of some sort anyway) with no rust.
Yeah, that's the direction logic is taking me at the moment. Shiny white walls are nice in some areas, but get boring quickly. I am also very partial to the grungy post-industrial cyberpunk look for city stuff, but I don't feel it has anyplace on a spacecraft.
I mean, how do spaceships even rust in vaccuum?Tiled panels with visible weld lines is something else I am exploring at the moment
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Will these work?
Diffuse
Bump
Reflection
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As in any approach to manufacturing, the underlying structure or framework would dictate the fuselage or body. For example most modern aircraft are assembled in 16' x 4' sheets with the overlap joints about 6".
But the common theme across all forms of transport would be Bulkheads. Whether ringed, square or oval they're vital to providing strength to outer shell. These bulkheads are the primary fastening points with frames and stringers the secondary points.
Now I'm rambling! Imagine your ships skeleton and the textures seams will follow the bones.
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@solo said:
Will these work?
Diffuse
[attachment=2:1cb16zio]<!-- ia2 -->panel diffuse.jpg<!-- ia2 -->[/attachment:1cb16zio]Bump
[attachment=1:1cb16zio]<!-- ia1 -->panel bump.jpg<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment:1cb16zio]Reflection
[attachment=0:1cb16zio]<!-- ia0 -->panel reflection map.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1cb16zio]@Solo:Thanks, Pete. The diffuse map is pretty nice. Won't necessarily work for hull texturing, but it would be a GORGEOUS building wall panel, and with permission, I think I will adopt it for that.
@Rclub24: Yeah, that's actually the structural design path I follow for aerospace craft and such. Visual texture of the individual panels is where I've been having to rethink everything with an eye toward finding a balance between "Ooooh! That looks really kewl!!!" and "Realistic enough, but boring...."
Good reminder though!Bolshoyeh Spasebaw, both of you!
Cathryn
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