Fundamental surface texturing question?

[jakerupert]

Hi folks,

 

Could somebody please clarify some "simple" question about texturing for me?

 

-Decaling renders faster then the procedural materials right?

 

So if I would paint ,for instance Tom, in color red in 3D-Painter he would render faster as if I would set his surface property-color from yellow to red, correct?

 

So would I gain some substantial time saving effect in rendertimes in big chors/scenes this way?

Would I have this effect as well, if I would use the toonshader?

 

-then ,If I would like to have Tom shiny (reflective) in the painted/decaled version, I would have to make reflection maps for Tom, right?

or could I combine the decals with surface properties like reflection or transparency as well?

 

Thank you for some fundamental infos.

 

;>) Jake

[Paul Forwood]

Yes decals are faster than using procedurals but then you have seams to take into account so they may not be as fast to prepare. I prefer decals for many reasons, mostly because I can paint them exactly the way I want them rather than trying to mix alot of values that I don't really understand. Materials do have some nice features though.

You can alter the look of the surface by adjusting the surface properties or you can use maps for colour, speculars, bump, displacement, normal, etc, etc. Yes, you can combine decals with surface properties. You can have many different maps in one decal and you can even have many different decals applied to a surface. You can regulate the strength of the decals. It is very flexible.

[Fuchur]

I dont know exactly but as far as I know: Materials will render less fast when you are using combiners, etc. but if you are just using the surface-colors of a group, I dont think you will get any speed-ups. Maybe even slow downs because the textures have to be loaded and antialiased and so on... but I just assume that...

 

I cant say if there is a different between surfacecolor of a group and surface-colors set by an material... maybe there is a difference too...

*Fuchur*

[JohnArtbox]

If you are just setting a constant surface attribute then materials will be faster than decals. If you are applying a pattern then decals are generally faster, especially as the materials get more complex.

Decal channels override materials channels but you can mix and match ie a decal bump with a colour material.

[zandoriastudios]

Materials CAN take longer--if you have dozens of combiners within combiners, or a really complex darktree material. So it isn't a given....

For simple colors and surface attributes, I usually just set the surface properties of the group directly.