I’m working on a personal piece for my portfolio. I’m aiming for a PC/console-quality scene and I’m trying to follow the right texturing workflow. I want something that looks AAA but still stays optimized.
It’s my first time working on a proper game environment. Right now, I’ve experimented with trim sheets and UDIMs, but I’m not 100% sure what’s best for something this big. My 4K textures give me around 470 px/m, which I think is alright, and I don’t want to go overboard with massive texture sizes.
Here’s what I’m wondering (and I’d love opinions from people who’ve done this professionally):
Should I stick with trim sheets and just layer dirt/grunge in-engine using decals or packed texture masks? Or should I go fully unique in Substance Painter for that detailed, worn look (as shown in my reference)?
For something split into multiple parts (roof, base, wheels, etc.), should I use UDIMs or just separate materials? I know UDIMs are great for seamless surfaces, but is it still the right call when the mesh is already split?
How do you usually handle large assets like this? Using trims alone loses local details like wear, grime, and chipped paint — so what’s the best way to balance scale and surface detail?
When working on environment pieces like these, how do you typically plan out your materials in general?
Based on my topology, should I forget about vertex painting for extra details, or is there a practical workaround?
I’ll share some screenshots of my WIP, UVs, and materials so you can see what I mean. I just want to know how the pros handle texturing large, realistic assets like this — balancing fidelity, efficiency, and storytelling (dirt, rust, wear, etc.).
Is this more a modelling question is what I’m wondering. I personally would probablly add grunge textures that can be painted on when needed if talking Unreal. Otherwise you may want to bake them. It’s a solid model but could use a little dirt
If it is more a modelling thing, it may be best to ask on the Discord possibly in the Blender channel. My knowledge of this kind of thing is limited.
Thanks for your feedback @beegeedee
I’m actually talking about the texturing. I’m not sure of how to tackle it
I thought I could just texture it in substance painter, but I hit a wall in texel density when I tried it. So, I tried UDIMs but 6 UV spaces for 1 environment asset seems overboard. So, I’m just looking for some ideas to tackle the problem
The blender users would be your best bet. I know yoy can create simplified meshes and bake the normal map and texture for minimal detail loss but I’m no 3d modelling expert and couldn’t even begin to tell you how.
4K is nice to have when you want to show details. Which is dependent on the usage of this model.
You have to consider loading times and memory consumption.
It’s not easy to say, use this or do that.
One huge bitmap is one disk (network) access. But then, do you need all the visual info on the bitmap? Filling your memory space …
Also a bitmap (diffuse) is not the only part of a 3D material definition. Think also on normal maps, bump maps and dependent on it game usage, light maps, shadow maps ,etc…
When creating a 3D model, you will need also Low- and high poly models. With the matching bitmaps.
Using UDIMS is handy for reducing complexity. But then, do you need al the info for the scene your are thinking of.
If you model is sold as a high poly modeled asset, then yes use 4K 8K images. And let the buyer decide how to handle the data. Because you als a designer don’t know how the asset will be used. For that it is also handy to deliver olso a low poly version. Because then, as a designer, you have all the control on the visual part 3D and images.
But that said, it all depends on it’s usage which is difficult to predict, when you don’t know the project.
It’s like agile-scrum projects in software dev-teams. You only build things which help the user …
My plan for the model is to integrate it into a real-time game environment. While the train is just one of the models in the scene, it’s one of the largest and plays a significant role in the storytelling. I’ve decided to abandon the UDIM workflow and instead use material slots.
I’m currently texturing it from scratch in Substance Painter and exporting the final texture maps as standard PBR textures. This is just one of the two train models I’ve made. As I mentioned, I’m using this as practice to apply everything I’ve learned. I plan to try the seamless texture + packed masks workflow with the second model.
My goal is to create a realistic, well-optimized scene, and I’m hopeful I can achieve that.
