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THERE IS NO SPOON
The Wonderful World of Weight Mapped Procedurals

by Steve Primeau


Faced with the dilemma of creating a photo-realistic metal texture for an important focal piece of a recent project. I experimented with several techniques. Image maps weren’t able to bring me the realistic, random and complex layers of scratches – oil spots and discolorations I found upon close examination of a beat up old spoon’s surface. Weight maps, however, provided a ready solution for precise control over the dynamic & organic textures generated by the various procedural options in LightWave. This tutorial will show you the steps to follow in order to achieve a great look that is easy to recreate on your own.

  1. Begin with your model open in modeler. Make sure the small W box in the lower right hand corner is selected, then, from the drop-down box next to it select (NEW). This brings up the New Weight Map panel. Call this map “DARK” and set its initial value to 0%. Hit OK. In your procedural view – set the window display option to UV Weight – this allows us to see where our map values are placed. Select come of the points you would like to be affected by our “DARK” texture.

    I’m selecting all the points inside the creases and crevasses of my model so I can apply a dark – unpolished look to these ‘hard to clean’ areas. I like to select a large square of points that will be affected by my material – then gradually apply the Set Map Value tool to the entire chunk, deselect the central row of points and apply a lower map value to the remaining selected points – continuing this pattern until I have a nicely shaded gradient application of the weight map. Continue applying your weight map in this fashion until you’re satisfied that all the areas you want to be affected by our procedurals are mapped.

  1. Now we’ll send the object to layout and get the creative juices really flowing! Open the surfaces panel, then open the viper preview window and render a preview so we can see the effect our procedurals are having. Starting in the color channels texture for our surface. Change the layer to a procedural texture. My initial settings are as follows –
  2. Procedural, Type: Coriolis at %150 opacity.

    Color: Bright Pink
    Scale: 0.6
    Twist: 1.0
    Offset: 0.5
    Increment: 0.5
    Lacunarity: 2.0
    Octaves: 6.0
    Noise Type: Perlin Noise
    Texture Axis: Y

    I start at an extreme value with a garish color so that it’s easier to track changes made to the pattern of the procedural. Create a new gradient layer above this first procedural; my settings are as follows –

    Gradient
    Blending Mode: Alpha, Opacity: %100
    Input Parameter: Weight Map
    Weight Map: DARK
    First Mark – Color, White -Alpha 100% - Parameter -100%
    Second Mark – Color, Black - Alpha 100% - Parameter -45%
    Third Mark – Color, White – Alpha 100% - Parameter 100%

    -Be sure to set the gradient input parameter to Weight Map and select our “DARK” texture from the drop-down that appears. Set this gradient layer’s blending mode to Alpha. Using the combination of these two layers repeated and modified in each of the surface property texture panels. My values will provide you with a good stepping off point to experimentation with perfecting the surface for your particular model. I’ve turned the Invert Layer box on for some of my gradient layers – this applies the procedural layer below it to the areas NOT weight mapped.

There you have it. Tight control over where procedurals have an effect. These weight maps can also be layered, so varying layers of influence can appear in the same section of your model. Take some time to experiment. I’d love to see what you come up with using this technique. Email me at Steve@StevePrimeau.com .

Be sure to check out Spoonman the movie here:

https://daveschool.com/spoonman

 





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