Prop Design Ideation and Texturing with ID Maps

*Ideations of a bookshelf and wardrobe. 

When creating props for our game, we wanted to have it where we weren’t necessarily copying real-world objects. Instead, we wanted them to be our own inspired ideas. Our process began with searching for reference images. We then created ideations of our props. This helped us narrow down which designs we liked most. We then decided which ideation to model and modeled them using Autodesk Maya. 

Once we completed modeling, we unwrapped the UVs of each model and condensed them into one 2048 x 2048 pixel square. This allowed us to texture multiple models without assigning one material to a single prop.  

*The untextured props. 

We then made ID maps for our props by assigning colors to different segments through the vertex painting menu. This allowed us to texture our models with ease using Substance 3D Painter. During this process, we chose colors that were not too similar, as colors that were too similar yielded unexpected results when texturing. We then imported the models into Substance Painter.  

Prop design iteration and texturing with ID maps helped us with making the props our own and had made texturing relatively easier. 

*Props with ID maps shown. 

Before we started texturing, we first baked our mesh maps. Before baking, however, we changed the ID map color source from material color to vertex color. This allowed us to use our ID map we created in Maya. Then, utilizing Painter’s fill layers, black masks, color selection adjustments, and built-in material assets, we textured each segment of our models using the colors of our ID map. Once we completed texturing, we exported those textures, made any necessary adjustments in Photoshop, and added the models and textures to Unreal Engine.  

*Props with textures applied. 

Using references to create our props helped us make them our own, without necessarily modeling real-world objects. Applying ID color maps to our props also helped us with the texturing process, allowing us to apply textures to a certain color or colors. Ultimately, this made for a more straightforward means of making and texturing props. 

-Laura Supinski