What do Product Artists use to photograph textures for their models??

jorge dorlando

Hi,

I wanted to know in general, what Artists use to photograph in the real world, to texture their models. The point I want to reach is: Are photographs taken from Smartphones eligible for this? I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (old) that doesn't work the camera anymore... I can buy a replacement camera for it if it's worth it. If someone here uses smartphone to take pictures for textures of their models, what is the model of device you use?

Richard Haseltine

Why not try it? The main issue, I'd think, would be getting a decent focal length to avoid distortion. There was certainly a tutorial in an old 3D World or Computer Arts on using a phone to take images for use in - I think - Substance Designer to generate a multi-map material.

lilweep

just use free textures... or buy them

who has time to take photographs, let alone buy equipment to do it

jorge dorlando

 

Richard Haseltine said:

Why not try it? The main issue, I'd think, would be getting a decent focal length to avoid distortion. There was certainly a tutorial in an old 3D World or Computer Arts on using a phone to take images for use in - I think - Substance Designer to generate a multi-map material.

 

 My device is from 2015 ( sony xperia z5 premium). His camera probably died...I took him to a tech support in my city, but they refused to open the device, because of the difficulty in finding parts for it... Due to his age, and the fact that Sony dropped out of Brazil... But I found the camera for sale on the internet on some sites, some outside Brazil, and I can buy it...But I found out about another device ( galaxy sansung M51) that this one has more rear cameras, and it has a special camera called Macro which is capable of shooting even insect details. I'm in a cruel doubt about what would be best

FSMCDesigns

What kinds of models do you plan on texturing? if it's props, then I doubt many prop makers actually take photos of things in the outside world for texture use, especially when there are a ton of stock and royalty free image sites where you can take an image from there and then alter it in photoshop.

jorge dorlando

lilweep said:

just use free textures... or buy them....

 

 This is what I've been doing for years!!!! But I've been thinking of doing something on my own I have access to a place that has an abundance of natural things such as bark, which is not easily seen in other places, there is mud on stones, some types of plants that I don't even know their names... I think for example, photographing a coffee bean, then modeling it in Blender 3d, and using the image to texture it... But then the question arises: If I fix my device (camera), your camera is a 23Mp. .. Not far away, in about 02 years, 32Mp televisions should come into the scene.

jorge dorlando

FSMCDesigns said:

What kinds of models do you plan on texturing? if it's props, then I doubt many prop makers actually take photos of things in the outside world for texture use, especially when there are a ton of stock and royalty free image sites where you can take an image from there and then alter it in photoshop.

 The other day, I found an insect, it was a kind of beetle, but it was a pearly green so bright, it looked like there was a color gradient!!! I regretted not being able to record that in images

Taoz

With flat objects, a flatbed scanner can often produce better results than a camera.

HighElf

A decent camera with a normal lens with a focal distance that is suitable for close up and a tripod. I find smartphone cameras in general unfit for this kind of work. I prefer a 25mm lens with extension tubes for macro (MFT shooter here). Use a flat shadowless lighting setup to avoid shadows on the surface. In postwork use a 1:1 Aspect ratio and make the texture tileable, otherwise, you will get seams all over the place. After that, I run it through Materialize to get the maps I need. I'm not a professional texture maker but I learned the basics for quick and dirty textures when I couldn't find good ones within my purchased merchant resources or commercial libraries. Free textures are more than often too much work for what you get, so I prefer buying professional textures or taking my own. Taking your own has a similar amount of work as with free textures, but you get what you want from the get-go.

ecks201

jorge dorlando said:

 I think for example, photographing a coffee bean, then modeling it in Blender 3d, and using the image to texture it... But then the question arises: If I fix my device (camera), your camera is a 23Mp. .. Not far away, in about 02 years, 32Mp televisions should come into the scene.

 You can always upgrade textures later. Just do the best you can today.

Artini

Yes, take as many photos as you can and then select the best out of them.

I could only imagine how distinct photos you can take in your country.

Hope you can get high capacity flash cards. I am amazed, how cheap they are nowadays.

You can always postwork the photos afterwards.

I take also panoramas, but have not used them yet.

 

McGyver

I actually used my friend's professional camera a couple of times, but honestly for like 85% of the textures I'd want to record, my iPhones have been sufficient.

Currently, I've been using an iPhone 11 and it's got very good good light sensitivity and close up ability for this sort of thing... not great amounts of control like a professional camera, but if I wanted to take a photo of concrete or marble, it's pretty sufficient.

You can even use smart phones for those modeling programs that use photos to generate a "cloud of points" model.

jorge dorlando

HighElf said:

A decent camera with a normal lens with a focal distance that is suitable for close up and a tripod. I find smartphone cameras in general unfit for this kind of work. I prefer a 25mm lens with extension tubes for macro (MFT shooter here). Use a flat shadowless lighting setup to avoid shadows on the surface. In postwork use a 1:1 Aspect ratio and make the texture tileable, otherwise, you will get seams all over the place. After that, I run it through Materialize to get the maps I need. I'm not a professional texture maker but I learned the basics for quick and dirty textures when I couldn't find good ones within my purchased merchant resources or commercial libraries. Free textures are more than often too much work for what you get, so I prefer buying professional textures or taking my own. Taking your own has a similar amount of work as with free textures, but you get what you want from the get-go.

 Hey, In this search, I ended up finding today, on the internet, lens accessories for cell phones. One of them has the macro function

jorge dorlando

ecks201 said:

jorge dorlando said:

 I think for example, photographing a coffee bean, then modeling it in Blender 3d, and using the image to texture it... But then the question arises: If I fix my device (camera), your camera is a 23Mp. .. Not far away, in about 02 years, 32Mp televisions should come into the scene.

 You can always upgrade textures later. Just do the best you can today.

Thank you

jorge dorlando

Artini said:

Yes, take as many photos as you can and then select the best out of them.

I could only imagine how distinct photos you can take in your country.

Hope you can get high capacity flash cards. I am amazed, how cheap they are nowadays.

You can always postwork the photos afterwards.

I take also panoramas, but have not used them yet.

 

 I read it somewhere on the internet, but I can't find it again... The information was that, taking a photo for texture of 3d objects, the ideal would be with "cloudy weather", avoiding the incidence of light and shadow, since the object will be lit later in the 3d environment.

jorge dorlando

McGyver said:

I actually used my friend's professional camera a couple of times, but honestly for like 85% of the textures I'd want to record, my iPhones have been sufficient.

Currently, I've been using an iPhone 11 and it's got very good good light sensitivity and close up ability for this sort of thing... not great amounts of control like a professional camera, but if I wanted to take a photo of concrete or marble, it's pretty sufficient.

You can even use smart phones for those modeling programs that use photos to generate a "cloud of points" model.

 

 85% ??? Wow !!!

This really encourages me!! Although, here in Brazil Iphones are very expensive. I'm thinking about putting my old sony xperia z5 premium aside, and buying a new intermediate

ArtAngel

jorge dorlando said:

McGyver said:

I actually used my friend's professional camera a couple of times, but honestly for like 85% of the textures I'd want to record, my iPhones have been sufficient.

Currently, I've been using an iPhone 11 and it's got very good good light sensitivity and close up ability for this sort of thing... not great amounts of control like a professional camera, but if I wanted to take a photo of concrete or marble, it's pretty sufficient.

You can even use smart phones for those modeling programs that use photos to generate a "cloud of points" model.

 

 85% ??? Wow !!!

This really encourages me!! Although, here in Brazil Iphones are very expensive. I'm thinking about putting my old sony xperia z5 premium aside, and buying a new intermediate

I have iphone and newest ipad (1 week old) hubby has newest Samsung android phone (1 week old). We were pro photographers for race events and own Nikon pro gear, 6 cameras about eight lenses. The new Samsung phone outperforms them all including my iphone ipad and pro gear and incredible shots in the dark. We couldn't see where our cat was, shot a few pics of a dark bedroom and they looked as if we shot them in daylight. If you take a photo it takes it but captures 7 alternatives like a 10 second movie etc. All in one click. So Samsung is focused on Tik Tok and photos, while  iphone is focused on Lidar technology and in depth camera for animators and 3D  (which I like) but the iphone camera wanes in comparison to Samsung.

jorge dorlando

ArtAngel said:

jorge dorlando said:

McGyver said:

I actually used my friend's professional camera a couple of times, but honestly for like 85% of the textures I'd want to record, my iPhones have been sufficient.

Currently, I've been using an iPhone 11 and it's got very good good light sensitivity and close up ability for this sort of thing... not great amounts of control like a professional camera, but if I wanted to take a photo of concrete or marble, it's pretty sufficient.

You can even use smart phones for those modeling programs that use photos to generate a "cloud of points" model.

 

 85% ??? Wow !!!

This really encourages me!! Although, here in Brazil Iphones are very expensive. I'm thinking about putting my old sony xperia z5 premium aside, and buying a new intermediate

I have iphone and newest ipad (1 week old) hubby has newest Samsung android phone (1 week old). We were pro photographers for race events and own Nikon pro gear, 6 cameras about eight lenses. The new Samsung phone outperforms them all including my iphone ipad and pro gear and incredible shots in the dark. We couldn't see where our cat was, shot a few pics of a dark bedroom and they looked as if we shot them in daylight. If you take a photo it takes it but captures 7 alternatives like a 10 second movie etc. All in one click. So Samsung is focused on Tik Tok and photos, while  iphone is focused on Lidar technology and in depth camera for animators and 3D  (which I like) but the iphone camera wanes in comparison to Samsung.

 Wow, this is brilliant to know!!!! By the way, what would be your husband's Samsung model?

ArtAngel

jorge dorlando said:

ArtAngel said:

jorge dorlando said:

McGyver said:

I actually used my friend's professional camera a couple of times, but honestly for like 85% of the textures I'd want to record, my iPhones have been sufficient.

Currently, I've been using an iPhone 11 and it's got very good good light sensitivity and close up ability for this sort of thing... not great amounts of control like a professional camera, but if I wanted to take a photo of concrete or marble, it's pretty sufficient.

You can even use smart phones for those modeling programs that use photos to generate a "cloud of points" model.

 

 85% ??? Wow !!!

This really encourages me!! Although, here in Brazil Iphones are very expensive. I'm thinking about putting my old sony xperia z5 premium aside, and buying a new intermediate

I have iphone and newest ipad (1 week old) hubby has newest Samsung android phone (1 week old). We were pro photographers for race events and own Nikon pro gear, 6 cameras about eight lenses. The new Samsung phone outperforms them all including my iphone ipad and pro gear and incredible shots in the dark. We couldn't see where our cat was, shot a few pics of a dark bedroom and they looked as if we shot them in daylight. If you take a photo it takes it but captures 7 alternatives like a 10 second movie etc. All in one click. So Samsung is focused on Tik Tok and photos, while  iphone is focused on Lidar technology and in depth camera for animators and 3D  (which I like) but the iphone camera wanes in comparison to Samsung.

 Wow, this is brilliant to know!!!! By the way, what would be your husband's Samsung model?

S 21 ultra

jorge dorlando

ArtAngel said:

jorge dorlando said:

ArtAngel said:

jorge dorlando said:

McGyver said:

I actually used my friend's professional camera a couple of times, but honestly for like 85% of the textures I'd want to record, my iPhones have been sufficient.

Currently, I've been using an iPhone 11 and it's got very good good light sensitivity and close up ability for this sort of thing... not great amounts of control like a professional camera, but if I wanted to take a photo of concrete or marble, it's pretty sufficient.

You can even use smart phones for those modeling programs that use photos to generate a "cloud of points" model.

 

 85% ??? Wow !!!

This really encourages me!! Although, here in Brazil Iphones are very expensive. I'm thinking about putting my old sony xperia z5 premium aside, and buying a new intermediate

I have iphone and newest ipad (1 week old) hubby has newest Samsung android phone (1 week old). We were pro photographers for race events and own Nikon pro gear, 6 cameras about eight lenses. The new Samsung phone outperforms them all including my iphone ipad and pro gear and incredible shots in the dark. We couldn't see where our cat was, shot a few pics of a dark bedroom and they looked as if we shot them in daylight. If you take a photo it takes it but captures 7 alternatives like a 10 second movie etc. All in one click. So Samsung is focused on Tik Tok and photos, while  iphone is focused on Lidar technology and in depth camera for animators and 3D  (which I like) but the iphone camera wanes in comparison to Samsung.

 Wow, this is brilliant to know!!!! By the way, what would be your husband's Samsung model?

S 21 ultra

 Hmmm!!! This is Samsung's top. I checked it here, and in its specs, and I could see that the aperture on the rear camera diaphragm is "f 1.8" is a pretty big aperture compared to other smartphones. Perhaps, this would be the success factor you had when you photographed in the darkroom... Unfortunately it is far from what I can afford!