Create a VRay Marble (Travertine) Wall Texture and Tiles by using free 3Ds Max Scripts, such as Floor Generator and Random Select for making realistic looking tiles/bricks model. In addition the Unwrap UVW method was used to get the tiles to look and feel unique. Let’s take a look at how you can do the same.
To begin with, I searched around the internet for some great looking marble wall references. I found one that I’ll be recreating in my scene here on the wall next to the main entrance. It’s always a great idea to work on your scene while looking at actual reference photographs. This habit will go a long way in keeping you on track to getting photorealistic results.
To create the tiles of our marble wall, I’ll be using the Floor Generator plugin. To get an in-depth understanding of this plugin, read my tutorial on FLOOR GENERATOR. The tutorial explains how to install and use this tool and all its settings.
As of version 2.0, Floor Generator works as a modifier for easy usability. You’ll just need to create a rectangular spline for the wall and apply the floor modifier. I’ve gone ahead and set the length and width of the tiles to match my reference picture. You can keep a little bit of separation between the tiles and a slight bevel. This will help in creating separation shadows between all the tiles. Randomize the seed to get a good pattern. Make sure that the tiles fit completely at the top and bottom of the wall.
Next up we will add some variety in depth to our wall. Go ahead and download this nifty tool called Random Selector. Convert the wall into an editable poly and use this plugin to randomly select the tiles and push/pull them in or out.
While we’re at it, let me give you a quick tip on using undo quickly. If you’re making changes with your left mouse that you want to undo, just click the right mouse button. This will take you back to the previous state. Such simple tricks can save you plenty of hassle while working.
Now I’ll show you the trick to randomly apply a unique marble texture to each of these tiles. A companion plugin of the Floor Generator is the Multi Texture map. This map tool can randomly apply different textures to the tiles. But the problem is that you’ll need a lot of textures for adding proper variation. A great alternative is the UVW Unwrap method. Let’s jump into Photoshop and see what you’ll need to do.
UVW Unwrap Trick
Starting with a high resolution marble texture, add and softly blend a top to bottom gradient to it. Our purpose is to add random light and dark areas on this texture. Continuing with this thought, add horizontal black strips over the image. Randomly reduce their opacity to get the tonal variation over the entire image.
All you need to do now is apply a UVW Unwrap modifier to your wall, select all the faces and apply Flatten Mapping. There you have it, the tiles now have randomly applied marble texture. If any of the tiles have a stark light/dark transition, just select that element in UVW Unwrap and shift its mapping. Also note that I’ve used the Real World scale settings for UV space.
For the material creation, you can either have a polished glossy look or a matte appearance. Since this is an exterior wall, the marble is going to be matte with glossy patterns within it. Create a falloff map with the new and original version of the marble texture. Apply it to the reflection and glossiness slots. Play around with the Output RGB settings to get the strength of reflection you want. I’ve used fresnel as the falloff type. If you have any trouble with getting separation lines between the tiles, then you can apply the VRayDirt map in a blend material for an ambient occlusion effect. This will give you the defined lines between the tiles. Learn more about VRayDirt in this TUTORIAL.
Hope you enjoyed this one and you’ll be able to use that technique for one of your projects.
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Peace out
Alex
