To people using Substance Designer: Help with generators (without high-poly mesh)

[ian80]

I’ve asked different versions of this same question before, but I am still struggling to understand this issue. I’m trying to get generator masks working, however:

I am not working with high-poly meshes. I understand the issues with this - but I still want the hard edges of my geometry to be recognized as, well, hard edges that take wear.

Take the example I’ve posted. A simple low-poly mesh with a simple normal map I baked using an edge-smooth shader in modo. I generated the AO and curvature within Designer. Now, when I apply a metal edge wear generator, playing with all the sliders, this is the most I can get the edges to show wear (very little: hardly noticeable in Unreal Engine).

So, I’m looking for solutions. Basically, I just want the actual edges of my low-poly models to have a stronger effect on generators. Is there a better way to do this?

It’s a design decision - I don’t especially like the look of models that have a bunch of faked bump. I like the stylized feel of simple geometry - but would still like to create interesting materials that will highlight the edges of the low-poly model. Is there a solution?

Thanks!

[_Scribbler]

I often run into the opposite problem - my mask generator edges show up too much / too thick. I’d love to get wear as fine and subtle as this on really large, complex models…

At what resolution are you baking your maps? You could try baking at a much lower resolution and then up-res the result before feeding your mask generator. You could also try baking your curvature map in Modo (there are tutorials around - you use two occlusion layers) which would give you more control over the thickness.

I don’t believe your issue has anything to do with the normal map baking process, but with how thin / fine the details are in your curvature map.

Hope that helps

[ian80]

Thanks, Scribbler! I’m going to test those suggestions tonight.