I'm not associated with that company. This is not spam.

I figure that some of you Vuers that are texture freaks like me would to be aware of some good texture creation software.

I bought the pro version. I joined CClub for a month to get the biggest discount on Genetica.

I thought I would tell you because I wish someone had told me back when C3D had Geocontrol 2 on sale for $89.00 last June.

I missed the sale by 8 hours. If someone here would have mentioned that sale back then. I could have afforded it.

So I thought I would spare you the pain by telling you about Genitica before the sale ends.

Much bang for Buck.

Genetica was a PITA for me. I MUCH prefer websites/texture packs ect.  and Photoshop :D

There is also FilterForge.

Geek@Play has a tutorial for that, one day i will have to get over there and check it out.

I LOVE textures, and texture making. most people say the lighting makes or breaks the scene, but that is only 99% true :D

Genetica looks awkward, with their nodes that don't seem to belong to any parameter ( null nodes?) And you can't really get a bump or occlusion maps ouit the effects renders And they qre procedurals, sometimes they look like the real thing, sometimes you just ask ypourself "what the hell is that? A paved road? No way! But heir free sibling Wood Workshop is awesome

Yeah, Wood Worshop is cooler, I used it some years ago back in my Poser/Bryce days.

It is a little more user friendly.

As with any software I would recommend trying the free demo first.

I tried it, and then watched some of the videos on how to use it.
Without those videos, I would not have bought Genetica, Because the application is not very intuitive. But it is versatile doing both procedural and seemless tiling of photographic  images. The learning curve is steep and they really need more videos.

After watching the limited amount of instructional videos, I could see more clearly how to make some use of this thing right away. Then after checking out the labs feature, I knew it would would nice to have if I can push past the unintuitiveness and dig into it's full depth of features.

Time will tell.

I also have Pixplant 2 which is very easy to use for seamless tiling of photos and map exports for 3d use.

I too love textures and making them. As a matter of fact, I get so wrapped up in my mats that I wind up not even making the pic that I set out to. Photo work is so much fun and the function editor can be like quicksand. Lol...I can't even remember the last time I posted anything that was a true composition and not just a mat sample.

The only thing that keeps me from getting Genetica is toolbox redundancy.

The tools I use the most are Texturemaker 3, Pixopedia24, Pixplant2, Shadermap Pro, Crazy Bump, ImageSynth and Feogan which generates occlusion maps. Oh and yes, I have the fab Wood workshop as well. I still use an odd older tool called WinImages too.

But for someone just starting out with a relatively empty toolbox, the Genetica deal at Corn shouldn't be passed up.

I never heard of Feogan, you have a link to the site, nothing came up in google except some medication by that name :D

 Here's a link Paul. It's kind of an older tool as well...2006... but it does the trick.

http://www.rusteddreams.net/faogen.html

...and of course I spelled it wrong....it stands for Fast Ambient Occlusion Generator

M

 And in case anyone is interested, Texture Maker, though no longer in development is still found at Game Creators. 

It's my favorite all time texture tool......can't be beat for versatility imho....

http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2131

 Here's WinImages.......and Pixopedia24.    I just love little tools that could......

[http://www.blackbeltsystems.com/

](http://www.blackbeltsystems.com/)http://www.sigmapi-design.com/cms/index.php?page=pixopedia-24

Yeah, I had a copy of TextureMaker back in the day. Loved it...damned if i know where it went to now though. I have about 15 disks missing upon my return from the US..and of course no one knows :D

thaniks for the links.

-Paul

LOL, this discussion are all the same unearthing old program which "best before" date has passed. And BTW Genetica is best suited to modify texture and make it even better, not to start from scratch with a blank screen.

But the newest best in class and coolest texture program is Pixplan 2. Beware, using it is like taking cocaine..

Yep, PixPlant is fantadtic, but my main issues with it is that for me it doesent make strong enough bnump maps, so i always adjust contrast in Ps. fun stuff though ;

R.P.Studios,  "not strong enough bnump maps"

If you generate a "seamless bump map" for a "seamless texture" the result is not gong to impress anyone. Everything is going to tile along. :) That is making life a little too simple IMO. Better like,

1. Make texture from photographs with Pixplant.

2. Use that texture on the UV template in Photoshop (Pattern & style)

3. Apply and blend in smudge & dirt, wear & tear.

4. Finally Crazybump on finished 2048x2048 UVtexture to genetrate bump, and/or normal/displacement maps.

Whatever does the trick is what one should use I guess.  I should probably keep an eye on my own ' best used by' expiration date eh...lolll?

Monsso,

haha, nice to meet someone with humor ! Actually the wear  and tear is not the only reason to paint over the "seamless tiles". Without some hands on painting the repeating pattern will show up for that unwanted artificial ugly 3D look.

Isn't using PxPlant and CrazyBump redundant? I mean, if I could afford CBump, I wouldn't use PxPlant. C Bump is superior in every way, it outputs to 16bit depth, and renders an occlusion map, 2 key features Pixplant doesn't do.

no it doesent, Cb makes better bump maps as well. a nice application, but still any of this can be done in Photoshop really.

"It can be done in Photoshop"

Sure but that doesn't take into account the important trial and error phase so as with Pixplant I can try out many many more iterations in the same amount of time. Also Pixplant are useful for far more things than to make seamless images.

Photoshop is simple. grayscale/ adjust contrast brightness ect/ gaussian blur set at .1

viola, a nice bump map for any application...sometimes invert can make specular and occlusion maps depending on the geometry of your texture (;