DeeceyArt posted at 2:43 PM Wed, 27 December 2023 - #4479660

Ah yeah, I see. When generating texture sets in Substance Painter, the wear and tear effects are generated from the normal maps, or by comparing a high res mesh to a low res mesh.

In the latter, all of the detail is sculpted into the high res mesh and then the normal, cavity, and roughness maps are generated by the differences. It's the cavity maps that control where the wear and tear appears, but the cavity maps typically aren't distributed, they are only used internally by Substance Painter. The diffuse, roughness, and normal maps are used to create the final fabric, which will respond correctly to light positions.

Very clever but it sounds like the modeler still has to model the effects, and some clever but non-intelligent procedure is applied to fake the texture based on the mesh. I was thinking AI to do one or two steps beyond that: 'I recognise this as a geometry representing a coat. Typical wear on an old coat is the collar and the cuffs. On the collar combined with grease from the hair, on the cuffs combined with whatever came about, so that's what I apply.'