Creating believable asphalt

[Art48]

Hi,

First, look at this image:


I want to create an asphalt shader like in that image.
Groundwork is already done (see what I did there?) - a regular asphalt, some procedural potholes yadayada.
I have also a good idea how to do the paintings/lines.
Now what I am currently stuck with is achieving the "randomnes" of patched up areas etc and I was wondering if it maybe is a thing I have to do completely as texture in photoshop since procedurally it is just too much a pain in the a**.

That approach would lead to the problem of resolution. I want to render a similar image like the one I linked in 6k resolution at least. That means if I make one texture for that asphalt area it would have to be really, really big.

How do you guys handle such a situation? How would you approach creating that shader? It has to hold up to print resolutions, ideally even more closeup than the linked image.

[joconnell]

http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/naka...road-tutorial/

[Deflaminis]

Incredible. Nice find, thanks for sharing.

[glorybound]

That's one thing I always get hung up on, asphalt. I have been using Railcone's road lines for my markings, which works out great. Basically, it's a diffuse color with a transparent noise. As far as the asphalt, I haven't found a solution yet. You would think it would be a solved problem by now and in some library of materials.

Hi,

First, look at this image:


I want to create an asphalt shader like in that image.
Groundwork is already done (see what I did there?) - a regular asphalt, some procedural potholes yadayada.
I have also a good idea how to do the paintings/lines.
Now what I am currently stuck with is achieving the "randomnes" of patched up areas etc and I was wondering if it maybe is a thing I have to do completely as texture in photoshop since procedurally it is just too much a pain in the a**.

That approach would lead to the problem of resolution. I want to render a similar image like the one I linked in 6k resolution at least. That means if I make one texture for that asphalt area it would have to be really, really big.

How do you guys handle such a situation? How would you approach creating that shader? It has to hold up to print resolutions, ideally even more closeup than the linked image.

[dean_dmoo]

Used the bbb tutorial to update my asphalt. Pleased with the results. Set mine up so I can switch what type of lines I want, 1, 2, 4 lanes etc. One issue I had was that I couldnt get a strong enough effect withvraydirt. Its still a bit subtle.

[joconnell]

Handiest thing to do with that is nest it into an output map and use the curve controls to drag down the mids and make the effect more contrasty.

[dean_dmoo]

Thanks, will give that a try!

[glorybound]

I am thinking something for the lazies. Some kind of plugin that creates asphalt for your scene. Automates everything, even intersections. It can't be to hard, can it? Railclone would make sense, but it isn't there yet.

[Neilg]

Automates everything, even intersections. It can't be to hard, can it?

It wouldnt be the hardest plugin anyone ever made - but you've got to ask how many people are likley to buy it and if the development time is worth it. you and 100 others spending $50 on it wont pay for it's dev costs.

And there's already this - http://www.kilad.net/ghosttown/ which does even more than just roads, just is way more complex.

[Pixelcon]

For road markings I use a distancetex solution. I'm sure if you just saved out each new road marking to a kit you could just merge in each one where needed, place them, attach them, extrude them thru the road and as I said, use a distancetex to drive the white lines from that intersection.

Doing anything on a curve is a pain of course but if you're smart about how you build your roads, unwrapping them can take seconds.

I have a few different asphalt shaders that I work on each time I use them, but the least procedural ones really only work on a single straight patch of road. Quite a pain to set up for each angle but hey, they look good.

[Pixelcon]

It wouldnt be the hardest plugin anyone ever made - but you've got to ask how many people are likley to buy it and if the development time is worth it. you and 100 others spending $50 on it wont pay for it's dev costs.

And there's already this - http://www.kilad.net/ghosttown/ which does even more than just roads, just is way more complex.

This has come so far since I opened it up last. Need to get back into it...

[Art48]

Hm.... so it does indeed seem like using textures is the only way. I hoped to get around that but well...