tripo logo
allPosts

Unleashing the Painterly 3D Effect: A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you looking to add a touch of artistry to your 3D creations? In this guide, I'll walk you through the process of creating a stunning painterly 3D effect that effortlessly blends the essence of a 2D painting with the flexibility of 3D design. By painting over an object space normal map, you'll be able to achieve mesmerizing results that will elevate your projects to new heights.

Top Five Reasons to Embrace the Painterly 3D Technique

  1. Dynamic Brush Strokes: Experience the magic of brush strokes that react to lighting, allowing you to effortlessly set the mood of your scene from sunrise serenity to midnight mystery.

  2. Cinematic Camera Control: Enjoy the freedom to move the camera and adjust focal lengths to add depth and drama to your compositions.

  3. Artist-Friendly Approach: Say goodbye to complex node setups. With a focus on painting image textures, this technique offers an intuitive and manageable process for artists with varying technical skills.

  4. Versatile Material Effects: From metallic sheens to glossy finishes, the technique seamlessly integrates with different material properties, providing endless creative possibilities.

  5. Creative Brush Stroke Control: Hand-paint your brush strokes to craft unique looks tailored to your scene, adding depth, mood, and storytelling elements in a way that automated techniques cannot match.

Key Considerations Before Diving In

Before you embark on your painterly 3D journey, here are some essential pointers to keep in mind:

  • 3D Program Basics: Whether you use Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, or Unreal, ensure you have a solid grasp of your chosen 3D software.
  • UV Unwrapping: While not overly technical, understanding UV unwrapping basics is necessary for working with textures effectively.
  • Understanding Normal Maps: Gain a familiarity with normal maps and their role in portraying surface details and textures in 3D environments.

Step-by-Step Process

  1. Baking the Object Space Normal Map:

    • Set up your workspace in Blender and bake an object-space normal map to serve as the foundation for your painterly effect.

  2. Painting Over the Normal Map:

    • Utilize your preferred painting software such as Substance Painter or Photoshop to overlay brush strokes on the normal map, aligning colors meticulously for a cohesive look.

  3. Shader Setup:

    • Configure your shader in Blender, ensuring correct color space settings for your painterly normal map to achieve the desired visual impact.

Enhancing Brush Strokes with Normal Maps

By painting the normal map, you transform the surface into facets that mirror brush strokes' texture. Understanding how normals dictate surface orientation is crucial to creating realistic and visually compelling brush stroke effects in 3D.

Tips for Aligning Base Colors and Brush Strokes

Achieving harmony between base colors and brush strokes is vital for a cohesive aesthetic:

  • Experiment with tools like Substance Painter to paint separate color channels simultaneously.
  • Explore layering techniques in 2D software to maintain color consistency between the base color and the normal map.

Fine-Tuning and Compatibility Considerations

  • Conversions for Dynamic Characters: For animated characters, consider converting your maps from object space to tangent space to ensure compatibility with moving elements.
  • Program Compatibility: Be aware of different normal map formats across programs and make necessary adjustments for seamless integration into your workflow.

Embrace the artistry and versatility of the painterly 3D effect in your projects, and unlock a realm of creative possibilities that blend the best of 2D artistry with the depth of 3D design.

Leave a comment to share your thoughts and experiences with this technique, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and explore more creative insights on my YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok channels!

Meet Tripo

Discover the capabilities of Tripo and unlock a world of possibilities:

  • Draft Model Generation: Instantly spark inspiration with our fastest models. Perfect for rapid prototyping and conceptualization, this feature lets you explore various designs or perspectives before diving into detailed modeling. Accepts both text and image input.

  • Refine Draft Models: Elevate the quality of your initial draft models into finely detailed creations. Seamlessly transition from conceptual drafts to high-resolution models, streamlining your creative workflow.

  • Model Animation: Bring your creations to life with automated animation. Transform static models into dynamic animations, enhancing presentations or digital experiences effortlessly.

  • Stylization and Conversion: Customize and convert your models with unparalleled ease. From transforming models into lego-like or voxel-based versions to supporting format conversion (USDZ or FBX), Tripo offers unique stylization options, ensuring compatibility across platforms and applications while injecting a creative twist into your projects.