This is my latest test render of Minecraft animation assets. This tests two things:
(1) Better set creation
(2) More efficient texturing
1 - The blocks really need smooth shading to look good, but the blocks need holding edges to limit the shading. I experimented with different methods that involved building the set with duplicated blocks and joining the geometry, but cleaning up the excess geometry took way to much time. Just building the set with polygons worked well, but adding the holding edges afterwards was too time-consuming. I tried using the bevel tool, but it messed up the geometry, even with a profile of 1.0. Then, I remembered that I could use the "snap selected to grid" to fix the bevel tool's artifacts. That works very well.
2 - The texture sizes were out of control, but I didn't want a tiling texture. So, I looked at how this problem has been solved before. That lead me to "texture splatting." That inspired me to make a procedural texture setup. I have two different textures that are applied, but the images are different sizes. One covers 1.5 blocks for high frequency details while another covers 4 blocks for low frequency details. The reference coordinates for the textures are based upon the world, so it will tile correctly no matter where the blocks are.
This test only uses displacement and roughness maps, no albedo. I will get the albedo maps ready later. These textures are very low-res, but I will purchase high-res displacement maps for the future. I want to finalize everything first.
I still want greater texture variations, which is where the texture splatting really comes in. I'm working on how I will implement a system where I can marble two materials together using a low-res map. But, first I need to create the secondary material. Because Minecraft has different ores, I am thinking of how many materials could be implemented as well rather than just rock marbling. But, these secondary materials would need to be positioned more intentionally while still looking like part of the stone.
