Creating a Stylized Metallic Material with Brush Strokes

Introduction

I've been in the gaming industry for over twelve years now, and I'm currently a Principal Environment Artist at Respawn Entertainment, where I work on Apex Legends. I've been very lucky and privileged in my career path, which has taken me through some incredible experiences so far. From my time at Phoenix Labs, where I worked on pre and post-launch of Dauntless and various R&D projects, to my role at Riot Games, where I was part of the early inception of the internal cinematics team, and earlier in my career, at Digital Domain, working on a range of game launch trailers and in-game cinematics.

My passion for creating environments and storytelling through art goes back to when I was a kid. I've always been captivated by the magic and hard work in films, games, and cartoons — especially watching behind-the-scenes processes. Initially, I dreamed of becoming a special effects makeup artist for films, fascinated by practical effects. But at that time, it really felt like the industry was shifting more toward CG. So, I looked at what else I thought would be cool to get into.

I've always been interested in games, and I've played countless games throughout my life. My favorite was Monster Hunter, but the one game that really made me say, "Holy moly, how the hell did they do that!" was watching the cinematics for Final Fantasy X. From that moment, I dove into researching how those stunning visuals were created, experimenting with 3D software like Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, and Softimage, all before heading to college for Game Art and Design.

Interestingly, I didn't know environment art was its own discipline until college. When I built my first environment, I was hooked and just wanted to sculpt rocks, model everything, make materials, and create the best compositions I could. I didn't realize how satisfying it would be to see so many things you've made individually come together for a final composition, be it an area for a game, a shot in a cinematic or movie, or just personal work.

One of the key lessons I've learned along the way is to always have fun while learning. I've always approached new software, or anything really, by pressing buttons to see what happens, learning from countless mistakes, and using that curiosity to push forward. I believe that fearlessly experimenting is one of the best ways to learn and grow. You shouldn't be afraid to just try things out and see where it takes you.

Why Substance 3D Designer for the Stylized Brush Stroke Copper Material Project? 

One of the main reasons I love Substance 3D Designer is that it lets you be curious and play around with ideas. Its non-destructive workflows are perfect for those moments of random inspiration. You might start out trying to build something specific, but then something totally different comes out of it. That's how I've ended up creating a ton of materials, almost by accident. It feels like sketching — just stringing together a few nodes and tweaking some parameters can lead to unexpected results that inspire new materials.

About the Stylized Brush Stroke Copper Material Project

The inspiration for this Stylized Brush Stroke Copper Material came from exploring the Substance 3D Designer documentation. I was looking into the available atlas nodes to create a vegetation atlas when I stumbled upon the Atlas Splitter node. I decided to run a quick test to see if I could create an image that would break into individual sections I could then scatter around. I ended up making some simple brush strokes, and I really liked the results, which set me on the path to making this copper material.

Initially, I intended to make a sand material, but I accidentally had white in my metallic output and saw it resembled copper, so I decided to pursue that direction. I also drew inspiration from the game No Rest for the Wicked, as I admire how they push this particular style. I'd say that was one of my main inspirations for the look of this material.

The Material's Properties

The nodes I used aren't particularly "optimized," but it sparked the idea to develop my own version of the Atlas Splitter node specifically for this purpose. I do my best to minimize the number of nodes in my materials, but it's easy to end up with a complex web of connections, even when aiming for something "simple."

The Atlas Splitter node is packed with great features, especially for pre-made atlases that contain all the necessary maps for a full material. My primary interest in using the atlas node was in being able to select different images within a single atlas. Higher contrast yields better results, so a black-and-white mask works best for breaking out assets.

For this material, I used the Atlas Splitter to choose one of the brush stroke patterns from my atlas, leveraging the Shape Selection parameter. After setting up that shape selection, I piped that into a Tile Sampler Greyscale node (though you can use other tile nodes, I prefer this one for its extra parameters). From there, I experimented with various properties to achieve a random splatter effect with the input image. By chaining these together, I created a range of brush stroke patterns at different values and sizes, which added interesting detail to the material and helped me define areas of oxidized copper.

In my opinion, the real magic happens when working with roughness, especially for metallic materials. I've also found that pushing different values of the brush strokes is effective at highlighting tonal shifts, allowing light to interact beautifully with the surface and enhancing the brush strokes' appearance. Ultimately, it's about personal preference for the look you want.

One of the main challenges I encountered was determining the final appearance of the material. Experimenting with lighting in Substance 3D Designer was invaluable, as it helped me visualize how light would interact with the surface. That really helped guide my decisions about the brush strokes.

Currently, there are no custom parameters in this file, but I've started creating my own versions of the Atlas Splitter and other nodes to streamline my workflow. My current goal is to simplify my setup without the extra inputs and outputs that more complex nodes often have. Though complexity isn't inherently a bad thing, it's just not necessary for this case.

Lighting & Rendering

Lighting plays a huge role in this type of material, and I've experimented a lot with it in my work at Riot Games, other studios, and in personal projects. I want the light to act like a paintbrush, sweeping across the surface. When looking at a material like this, you don't want the brush stroke noise to grab too much attention without highlights, as it should really pop when the light hits it. Plus, if you want, you can always use a light source to enhance and color the material even more.

With materials like this, as long as the roughness has enough variation in the right areas, you can achieve some really nice, nuanced looks with the way the lighting interacts.

For my final renders, I usually go with the Marmoset Toolbag, though I occasionally use Unreal. My lighting setup for this material is pretty similar to what I normally use — nothing fancy, just a three-point lighting setup with a few tweaks. For these renders, I pushed it further by elongating some lights to really showcase the roughness and highlight the brush strokes along the edges (and frankly, I just thought it looked cool). Finally, I chose a teal color for one of the rim lights, as I thought it complemented the main color nicely.

Summary

This material only took about an hour to create. It started as a quick test for myself, but I liked the result enough to render it. That said, it wasn't my first time making a paint stroke-type material, so once I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, it all came together pretty smoothly.

The main challenge was deciding on the look I wanted. I had to figure out if I wanted to partially bake reflections into the albedo or go for a more PBR approach. One piece of advice I always give is to have someone else take a look at your work. Collaborating with others, even if they're just giving feedback on the final result, can lead to some great insights. I'm fortunate to have my buddy Kyle Leary to bounce ideas off of regularly.

Finally, I think some general advice I'd give when working with Substance 3D Designer:

• You don't always need a ton of nodes to create something effective – sometimes, it's helpful to step back and assess whether everything in your graph is necessary. It's okay to declutter.
• Take the time to read the available documentation; I guarantee you'll learn something.
• When asking for feedback, be specific about what you're looking for.
• Since Designer is non-destructive, you can tweak things without worrying about ruining the progress you've made. Don't be afraid to experiment!
• Remember to save often! (This is general advice, but good advice nonetheless).
• If you're building graphs for others, use comment boxes, frames, and annotations to keep things organized and clear. No one will understand your workflow better than you do.

Also, no one knows everything. There are so many great tutorials out there. I'd recommend checking out creators like Javier Perez, Daniel Thiger, and Jonathan Benainous, just to name a few. But ultimately, have fun with it – press buttons, move sliders, and experiment. You never know what might spark an interesting idea. Once you've played around, take the time to understand how those things work.

Ultimately, this test was a great learning experience, and I discovered new nodes to experiment with in Substance 3D Designer that I plan to utilize regularly.

Juan Nuno, 3D Environment Artist

Interview conducted by Amber Rutherford