How not to make a texture

[ChinRey]

Yes, I know I shouldn't post this so feel free to give me some grumpy comments if you want to. And sorry about crossing over the image, this is something I'd rather not have people rip from an online forum.

Here's a stone wall texture I made. What's wrong with it?

 

I'll tell you.

Each stone in this wall was made separately, each combining several dozen layers of pieces from different photos. Then each stone was color matched to the other to give it a distinctive look without (hopefully) looking out of place. The source photos are of at least three completely different kinds of stone from two completely different parts of the world. I don't know the total number of layers I used for this texture but it's well over 500.

There are some duplicates and near duplicates - for some weird reason I lost track of the progress - but hopefully they aren't too noticeable. Can you spot them?

Of course, you have to be clinically insane to put that much time and effort into a texture like this and that's what's wrong with it. I suppose I ought to see a psychiatrist but I don't dare.

---

Since I invited people to post grumpy comments, here's one of my own.

This is not a single texture, it's part of a series of 60 that I'm planning to sell as seven different sets. If I'm lucky, I'll eventually make ten dollars from it. It's an extreme case of course but if you want to make quality content for Second Life, you have to put some effort into it and unless you have the connections, reputation and old established customer group, you're not going to sell much. Don't expect to make a whole dollar from a full day's work. This applies to regular synthetic textures too, not just photo based ones like this. Many automatic texture generator programs can create excellent textures for Second Life but you have to spend time tweaking the controls to get it right. The launch-program-and-save-at-default-settings approach many (most?) texture peddlers go for doesn't really give a good result (and of course, you'll end up with a selection that looks exactly the same as what other texture peddlers offer). It's a similar story for mesh makers and probably other content creators too, it's not jsut for texture artists.

Despite this, Linden Lab thinks that cotnent creators who want to make some pocket money by sellign their works "have it too easy". Well Ebbe, if you happen to read this, think again.

Edited April 1, 2020 by ChinRey
Cheating

[OptimoMaximo]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

Well Ebbe, if you happen to read this, think again.

You're talking about who took years to think about the great idea of selling off Sansar despite the huge financial sink it represented for the company. You're probably asking too much of him.Am I implying somehow that he's stupid? No, I'm saying that all of this business (platforms, engines, graphics in general) isn't none of his competences and should quit.

[Da5id Weatherwax]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

There are some duplicates and near duplicates - for some weird reason I lost track of the porgress - but hopefully they aren't too noticeable. Can you spot them?

Challenge accepted

second stone in third row with third stone in sixth row.
second stone in fourth row with third stone in ninth row.
second stone in fifth row with second stone in 11th row.

 

[ChinRey]

1 hour ago, Da5id Weatherwax said:

Challenge accepted

second stone in third row with third stone in sixth row.
second stone in fourth row with third stone in ninth row.
second stone in fifth row with second stone in 11th row.

Sorry, I can't see that at all. Are you sure?

What do you mean, me cheated and replaced the picture??? Is there a lawyer here?

Edit: Oh well, you won! And yes, I did change the ones you spotted and also three others. There are still a few left in case somebody else wants to give it a try.

Edited April 1, 2020 by ChinRey

[Da5id Weatherwax]

1 hour ago, ChinRey said:

Sorry, I can't see that at all. Are you sure?

What do you mean, me cheated and replaced the picture??? Is there a lawyer here?

Edit: Oh well, you won! And yes, I did change the ones you spotted and also three others. There are still a few left in case somebody else wants to give it a try.

Pattern recognition, particularly in chaotic systems, is just the way my brain is wired Visual stuff like this often "pops" for me in ways it might not for others. No idea why, and most of the time it's not even particularly useful, but I guess there could be worse side effects of whatever it is that makes me a pretty decent analyst and a total puzzle addict

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

On 4/1/2020 at 12:44 PM, ChinRey said:

Of course, you have to be clinically insane to put that much time and effort into a texture like this and that's what's wrong with it. I suppose I ought to see a psychiatrist but I don't dare.

It's not insane if you enjoy the process and the outcome. Speaking from experience here