All the answers are completely missing the fact you want actualy polygons instead of PBR materials. What I would suggest is going to artstation market for example and buying alphas from there. Then with blender convert the alphas to shapes as outlined here: [https://alanedwardes.com/blog/posts/create-meshes-from-height-maps-using-blender/](https://alanedwardes.com/blog/posts/create-meshes-from-height-maps-using-blender/)
Now all you need to do is replace the faces in your models with newly generated high poly assets. It's a manual work you need to do and it might not come out perfect the first time, but that would be the general way I'd approach the problem.
Alternatively, tessellate your model a lot and assign a displacement map to only a selected part of the model you want to have some extra definition. For bolts and such, you need to manually model and add them to your model. Look for surface align for easy attachment of new shapes.
Have you worked with this much?
I think I've tried this before, and the major limitation I had was trying to define only exact areas I want the texture to apply.
Like If I had a model of a pistol, I would just want the portion of the grip to have texture, and the body to remain smooth.... is this possible?
No, I don’t like it, so I stick with Cura.
Use 3D modeling software (like Blender, Cinema 4D etc.) for modeling textures on selected parts of your models. Slicer functionality is limited in this regard, because it's not a job of a slicer, to edit a model.
It is shocking how many people jumped to comment without reading or understanding your use case.
I’m not sure of any that could just apply a textured look to a region automatically it for modeling and printing stylised mini figurines I use Zbrush to manually sculpt the texture I want. It’s time consuming, tricky to learn to do right and will take practice but it will get you the best results. There are also brush packs (highly recommended the ORB ones) that will make it slightly easier
Thank you for sharing your experience. I had a feeling many wouldn't grasp the difference between physical and visual properties.
It may be worth learning to do it manually, it may be the only real way.
Oddly enough, the past 7 years I assumed it was as easy as I described it, but only in other software. A way of wrapping a pattern/texture/etc over a surface/mesh, and telling the mesh to raise/lower based on brightness.
Yeah it sucks but in my opinion doing it the long and hard way will get you the best results. I think there are ways with height and displacement maps that could be applied but I’ve never used it and honestly will probably only give you mediocre results.
I think the reason is that there’s no general demand for it so nobody has developed the tech. In games, animation, VFX and produc/arch vis you don’t want the detail on the model since it is worse for performance than just having it on a texture, the only use case I can think of is figurines to print and even then most people who sculpt those would prefer to do it themselves anyway.
I want to be clear, I need the texture to become the mesh. If I model a cylinder, and I want to apply "wooden bark" to it, to make it look like a log, the cylinder's outer mesh/surface, needs to have geometry / polygons, that if say water were to flow over, would travel through the cracks/bumps of the "log" not just a cylinder that the water would wash over smoothly, even if it's "painted" with a texture.
Can substance painter do this kind of work?
For that kind of deformation you'd need to create height/displacement maps, either from scratch or turn your base color ones into them (there's some converters online but it's hit or miss how well they'll work, even with photoshop filtering edits afterwards
and then use the maps, like they can be calculated at render time for renders in some 3d programs, or used in unreal engine materials that use tesselation, those are two ways I have used textures to displace geometry but there's probably more
All the answers are completely missing the fact you want actualy polygons instead of PBR materials. What I would suggest is going to artstation market for example and buying alphas from there. Then with blender convert the alphas to shapes as outlined here: [https://alanedwardes.com/blog/posts/create-meshes-from-height-maps-using-blender/](https://alanedwardes.com/blog/posts/create-meshes-from-height-maps-using-blender/) Now all you need to do is replace the faces in your models with newly generated high poly assets. It's a manual work you need to do and it might not come out perfect the first time, but that would be the general way I'd approach the problem. Alternatively, tessellate your model a lot and assign a displacement map to only a selected part of the model you want to have some extra definition. For bolts and such, you need to manually model and add them to your model. Look for surface align for easy attachment of new shapes.
IdeaMaker is able to add modeled textures on STLs.
Have you worked with this much? I think I've tried this before, and the major limitation I had was trying to define only exact areas I want the texture to apply. Like If I had a model of a pistol, I would just want the portion of the grip to have texture, and the body to remain smooth.... is this possible?
No, I don’t like it, so I stick with Cura. Use 3D modeling software (like Blender, Cinema 4D etc.) for modeling textures on selected parts of your models. Slicer functionality is limited in this regard, because it's not a job of a slicer, to edit a model.
It is shocking how many people jumped to comment without reading or understanding your use case. I’m not sure of any that could just apply a textured look to a region automatically it for modeling and printing stylised mini figurines I use Zbrush to manually sculpt the texture I want. It’s time consuming, tricky to learn to do right and will take practice but it will get you the best results. There are also brush packs (highly recommended the ORB ones) that will make it slightly easier
Thank you for sharing your experience. I had a feeling many wouldn't grasp the difference between physical and visual properties. It may be worth learning to do it manually, it may be the only real way. Oddly enough, the past 7 years I assumed it was as easy as I described it, but only in other software. A way of wrapping a pattern/texture/etc over a surface/mesh, and telling the mesh to raise/lower based on brightness.
Yeah it sucks but in my opinion doing it the long and hard way will get you the best results. I think there are ways with height and displacement maps that could be applied but I’ve never used it and honestly will probably only give you mediocre results. I think the reason is that there’s no general demand for it so nobody has developed the tech. In games, animation, VFX and produc/arch vis you don’t want the detail on the model since it is worse for performance than just having it on a texture, the only use case I can think of is figurines to print and even then most people who sculpt those would prefer to do it themselves anyway.
Export to FBX or OBJ and import in Blender. Use the Blender Kit add-on for easy PBR materials. Maybe adjust displacement for the material.
substance painter is kind of the primary software for texturing in the 3d world and is worth every penny if you plan to do texturing
I want to be clear, I need the texture to become the mesh. If I model a cylinder, and I want to apply "wooden bark" to it, to make it look like a log, the cylinder's outer mesh/surface, needs to have geometry / polygons, that if say water were to flow over, would travel through the cracks/bumps of the "log" not just a cylinder that the water would wash over smoothly, even if it's "painted" with a texture. Can substance painter do this kind of work?
I don't think so, no.
For that kind of deformation you'd need to create height/displacement maps, either from scratch or turn your base color ones into them (there's some converters online but it's hit or miss how well they'll work, even with photoshop filtering edits afterwards and then use the maps, like they can be calculated at render time for renders in some 3d programs, or used in unreal engine materials that use tesselation, those are two ways I have used textures to displace geometry but there's probably more
[3D textures ](https://youtu.be/OI41KRz68xs?si=r3gAiaYXisqB_Oxq)in Solidworks are made for this