Realistic Mask For Dust Using Generators

I’m going to use the ‘Extinguisher grenade/spray prop’ that we created during the past few livestreams (here are part 1, part 2 and part 3 if you are interested).

The trick is on adding realistic subtleties like Dust. In this case in areas where the dust would be accumulated if this prop had been sitting on a shelf for a while.

In Substance 3D Painter you could just use a ‘drit’ generator and call it a day, but if you want something more realistic and have more control over the placement… here is the cool trick you can use (For illustration purposes I’ll demonstrate it with a bright blue layer so you can see the effect):

First create a fill layer, add a black mask and add a generator to the mask. From the generators, choose the ‘Light’ generator… this allows you create a mask based on the position of a light source. So you can se the horizontal and vertical angle to 90 so the light comes from the top.

The add another generator and select the Ambien Occlussion (with global invert set to True):

The next step, and this is what makes painter so powerful, is that you can use blending modes for the mask effect/filter stack… so set the AO generator to ‘Sub’ (subtract). The result is a cleaner mask based on the light, BUT the AO is subtracting some areas where the dust probably wont reach so the effect doesn't look so generic:

Very subtle stuff I know, but that is the essence of texturing… subtlety.

The next step is to brake up the smooth clean mask a bit with a grunge map. You can try various types, but anything with a bit of noise and a good range of grey values is best… add it on top of the two previous generators and set it to subtract as well… this will give you a much more organic transition for your mask:

That’s it! this whole process is non-destructive so you can adjust the ‘reach’ of the dust from the first generator, the intensity/reach of the dust from the AO pass and the transition with the grunge map.

The last thing to do is adjust the colour of the fill layer and add roughtness (if you want to go for dust) and that is pretty much it!

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