Patterns and noise are foundational tools for creating believable, varied, and efficient materials. They save significant resources because they are not baked into a unique texture, and they also let us build universal materials without a primary object-bound texture.
With them, a base material can be quickly modified by layering different patterns, wear, scratches, relief, and other effects without creating new textures. Via material parameters they are easy to tune - adjusting the intensity, scale, and character of patterns and noise - which simplifies making variations and adapting to different objects.
Patterns can be combined and layered in multiple passes. Their combinations and scaling create more complex visual effects - for example, metal wear with subtle rust and scratches. Noise is often used as masks for blending materials and layers (for example, dirt over paint), producing rich, detailed compositions with smooth transitions. Patterns and noise also help fine-tune roughness and normal maps, making reflections and lighting more realistic and less plasticky and flat.
In the future, we aim to implement procedural generation and combination of patterns and noise to save memory and improve project performance.
Open-source repository: https//github.com/fallintodusk/alis
