In this initial lesson, Nick Reynolds reviews the "pack-mule" drone model he constructed in volume one of this workshop. He begins by bringing it into Substance Painter to go over the foundation for texturing, and explaining how baked maps and material channels work together in a PBR workflow. He demonstrates using a non-destructive pipeline through proper naming conventions, swappable models, and layered approaches, which allows for flexibility during texturing.

Duration: 22m 46s

This lesson takes a deeper look at Albedo or color; one of the fundamental aspects of BPR shading. Using real-world examples, Nick discusses how each of these channels relates to others and how lighting affects it and the object it's exposed to. By following established PBR guidelines and value ranges, he shows how artists can create materials that behave realistically across any lighting scenario without requiring scene-specific adjustments.

Duration: 24m 36s

This lesson focuses on understanding Roughness and Gloss channels. By studying real-world materials from multiple angles, creating calibrated reference charts, and using histogram analysis to match target values, Nick demonstrates how to make informed, repeatable decisions about this material property. He also stresses that, like all BPR attributes, roughness and gloss should ultimately be refined artistically, remaining fully art-directable to serve the visual goals of each specific project.

Duration: 28m 2s

This lesson examines the Metal/Specular channel (metalness workflow), as it has become the industry standard for PBR texturing due to it being more memory-efficient and easier to implement than the specular workflow. By understanding that metals require specific value ranges in their albedo maps combined with appropriate roughness values, Nick demonstrates how to create physically accurate materials.

Duration: 24m 51s

This lesson establishes foundational workflows for texturing in Substance Painter. The software's power lies in its ability to stack simple elements into sophisticated results while maintaining flexibility to adjust any component at any time, making it an essential tool for modern game asset texturing. Using the "pack-mule" drone model, Nick explains how to properly layer materials, utilize smart masking techniques, and leverage procedural generators, to efficiently create complex, believable textures.

Duration: 41m

This lesson focuses on the power of procedural generators within Substance Painter, which artists can use to create sophisticated masking effects quickly. Nick showcases the presets and sliders used for common effects, and explains how they work to give artists greater ability to create custom presets. Investing time in creating detailed high-poly models with sculpted weathering and surface variation significantly reduces texturing time later.

Duration: 22m 9s

In this lesson, Nick begins the texturing work on his "pack-mule" drone by gathering real-world references. He reinforces the idea that realistic materials come from understanding real-world object construction and natural or artificial weathering patterns, rather then building up layers with different masking methods. The non-destructive workflow encourages artists to experiment freely, make mistakes, and refine their work, leading to more nuanced and realistic final results.

Duration: 35m 11s

In this lesson, Nick continues to texture the "pack-mule" drone, building in complex metallic textures to the model using layered masking techniques. Nick covers a common confusion in PBR texturing: how oxidized metals and rust should be treated as non-metallic surfaces despite their metal origin, as the oxidation process changes their light interaction properties, making them behave more like dielectric materials than conductors.

Duration: 31m 9s

In this lesson, Nick shows artists how to make intentional choices to ensure their work stays professional and is supported by real-world materials. By fixing an anti-aliasing problem and carefully establishing a cohesive three-color paint scheme, he creates a solid foundation for more advanced weathering techniques.

Duration: 19m 15s

In this lesson, Nick looks at a procedural approach to adding weathering that prioritizes flexibility and experimentation. Working with generators and masks before committing to hand-painted details, he demonstrates how to make sweeping changes efficiently while maintaining creative freedom. Effective weathering requires careful attention to material properties, value contrast and layering, while being willing to abandon ideas that don't serve the model.

Duration: 37m 19s

In this lesson, Nick aims to add more natural weathering to the drone model; here he focuses on the cavities where things like dust and water could accumulate. By understanding how these natural effects build up based on physics, artists can leverage the procedural tools in Substance Painter to efficiently establish believable weathering across an entire model.

Duration: 34m 7s

In this lesson, Nick pulls images into Substance Painter to act as decals he can place in the texture directly, further enhancing the asset. He creates flexible stencil sheets that can be applied using painting layers, while keeping his placement spontaneous throughout the texturing process. His aim is to imply function and history through worn labels and warnings, while using weathering techniques to integrate new elements seamlessly with existing texture work.

Duration: 28m 58s

In this lesson, Nick takes a hand-crafted approach to applying weathering effects grounded in real-world physics. He demonstrates how thoughtful wear and tear can enhance the drone’s realism and draw the player's attention in-game. By treating each asset as part of a larger visual language, Nick shows that successful world-building emerges when multiple elements work together to tell a cohesive environmental story.

Duration: 29m 12s

In this lesson, Nick switches from hand painting to using custom stencils for more realistic and natural weathering, noting that every weathering decision should reinforce the narrative of how an object is used, managing player attention in the game environment. While automated tools provide a foundation, the final 20% of polish; removing seams, adding directional wear, and managing visual hierarchy, separates professional work from amateur results.

Duration: 28m 5s

In this lesson, Nick works to finalize his texture work, double checking that each PBR channel looks good on its own. By adjusting contrast and roughness values, and ensuring material differences are clear where they need to be, he shows how artists can create more realistic and professional-looking work. Nick then uses Iray renderer in Substance Painter to get a basic idea of how his texture work looks before exporting.

Duration: 21m 30s

In this final lesson, Nick demonstrates the final steps of the texturing pipeline: exporting organized, game-ready textures from Substance Painter and correctly implementing them in real-time engines. He covers channel packing, naming conventions, and some technical differences between different engines. By mastering and saving these export and setup processes, artists can ensure their detailed texturing work always translates accurately into their chosen game engines.

Duration: 29m 34s