Painted Brick and Wood

[davidstvz]

If you want to paint bricks with custom colors, you might have tried blending a color. However, this gives a stained appearance rather than painted.  I've realized that materials such as brick and wood plank have 3D "normal map" images associated with them in HD Pro (not sure about lesser versions).  You can't see it directly, but I found out when using a custom texture when the colors didn't line up with the normal map.

 

In any case, if you copy a brick material into the user library the normal map associations come with it.  Then you can edit it, go to the texture tab and clear the filename for the texture.  If you then edit the "material color" on the pattern tab after deleting the texture, you'll still get the shadows associated with the brick normal map (in the shape and texture of bricks) but without the underlying texture coloring.  This essentially gives you a solid painted look while keeping the texture of brick.  The effect can be subtle, especially in bright sun or from far away. You might also try it with some bricks from manufacturer catalogs as well which should have different 3D data associated with it than what the core catalog materials have and might look better to you.

 

It works for wood planks and any other material with the 3D surface data as well.

 

 

[chiefhamna]

Could you provide a closer shot of the fireplace bricks? We are buying a house that is painted bright yellow and I'm going to redo it. I love the whitewash look and want to mimic it. The pic will help with more accurate color/texture. Thanks

[Robborito]

On 10/27/2020 at 7:05 AM, davidstvz said:

It works for wood planks and any other material with the 3D surface data

Can  I ask which material's/finishes in the pic attached to your comment are the ones you have created please?