Chipped paint on metal NEW QUESTION!

[Isick]

I am currently texturing a character for a FPS I am working on with some friends and I have hit a snag. The time has come for me to add the war-torn look - dirt, scratches, chips, etc - but I realized that doing chipped metal by hand on a 2096X2096 would take quite a while considering this is not the only texture I have to do. I tried looking for good tutorials, but all I could find was rusted metal tutorials rather than chipped painted metal.

To give you an idea of the effect I am going for you could look at the the shoulder pads on one of the characters in the new FPS game "Huxley".
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/ima ... 630434.jpg

When I look at it it seems like such a simple effect, but I can't seem to nail it.

The way I thought about doing it was as follows (it is kind of odd so try and stay with me)
1) Render clouds (for randomization)
2) Select the dark portions only (anything with lum below 150) of the clouds and delete
3) Blur what is left and set the blend mode to DISSOLVE (so as to convert the feathered edges into single pixels.
4) Flatten/rasterize that layer
- That layer will act as where the paint has chipped -
5) so I then inner shadow and bevel it and apply a dull metal texture to it.

The effect is not awful, but it does not look as realistic as I would like. If anyone knows a more effective way to get a chipped look please speak up.

[Excruciating]

hmm..
My first thought was that, personally, I'd draw the whole thing in hand.. (perhaps use the clone tool here and there to cut a few corners of course).
I think that leaves you with the highest possible amount of creativity and the outcome will most likely be the best (depends on how good you are at drawing of course).

My second thought was using stockimages. Use a site like http://www.sxc.hu and find some images (their free to use) of cracked paint. Then paste them onto your texture and do a regular blending/retouch, whatever you need to do, to make it look real.

My third thought (and last resort) would be using photoshop filters entirely ..
I do not find them that usefull for creating things from scratch I find them more usefull for enchancting things...
hmm ?

[Isick]

Ok, so I have decided on a method to do the paint chips. I took a look at this guy's page:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=373024
and have been inspired to use a combination of selections and custom brushes to make the paint chips.

Unfortunately I now have ANOTHER question. Is there a way to take a selection and give it a shredded edged appearance?

For example, if I were to make a selection of a circle is there some way to edit that selection fast an easily to turn that circle into a spiky circle? I was looking at that "Ripped Paper" Tutorial to see how they did it, but I think they just made the shredded edge by hand.
* http://www.devppl.com/tutorial/14316/ *

But that is what I need at this moment. A fast way to turn a straight edged selection into a shredded edge selection. If you know of any way please speak up.

Thanks!

[Isick]

I hate to bump, but does anyone have any ideas?
I am at a stand still until I can figure this out.

[batty]

if i were you i'd go on a brush hunt. alot of people make scratches and tears as 'stamps' you can download, and if you underpaint them they can be really useful for a variety of surfaces.
search google for grunge brushes and you'll most likely find what you're after good luck xx

[Isick]

Ok, I found a work around of sorts. I normally wouldn't bump this, but since I discovered a way I wonder if maybe someone else was looking for a similar solution.

Quick Recap: The problem was I needed a way to 'randomly' stagger the edge of a large selection. This would help me make realistic scratch and chipped paint marks on a model I am making.

Solution: I discovered that I can edit a selected in something called "Quick Mask Mode" (shortcut key : Q). If you must know how I discovered this I was banging on my keyboard and happened to press Q, anyway, moving on... What this mode does is it displays a selected area as white, non selected areas as black, and any variation of selection the corresponding color of grey. But, more importantly, is it allows for filters and effects to be placed to alter the selection. So, what I simply did was I would roughly select where I wanted the chipped paint to be, I would go into the Quick Mask Mode (by pressing Q) and then I applied an Ocean Ripple to the selection (though you can apply whatever filter you want). Then, to leave Quick Mask Mode, I simply press Q again and, like magic, I now have a seemingly random, jagged, selection.

Now, I promise, I will no longer bump this topic and I shall let it go the route of other solved topics. RIP.

[tombothetominator]

Good post, and we appreciate the update. That quick mask mode has a TON of uses. Using custom brushes you can get selections that would be impossible the usual means.