Tutorial: Texture Noise

This guide provides a detailed walkthrough for using the Texture Noise job. This is a powerful procedural generator that can create a wide variety of noise patterns, which are fundamental for building complex materials, masks, and effects. Unlike other jobs, this one does not require any input textures; it generates noise from scratch based on your settings.

1. What is Procedural Noise?

Procedural noise is an algorithmically generated pattern that appears random but is actually deterministic. This means you can always get the same result if you use the same settings. In texturing, noise is used for everything: creating organic patterns like clouds and wood grain, adding surface imperfections, breaking up repetitive tiling, or creating complex masks for blending other textures.

2. Setting Up the Job

1. In the main Texture Tools window, click the Add Job button.

2. From the dropdown menu, select Job: Texture Noise.

3. A new "Texture Noise" job will be added to the job queue. Select it to see its properties in the Details panel.

3. Configuring the Noise

All the settings for this job are located in the Input Settings category in the Details panel.

Noise Type

This is the most important setting, as it determines the fundamental algorithm and look of the generated pattern.

• Simplex: A high-quality, organic-looking noise, similar to Perlin noise but with fewer directional artifacts. Great for clouds, fire, and natural patterns.

• Gradient Texture: A fast and efficient noise based on a pre-calculated gradient texture.

• Fast Gradient Texture: A more optimized version of the Gradient Texture noise.

• Gradient Computational: A gradient noise that is calculated on-the-fly.

• Value: A simpler, blockier type of noise.

• Voronoi: Creates a cellular pattern, resembling cracked mud, stone cells, or crystal formations.

General Noise Parameters

These settings apply to most or all of the noise types.

• Scale: Controls the "zoom" level of the noise. Higher values result in smaller, more frequent details (tiling the noise more), while lower values create larger, broader patterns.

• Z-Offset: Think of this as a "seed" for the noise. Changing this value will shift the noise pattern, allowing you to generate different variations of the same noise type and scale.

• Filter Width: Helps to reduce aliasing and artifacts in the noise, especially at higher scales.

• Noise Output Min / Max: These values remap the brightness range of the noise. By default, the noise is generated from 0 (black) to 1 (white). You can use these to clamp the range, for example, from 0.2 to 0.8, to create a lower-contrast noise.

• Levels: Controls the number of "octaves" or layers of noise that are combined. Higher values add more fine detail to the base noise pattern, creating a more complex result.

Voronoi-Specific Parameters

When you select Voronoi as the Noise Type, an additional parameter becomes available.

• Voronoi Quality: Controls the intensity and definition of the cellular pattern.

4. Generating the Noise Texture

1. Once you have selected a noise type and configured its parameters, ensure the Texture Noise job is selected in the job queue.

2. Click the main Run Selected Job button.

3. The tool will generate the procedural noise texture. The new texture asset will be saved to the path specified in the Generate Settings category.