Do you remember the last time you looked at a piece of digital artwork, amazed at the artist’s creativity and attention to detail? What was it about that image that caught your eye?
The complex depth of the scene?
The surreal lighting?
The fantastic blending of the textures?
A scene so well done that those individual components disappeared into masterpiece perfection?
If you’re anything like me, your next thought was something like, “I wish I could do that.” Then I think, “Even if I could do that, it would take me forever!”
I’ve been doing 2D and 3D images and animations for work and play for about 15 years. There are a few elements of my scenes that have always been hard for me. One of those elements is the ability to quickly create convincing 3D textures that make the scene come alive. Good texture editor tools are still hard to come by. Sure 3DS Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, Blender, and lots of other programs have built-in texture generators, but they are all different and can only do so much. Plus, I am not the most creative guy. I often need a little help to get my textures to look real.
What about the market-dominating standard, Photoshop? It is very powerful and a must-have tool for any artist. But if you struggle to be creative, Photoshop will probably not help you be more creative. What if there was a program out there that gave you a huge head-start toward creative genius? Could a program really do that?!? And, is anybody else tired of doing the X/2, Y/2 offset trick with the Clone Tool to try to make a seamless texture? Yes there are some plug-ins out there, but I wanted a more complete solution.
Looking for Help
So, I tried all kinds of tutorials on how to make grunge textures, how to make things look naturally random, and how to make seamless textures. Though many of them were helpful, they didn’t help me go much faster. Yes, there is stock photography out there but it’s usually not very tileable (or seamless), and if it is tileable it usually looks fake. Isn’t there a one-stop shopping method?
After years of what I would call “stumbling in the dark”, I finally found a software tool that is so different, yet so powerful that I can’t imagine being without it now. It saved me hours of work and the results were so good that I felt like a pro after my first project. This amazing tool is Genetica, from Spiral Graphics Inc. Genetica is not a modeling program, but a world-class texture editor; it was designed for creating textures.
I was so excited about the success of my first Genetica project that I felt like printing it out and putting it on the fridge for my wife and kids! In fact, I'll show it to you too.
I was able to create every texture on this building with Genetica, and then render it in my 3D program with the Genetica textures applied.
Screenshot from my 3D program after applying my Genetica textures...
Rendering of the final model by iteself... Check out the peeling paint, wood grain, old glass windows, shingles, peeling pub sign, and grunge drips near the ground. All of it was created almost automatically with Genetica. Even the iron hangars are 2D Genetica drawings that look 3D! I never touched a Clone Tool or tough-up brush - not even once.
And my favorite... An overlay shot of the pub in a real scene. Don't look too close - it's actually an English Pub on a German street corner.
I can say confidently, without question, that it would have taken me HOURS longer to finish that little project without Genetica. That was my first Genetica project, and I was sold!
Imagine hearing your boss or client say, “Wow, that looks amazing!” or imagine throwing double-digit percentages off your production time. Imagine leaving work for the day realizing that your project was still on schedule.
On the flip side, how would you feel if your boss said, “I want you to work today with one hand duct-taped to your leg.”
How ridiculous, right? But that’s exactly how I would feel if I couldn't use Genetica for my projects any more. It is now that important in my workflow.
How it all started...
The president of Spiral Graphics, Atlas Roufas, tells his story: About 8 years ago, he was staring at his wood desk trying to think of a way to create more realistic simulated wood textures. The programs of the day used fairly simple procedural textures that basically created multi-colored, stretched rings and called them wood. He wanted something better; something that could be scaled without looking like someone tried to blow up a 4x5 photo to a poster; something so easy that people like me can use it; something a lot more realistic.
So what did Atlas do? In his spare time, he worked on developing algorithms to make much more realistic (yet completely artificial) wood textures. Take a look at the output:
But that gave Atlas another idea… Could he apply the same principles that made his wood textures so amazing, and apply them to stone, grass, brick, concrete, metals, grunge, and even planet terrain? Atlas took the leap and answered that question with a resounding YES! Genetica was born, and thousands of happy users are glad he never looked back. In fact, Atlas and the crew at Spiral Graphics have won numerous awards for their software.
The benefits of Genetica are huge!
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Creative Genius at your fingertips: Stop staring at a reference image and blank Photoshop screen. There are thousands of presets in Genetica that get your creative juices flowing. Use them or tweak them to your liking.
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Time-saving Mapping Automation: Genetica automatically calculates Color, Bump, and Luminance maps for you (and your choice of any others), so you can just hit Save for the ones you want. Need Normal Maps too? Those are just as easy if you have Genetica Pro.
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Worry-free Seamless Textures: Imagine never having to think about whether your textures are seamless or not… ever! Genetica handles it EVERY time automatically.
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Wallet-friendly Pricing: If you bought two or three separate programs just to get some of the functionality of Genetica, you would probably spend much more than the cost of Genetica itself. I know of one program that costs the same price as Genetica Pro, but only does one of the things Genetica can do! In fact, the feature set of Genetica Basic is so huge that its low price is borderline ridiculous.
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Losing Your Work is Impossible: (unless of course you don’t save it). Most other image editors that are used as texture editors are destructive in nature. The Clone Tool permanently changes parts of the image (even if you backup-copy layers, you might have to redo things). Genetica doesn’t work that way. Think of it as a living history list - you can always go back and tweak changes in the past, and they will update your current work. It’s a whole new way of thinking, and you can always tweak your previous changes.
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Highly Compatible: Genetica reads and writes numerous common image file types so you can still use it in your workflow with other image-editing products like Adobe Photoshop or The GIMP.
- Reusable Work: Genetica is not just a texture editor; it’s a texture library. Custom Textures can easily be used in other projects later with Copy/Paste operations, or you can add them to your own favorites library. In fact, Spiral Graphics Inc. released entirely new texture libraries several times per year.
- Feel like a pro as you create new textures in minutes. It’s a powerful feeling when you conquer a project so much faster with Genetica.
What's a Node?
Genetica is a Node-based program, which eliminates a lot of wasted work. With Nodes, you essentially maintain your entire history, step-by-step. At any point in time, you can go back and edit a Node, and those changes will trickle all the way forward and update your textures (including all specular, luminance, bump, and normal maps too!). You can group nodes together to create your own custom filters. By connecting multiple Node Groups together, you can rapidly create incredibly complex textures.
A Jack Master of All Trades
A Gamer Builder's Dream
If you’re a game developer, how would you like to crank out awesome, jaw-dropping textures like the one below (made in Genetica of course)? Genetica can make awesome game textures, but it can also save you days and weeks of development time in the process!
They Listened...
Everyone has a different workflow. Some people love using stock photos in their work, while others want the scalability of vector graphics. The Genetica developers listened and provided both. If you wanted to make your own rock wall of a Scottish castle using pictures you took when you were there, no problem. Genetica has a fully loaded Synthesis Tool that allows you to use any photo and automatically color balance and tile it to make a new texture. The image below is just one of several modes. You can also randomly distribute photo data, or mask out that unwanted object in the middle of the photo. This Synthesis feature alone is worth the price of the program.
Genetica’s combination of Vector-, Procedural-, and Photo-based texture tools is second to none.
Yes, you can use other vector-based programs for something like this, but it's a huge benefit to have a vector-based texture tool right in the same program, interacting with your procedural and image textures! Plus, the ability to change the texture styles simultaneously and in real-time is fantastic.
Check out the capability of the Canvas Node (vector tool)...
Eye Candy
Look at the incredible variety of textures that come from Genetica. It's unbelievably versatile!
So What's under the hood?
“What file formats does Genetica use?”
Genetica reads/writes Genetica-native .gtx files. These files are extremely small since they mostly contain equation data of how to combine calculated (procedural) textures.
For image inputs, Genetica can read the following formats: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tga, .tif, .tiff, .wmf, .pic, .pfm, .hdr
For image outputs, Genetica exports to: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tga, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp formats (also .pfm and .hdr for Genetica Pro and Studio).
In Genetica Studio, animations can be rendered out as animated GIFs, AVIs, or image sequences in .jpg, .png, .tga, .tif, .bmp, .pfm, or .hdr formats.
“Can I run Genetica on my machine?”
| Operating System | Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 (.NET framework is required but is already installed on most systems) |
| RAM (Memory) | 1GB (2GB Recommended) |
| Hard Disk | 400 MB |
| Internet Connection | Integrated resource library requires occasional connection to the internet |
“But I don’t want to have to learn a new piece of software”
Learning new software can be intimidating. That’s why Spiral Graphics has built such a thorough help and support system into their programs. Their tutorials and step-by-step help system will get you up to speed quickly on even the most complex textures!
Plus, if you sign up for updates from us we will send you occasional emails with tips and updates. The first thing we’ll send you is a short list of recommended tutorials that you can watch at your convenience. How can you beat free training?
What do you get with each Genetica Edition? Here's a summary...
| Genetica Edition | |||
| Basic | Pro | Studio | |
| Node-Based Workflow |  |
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| Professional Drawing Tools | |
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| Visual Styles | |
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| Advanced Lighting | |
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| Thousands of Presets | |
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| Effect Maps | |
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| Edit & Create HDRI Environments | |
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| Normal Maps | |
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| Hair and Fiber | |
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| Batch Processor | |
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| HDRI and 32-Bit Output | |
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| Create Animations | |
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| Animation Presets | |
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| Maximum Render Size | 3000x3000 | 6000x6000 | 6000x6000 |
Tell me More!
If you're still not convinced that Genetica can change your texture world, then here's a recap of features along with a few others I haven't yet mentioned.
Powerful Synthesis Tool - New to version 3.5, you can say good-bye to spending your valuable time trying to use the clone tool to blend and cleanup textures to make them seamless. Use this feature to convert existing images into tiled image in minutes! You can easily mask out unwanted objects, and specify multiple "patches" to blend together from the source image.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Incredibly complex textures - Genetica has hundreds of filters and effects, but is still easy enough to use that you can have new textures in minutes or even seconds! There's virtually no limit to the level of complexity or depth you can create with this system. Believe it or not, the texture below is completely 2D, and completely procedural (no pixel-by-pixel "tweaking")!
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Off-the-Shelf presets - Don't waste time starting from scratch; you can just tweak a few settings in the texture library and have never-before-seen textures in seconds.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Automated seamless textures - A real-time preview shows you what your texture will look like, and Genetica takes care of matching the edges every time! You never have to manually make your image tileable!
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Unlimited resolution scaling - Because Genetica is truly vector- and procedural-based, you can get as close to a texture as you want, and render the output in amazing detail.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| 3000 x 3000 | 6000 x 6000 | 6000 x 6000 |
Fantastic Lighting - Simulate light reflections at any resolution, tricking the eye with amazingly real metal and reflective materials.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Reduced polygon count - Powerful vector drawing tools allow you to easily create geometry detail and shapes that can be directly applied to your models using height maps or normal maps. This saves substantial time modeling and rendering geometry. This drawing tool also means you can go straight from Genetica to your model without using an image editor!
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Great Software Support - You're not alone using Genetica. With an online manual, online tutorials, an active Spiral Graphics Forum, and even a Facebook following, we've got you covered! Genetica includes links to video tutorials. In addition to Spiral Graphics resources, we at TexturesWithGenetica.com will offer blog tutorials on occasion as well.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Free Stuff - Genetica comes with thousands of pre-made seamless, tileable textures. They can all be tweaked to your liking. Pre-set textures within Genetica include:
- brick, mortar, concrete, stone and stone tiles
- desert, jungle, volcanic, and civilized terrain
- crystal, caustics, and precious metals
- animal skin, fur, and scales
- cut & uncut wood
- snow & ice
- metals: corroded, galvanized, polished, structural members
- medieval architecture
- stone, marble, smooth & rough rock
- sky, clouds, atmosphere
- stone paths
- nature, flowers, plants, vegetation, grass, trees, leaves
- various signs, labels, and logos
- and numerous other categories
- new libraries are regularly made available for free download from the Spiral Graphics website.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
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Easily create 32-bit High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) images - Use procedural textures or your own photo images and convert them into stunning HDRI light sources. Why buy Light Probe or Sky-dome HDRI images when you can make your own? Genetica Pro and Studio can generate 32-bit images, and don't crop the color spectrum at RGB=(255,255,255), but let you work above the visible range, truly working in a high dynamic range.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| No | |
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Hair & Fiber creation - This tool is invaluable for creating base textures that add that extra realism to your fur, hair, and carpet strands.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| No | |
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Automatic normal map creation - Automatically creates multiple normal maps that can be used immediately by your 3D program. This feature is available in Pro and Studio, but is easily worth the price if you create game textures regularly.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| No | |
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Save hours of manual labor with Batch Processing - You can let Genetica Pro do the rendering work while you focus on producing other content. Genetica Pro batch processes color maps, specular maps, and more all at the click of a button!
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| No | |
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Powerful animation tools - Render extremely complex animated materials to make your textures come alive! Imagine how much easier it would be if you just let Genetica render your water wave sequence as an animated texture instead of trying to animate a procedural texture yourself (not to mention that you don't have to create as much geometry this way).
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| No | No | |
Animation Pre-sets - Genetica Studio also comes with numerous presets and examples so you're not left in the dark about what settings are good starting points. Genetica will render animated color maps, specular maps, normal maps, and more to create convincing animated texture effects.
| Basic | Pro | Studio |
| No | No | |
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If you're anything like me, you will love Genetica. Wishing you lots more productivity, and jaw-dropping textures,
Colin Campbell,
3D Designer, Genetica user, and founder of TexturesWithGenetica.com
©2010 TexturesWithGenetica.com