Texturing

Vertex Painting

Painting blend masks directly on mesh vertices

Also known as: Vertex paint · Vertex color blending · Mesh paint Unreal · Vertex painting Unity · Vertex color mask · Blend materials vertex

Environment Texturing Technique

Definition

Vertex painting stores color values on a mesh's vertices and uses them in the material as blend masks. It lets artists paint where a second material, such as moss, dirt, damage or wet, appears on a model, without extra texture memory or unique UVs, and every instance of an asset can have its own pattern. It is used for blending materials on modular walls and rocks, and for driving effects such as wind on foliage. Unreal Engine has Mesh Paint mode, and Blender and Maya can paint vertex colors.

In production

Use enough geometry for the paint to have detail, since values are interpolated between vertices, and add height-based blending for natural transitions. Keep the vertex color channels organized, such as red for dirt and green for moss, and document them. Vertex data is stored per instance, so heavy use increases memory, and it may be lost when a mesh is reimported, so keep backups or paint in the DCC.