Creating a Custom Surface

[Dave Jochum]

I'm looking for a cedar shingle siding surface with curved coursing with no luck. Has anyone created such an animal? If not, how does one go about creating one? I'm looking for a combo of the images attached. 

  

[Lingwisyer]

I would import a cedar board texture into Photoshop then mask a random portion of it to each tile in your bottom image. Do this for as many rows as you can be bothered to do, as it will reduce tiling. Duplicate the top set of shingles to the bottom and the bottom set of shingles to the top and trim them to your frame to make it seamless. In AC, apply a B/W of the bottom as a Bump Map, and use a JPG of your the image created above as the Texture Map. If you really wanted, you could create a curved gradiant in Photoshop too in order to create a Displacement Map.

Ling.

[Dave Jochum]

Thanks,  Lingwisyer. I'll give it a try, but is a bit above my Photoshop talents.

[Dave Jochum · Accepted solution]

Actually, I was able to use Photoshop's warp tool (preset "Flag") on the JPG extracted from the AC library. It was very easy. A fellow ACer, Paulo, sent me an even better image he had created previously. Minimal Photoshop work attained the desired color. Now...I would love the ability to create a 3D version!

[Lingwisyer]

Oh, your shingles curve in the z axis too? 3D for just rendering? Or actual model?

[Dave Jochum]

I like finish surfaces (siding, roofing, etc.) to be 3 dimensional for the added realism in perspectives, BIMx, and 2D sections and elevations as well. I use Jared Bank's technique of an outer wall. We can extrude in a linear fashion with Complex Profiles, but a curving extrusion...