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Genetica Basics     Editing Presets     Weathering a Texture     Extending the Library     Zooming Textures     Using Effect Maps     Making Website Thumbnails (Pro)

Although Genetica gives you the option to create new textures from scratch, the fastest way of achieving a certain result is often to find a preset that is already similar to what you want, and then to edit it as desired. This tutorial guides you through the process of modifying one of the preset textures that comes included with Genetica.
 

Step 1

First let's open a texture to edit. In the Start tab, select the "Stone Dark" preset category, then click the "Black Speckled Rock" preset texture in order to open it. (If you require further assistance, please refer to the illustration in Step 1 of the previous tutorial.)
 

Step 2

After a moment the selected texture will be opened. Genetica will automatically switch from the Start tab to the Texture tab where the texture can be seen and edited. Unlike the texture we opened in the last tutorial, this texture is relatively simple and is composed of just one node, namely, a Substance Lab.

Nodes in Genetica fall into two main categories: Basic Nodes and Lab Nodes. While Basic Nodes perform relatively simple tasks and have relatively few properties controlling their behavior, Lab Nodes perform much more complicated tasks and have many more options. The Substance Lab that constitutes this texture is an example of a Lab Node. As indicated by the following image, Lab Nodes can be identified because they have a "Lab" button over their upper left corners. In addition, whenever a Lab Node is selected an additional tab appears that houses the vast majority of its options.
 

To edit the Substance Lab node, open the Substance Lab tab by either clicking the node's Lab button or selecting the tab itself. Both of these are indicated in the image above.


Step 3

Having switched to the Substance Lab tab, Genetica should now resemble the following illustration:
 

There are two main areas to take note of here (as numbered in the image above):

1. Along the left side of the tab are a list of sections that organize the various properties controlling the Substance Lab's behavior.
2. In the upper right area of the tab are the properties that correspond to the currently selected section.

The two properties currently appearing are Scale and Seed. Because these properties belong to the root Substance Lab section (notice how the other sections sprout out below it), modifying these properties will influence all sections below it. For example, changing the Scale property will zoom the entire Substance Lab in and out, while modifying the Seed property will re-randomize the entire Substance Lab. On the other hand, changing one of the Scale or Seed properties found in the other sections will only zoom and re-randomize those individual sections.

Re-randomize the texture by increasing the Seed property to a value of 1. Notice how when you do so the entire texture changes while still retaining its overall qualities.
 

Step 4

Most textures are based on a noise that controls the swirls and patterns of a material. To edit the noise for this texture, click the "Noise" section. You will now see a list of properties like the ones appearing in the following image (the numbers circled in red will be different):
 

The noise generated by this section appears as a red and black preview image in the upper left corner of the Substance Lab tab. The properties in this section are organized into three overall areas. The properties towards the top of the interface (Scale, Seed, Combine Mode, Mix Bias, etc.) control the noise overall. Following these properties are two boxes with yellow borders around them labeled "Select Noise." These two boxes contain the properties for each of the two noises that are being combined.

The first Select Noise box is generating a bunch of dots. In order to increase the size of these dots, set the value of the "Size" property within the first Select Noise box to a value of 50. After a moment you will see the size of the dots in the tiny preview enlarge somewhat. The Mix Bias property towards the top of the interface controls how the two noises below are combined. In order to make the dots more apparent in the final noise, set the value of the "Mix Bias" property to a value of 20. These two adjustments are indicated in the above image with red circles.
 

Step 5

Now that we have edited the texture's noise, let's adjust its colors. First, click the "Color" section (located directly below the Noise section used in the previous step).

In the properties section to the right you will now see five color properties labeled "Color 1" through "Color 5," each one of which has a "Color..." button to its right that you can click to edit the color. Click the Color button appearing to the right of the fourth color property "Color 4," then in the window that pops up change the red, green, and blue fields to 200, 200, 165, respectively. Click OK. Next click the Color button to the right of "Color 5," and in the popup window set the red, green, and blue fields each to a value of 235. Click OK.

After making these adjustments the interface should now look like this:
 

Step 6

As described in the previous tutorial, click the Render Texture button found in the main button bar to see your new texture.
 

The above image shows the texture before and after your adjustments.


Next: The Weathering a Texture tutorial shows you how to create a new Weather Lab node and use it to refine a texture. Alternatively, the Node Reference section of the help system that comes included within Genetica will give you additional details regarding the Substance Lab, as well as all the other Lab Nodes.