A short cut to mushrooms

...or a mushroom, rather. 

As I warned you last time, I've pieced together only a simple scene this week, showcasing two of the assets I made for Mr. Squirrel's. You know, the nearly invisible ones, at the very edge of the forest. Yes, those.

The mushroom is... not very believable, I know. That's because it only has a color channel (that I painted myself), unlike the tree stump, which sports the full suite of textures. I still haven't figured out how to create convincing organic materials. I know there needs to be translucency—and there is some enabled on the Principled shader—but it simply isn't good enough. I need to have roughness and reflection maps, too. I just have no clue how to make them myself.

I had a bit of spare time (because I finished the project earlier than usual), so I started watching some training videos on Substance Painter / Designer. I'm inclined to believe that I'd be able to create better materials with it, but it would mean cancelling my Poliigon subscription. And I would have to simplify my weekly projects until I got the hang of the new software. 

Oh, and I also didn't want to forget everything I've learned about animation, so I made another exercise submission for the Animation Bootcamp. Considering that I didn't touch animation for more than a month, it could have been worse, I think. 

Next week's project choice will depend heavily on whether I buy Substance subscription, or not. If not, I'll probably do something similar to this week: neatly arrange flora and one or two animation exercises. See you next time!