Craftpack 1.0

Bricks and Shingles and Rock and Roll
We all are achitects: we build our models and then try to map the model with a brick-a-like map. Konkeptoine made it a lot easier with CraftPack: a combination of a brick and a shingle-shader!

What is Craftpack...
CraftPack contains 3 shaders: BlocksCraft, BlocksCraft3D and ShingleCraft.
In this version TileCraft is not yet included, but will be in the future.
Yet two manuals give a good idea what these shaders do, illustrated with lots of samples. And to make it even more a joy: lots of sample Projects can be dowmload from the Konkeptione site. All models, EIM models and textures are included.

Practise... The first time you add one of the shaders and open its inteface, you will be surprised: it looks a great deal like TileCraft! If you look carefully you will notice it is not quite true: these new shaders offer a lot more... It is just trail and error to get the hang of it, but after a while you will know in advance what the result will be.
 

	Extra An extra features has been added that makes live easier: Dummy colors. These are eight color chips you can use and save for the next time you make bricks. Even better: try some different colors without writing down the r-g-b numbers..
BlocksCraft 3D To make things easier the interface of the BlocksCraft 3D shader is divided into five sections. You begin with the initial size of the bricks and the mortar, then the brick-type and it's placement accuracy. In the third section you specify wheather or not you like to apply some erosion. In the fourth secion you can choose between different craft modes and fine-tune the surface of the bricks. For the latter one you have two bump layers to give the brick the look you want.
	BlocksCraft and ShingleCraft The two other shaders, Blockcraft and Shinglecraft have a look a-like interface. Each shader has three sections in which you can define size, color and type. Here are no dummy colors present.

Displace or not?
In real live masonary is not flat. There is a noticable ledge between the bricks and the mortar and even between the bricks themselves. Luckily for us, Konkeptione has added a great feature that allow us to generate real displacements of the mortar and the bricks. Though remember to make a dense meshed object otherwise displacement will gain wierd results. Even erosion of the bricks and mortar can be achieved!

Is that all?
Wel almost! There is another very interesting possibility: UV mapping. If you use the UV option, he shader will follow the geometrie of the object. Not all roofs and walls are straight:
Gaudi DID inspire the developpers :-)

In conclusion: Again konkeption released a very usefull , powerful and essential shader, Nearly any brickwork can be made, which sure is not only very useful for architects, but for anyone who wants walls, roofs or other fantastic scenery. Well, enough talking, let's Bricks and Shingles and Rock and Roll...

Robert Jan Kila