80 LEVEL - Create Realistic Aging Brick Wall Material Using Substance 3D Designer

About The Brick Wall Project
When I started this project, my goal was to create something experimental in Substance Designer. I had been making materials for buildings similar to those in New York for a long time at my studio, and I started wondering if I

I started with the base shape using the Tile Random node. My goal was to create a base shape of bricks arranged in a random order, as I wanted the bricks to appear naturally scattered.

Next, I used the Slope Blur Grayscale node to add some deformations to the brick shape. This is a great method to make the bricks look more organic and natural.

Then, I used the Flood Fill, Flood Fill Gradient, and Flood Fill Grayscale nodes to randomly adjust the position and rotation of the bricks. This step is essential for achieving a more natural look.

Next, I added deformations to the edges to emphasize the aging effect. I used noise nodes and the Slope Blur Grayscale node for this step.

Here, I created the mortar that holds the bricks together and blended the bricks and mortar using the Height Blend node.

Here, to emphasize the aging effect again, I applied random deformations to the bricks.

Finally, I added cracks to some of the bricks using the Crack node I had previously prepared.

Base Color
For the Brick Base Color, I connected the final grayscale to the Gradient Map node and used the colors I picked from my references as the base color. Then, I used the Flood Fill to Random Color node to give each brick a unique color.

Here, I combined three different colors with my base color using Grayscale nodes to create more contrast.

Here, I added the colors I created for the mortar.

Here, I applied different colors to the edges and key areas of the bricks (sides, top, and bottom) to create a more organic look. I also used the Curvature node to enhance the edges with a crisper base color.

For the final pass, I added some noise and AO (ambient occlusion) to the base color, which is something I usually apply to most of my materials.

Roughness
For the roughness, I combined the final base color node with the Grayscale Conversion node. Then, I added roughness details using the grunge textures I included in the base color.

Wall Stone Trims
For the Wall Stone Trims, I first quickly created the base shapes and then added small deformations to make them look more organic.

Wall Stone Trims Color
For the Wall Stone Trims Color, I applied almost the same base color and roughness process as I did for the bricks.

Next, I combined the base shape with the brick node I had prepared.

Here, I started by creating the base shape of the wall where the bricks would be placed.

Rendering
I usually render my materials using Marmoset Toolbag 4, and each time I create a new material, I set everything from scratch, including lighting and render settings. I don’t use any presets. When rendering, my goal is simply for it to look good