Common information

Compatibility

Installation and activation

Release notes

Simple material creation

Generated texture settings

Render nodes

Tile set parameters

Slice editor

Normals workflow

Pattern parameters

Pattern editor

Texture formation mechanism

Polygonal pattern import 

Tile ID

Tile random parameter

Bitmap-in-container

Procedural gap

Tile channels settings

Workflow optimization

Common information

QuickTiles is a texture plugin for 3d max. It cuts the texture you set into individual elements, and then reassembles it in the order you specify. It does NOT generate textures from thin air, according to the specified parameters. To use it, you need the original texture sets.

There are two main ways to work. The first is the reorganization of finished tile textures (which have separate elements and seams between them), such as brickwork or paving stones.

The second method is to cut and distribute solid textures, such as concrete, stone, or wood surfaces, into containers.

The entire working process in the QuickTiles can be divided into 3 stages. Adding the original texture and slicing in the Slice Editor, selecting or creating a layout pattern in the Pattern Editor, and setting up details and randomizations in the general texture interface inside the Material editor.

One of the main distinguishing features of QT is that it generates a seamless piece of texture of a certain size, which is set by the user himself. It can't generate an infinite texture, like the procedural Noise or Gradient.

For the best understanding of the instructions for using QuickTiles, we recommend reading the chapters in a row, without skipping additional materials and video instructions.


Compatibility

The Quick Tiles plugin is fully compatible and works in the 3d max version from 2018 to 2024

Currently supported render engines: Vray, Corona, Fstorm*

Working with Fstorm

Due to the complexity and specifics of Fstorm and similar GPU rendering engines, the first version of QucikTiles cannot work with it as directly as with Vray or Corona. Therefore, unlike them, when creating material in Fstorm, QT saves the texture as bitmaps to the hard disk, and then automatically loads them into Mat. editor as FstormBitmap. In this case, the QuickTiles node is not deleted.

To update the textures you should use "Save to plain texture" function. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Fstorm, the bitmaps will need to be updated manually.

If you use the "Create Material" function, another new material will be created.

Don't try to connect Quick Tiles on one of the FStorm material channels. Put it on an empty Compact mat.editor slot or in an empty Slate mat.editor space

Installation and activation

1. ATTENTION! The plugin requires an active internet connection to work.

2. Run the plugin installation as administrator. The included archive must be located next to the file QuickTiles.exe at the time of installation, to install a new version, or update the libraries

3. Select the versions of 3d max that the plugin will be installed on (from 2018 to 2024)


4. The plugin library is installed in the current user's folder, in the QuickTiles subcategory

4. The plugin library is located in the current user's folder, in the QuickTiles subcategory. All files are downloaded from the plugin interface. Libraries are updated once a week automatically, or at any time, manually, in the About section.

5. After installation, the plugin will appear in the list of textures, in the General tab

6. The free trial period is 14 days. No additional activation or registration is required

7. After 14 days, the plugin will stop working. This means that the test period (or paid subscription period) has expired and requires purchase and activation. Also in About section you can see "Subscription expired" notification

8. When purchasing a subscription on the site, BE SURE to provide a valid email address

9. After purchasing a subscription, click Activate in the About section


10. In the window that appears, enter the same email address that you used for the purchase and click Ok


11. Within a few minutes you will receive an email with a link to activate it

12. After clicking on this link, the plugin will be activated.

13. After restarting 3d max, the plugin will work correctly until the subscription ends.

14. 30 days before the end of the subscription period, the exact number of remaining days will appear in the About section

15. While the subscription is active, the Activation button is unavailable.

Re-activation

16. If you reinstall the plugin on a new computer or make significant changes to the hardware of the current one, perform the activation again according to the standard procedure. The plugin installed on the old computer will stop working.

17. There can be no more than 5 such re-activations for one year of subscription. If you have run out of activations, contact technical support (support@quick-tiles.net) and we will try to find a solution to this problem.

Release notes

QuickTiles 1.2.0.4 (13.05.2024)

   Added interface translation into Russian and Chinese
   The interface has been slightly changed. Unnecessary buttons have been removed and the organization of parameters has been streamlined
   Added the ability to add Noise wherever you can choose a plain color
   Added dynamic channels in the procedural gap and bitmap randomization sections. Now only the channels added in the slicer are displayed and processed there.
   The large preview is no longer lost when panning or zooming
   Added shortcut to open a large Preview - Ctrl+Shift+P
   Added shortcut for switching preview channels - Ctrl+Shift+PageUp/PageDown
   Added the "Download All" button to the preset library
   In the slicer, paneling with the wheel no longer resets the selection of tiles
   Added shortcut in the slicer to select all tiles - Ctrl+A
   Fixed a serious deep bug that led to accidental crashes. The plugin now works much more stable.
   Improved work with old projects with QuickTiles
   The Pattern mask channel is now also saved as plain bitmap


QuickTiles 1.2.0.3 (7.03.2024)

   Significantly improved stability and performance
   Additional optimization of tools and processes has been carried out
   The algorithm of the Orientation tool has been significantly improved
   The Presets library has been modified for the new algorithm of the Orientation tool
   Disabling preview auto-update is now instantaneous
   Improved the search algorithm in Presets, Slicer and Pattern Editor
   Fixed all known crashes
   Increased stability when working with large circular layouts in the younger versions of 3ds max


QuickTiles 1.2.0.2 (12.12.2023)

Slicer:
   Fixed an issue with tiles flipped 180 degrees upside down
   The HSV window in the slicer is now scaled to fit the screen resolution
   Added a crosshair through the middle of a tile in the slicer
   Improved algorithm for moving the selected tile to the foreground in the slicer
   Fixed missing and inability to select tiles in the slicer and PE after copying

Pattern Editor:
   Added a "Set tiling box" button that sets the repeat zone within the PE

General fixes and improvements:

   Depth of displacement edge generation made more uniform
   Improved shape smoothing algorithm during displacement generation
   Improved opening of old scenes
   Improved work with Orientation in complex cases
   Removed center generation in circular layouts
   Scale of Plain texture in tiles is no longer resolution dependent
   Scale of Edge distortion effect is no longer resolution dependent
   Improvements to interface update in 24 3dsmax when switching between nodes

   Fixed artifacts on tile borders
   Fixed bug with wrong mask channel size in Corona
   Minor and major bug fixes and stability improvements


QuickTiles 1.2.0.0 (10.10.2023)

   Loading the library directly from the plugin interface
   The size of the installation file is now about 50 MB
   Installation is now via EXE, no more unnecessary archives
   Auto-updating libraries inside the plugin
   Numbering of tiles in the slicer (debug)
   A new way to import a Polygonal pattern
   Fixed a bug with the node interface freeze in 3ds max 2024
   Minor fixes and stability improvements

QuickTiles 1.1.0.1 (4.08.2023)

   Version for 3d max2018-2022 fixed
   Import of polygonal patterns import simplified
   Tile edge distortion fixed
   New Orient tool mode - Ctrl+Shift+Click - vertex orientation
   Minor fixes and accelerations


QuickTiles 1.1.0.0 (30.06.2023)

Feature added common:
   Version for 3d max 2024
   QuickTiles Lister - a general list of all QT nodes in the scene + batch processing capability
   Added a library of ready-made presets with all material settings.
   The displacement is now processed in 16 bits. This makes possible to work with three-dimensional smooth surfaces without artifacts, even in reflections.
   The algorithm for generating rounding on the edges of tiles has been completely redesigned. It is now possible to procedurally create the volume of tiles of any shape.
   The ability to disable auto-update previews. This greatly speeds up the setup of the material.
   In the large preview, the ability to switch between channels and update the preview and material has been added. Functions are called with a right mouse click.
   Added tooltips to all parameters in Russian and English

Feature added slicer:
   Significantly accelerated autoslice (occurs in 1-2 seconds)
   The ability to set a flat color on any channel.
   The mechanism of adding individual tiles has been greatly simplified
   Added the Outline function - evenly changes the size of the selected tiles
   Auto-removal of small garbage tiles during autoslice
   Now the history of operations in the third mode works correctly

Feature added Pattern Editor:
   When exporting a pattern, the plugin recognizes the IDs set to tiles from 1 to 40
   Adjusting the arrow size with the mouse wheel when working with the Orient tool

Small improvements:
   At the opening of the scene, the materials are now updated in turn. This speeds up the download and increases stability.
   When editing the diffuse channel in the slicer (HSV) - the color of the icon in the main interface will also change
   The sizes in the Result size fields do not disappear and change only when you click Update or when you open a large preview
   When renaming a QT node, the name is now saved after the scene is reloaded
   In the About zone, the exact license period is now displayed (when it is less than 30 days)
   A tip for enabling Store to temp has been added to the Update window
   Added a warning when deleting sets in slicer and PE
   Removed artifact micro seams when setting all seams to 0
   The plugin no longer crushes 3d max, due to the lack of Internet


QuickTiles 1.0.9.1 (19.09.2022)

Feature added:
   Added the ability to set tile IDs inside the slicer
   Added the ability to select all tiles in a given ID by double-clicking in the slicer and Pattern Editor
   Added the ability to set the direction of the tiles in the slicer and Pattern Editor
   Added icons to the slicer library

   Added the ability to drag-n-drop textures between slots in the slicer

Improved:
   Improved the ctrl+z mechanism in slicer and PE

   Tilt of the displacement follows the direction of the tiles
   When textures are lost, their names are saved in the slicer
   Significantly simplified polygonal patterns creation

   Increased the speed and stability of the plugin

Fixed:
   Contrast in Color correct in the slicer now works more accurately
   The problem of selection the tiles in PE when scaling the window
   Added zoom to the autoslice window and made its original size small
   Deformation of tiles when working in a slicer with non-square textures
   Slicer crush when creating new tiles
   When deleting sets from the library, the very first set was loaded

Small improvements:
   Patches have become more square
   Added a status window while slicing tiles in the Slicer
   Removed the vertical mirroring of the middle part in the Crop/center algorithm
   Slightly changed the default plugin parameters
   Slightly changed the settings of the base material in V-ray and CoronaLegacy
   Generation of tiles in the slicer when slicing in 1 and 2 mode has become more accurate

   Removed artifact microgaps when setting all gaps to 0


Library:

   File size been optimized 

   The hue and brightness of some maps are balanced

Added:

   Paving long brown 4317

   Paving tactile 7145

   Wood planks 7543

   Paving rounded 4380

   Brick grey 4717

   Wood planks grey 9351

   Paving rounded 4381

   Paving salmon 4167

   Paving red square 1789

   Paving simple colored 7183

   Paving park wet 4659

   Paving bowtie 5974

   Paving fishscale 5198

   Paving grassy 6623

   Brick red black 7137

   Paving brown 4316

   Paving rounded red 6174

   Paving rounded yellow 6175

   Stone tiles old 2731

   Shinglas brown 3176

   Paving trapeze 9174

   Paving sandstone 3030

   Paving sandstone 7444


QuickTiles 1.0.8.3 (25.03.2022)

Improved:
   Significantly improved operation stability
   Significantly increased the speed of material generation
   Significantly increased the speed of the Store function
   Significantly increased the speed of HSV in the slicer (added multithreading)

   Sliced tiles and material are no longer saved in the scene. Now QT does not affect its size
   Increased recognition accuracy by disabling map reduction. Now you adjust the size of the bitmaps yourself and can slice them quickly, or slower, but as accurately as possible

Feature added:
   Store to temp function – after activation, the material loads faster and can be rendered without a license
   Store to scene function – the material is saved to the scene and can be transferred to another computer without additional actions, as well as rendered without a license

   Result size is now always displayed in Store modes
   Ability to move the library and temp files to another location during installation
   Function of quickly reducing maps in the Slicer – now you can use smaller sources, while significantly speeding up the work. No additional disk space is required for these files

   Search for source textures in case of loss. Now the plugin searches for them in the libs folder, as well as in the project folder, next to the max file and the maps folder

Fixed:
   Bug with rows disappearing during regeneration
   Bug with a crash when generating 8K materials

   Pattern library – some patterns disappeared in the previous version
   Crash when switching previews between channels. If there was no source bitmaps on the channel, there was a crash
   Crash when trying to create a material without a selected pattern


Library:

   Paving moorish 8179

   Paving terrazzo 6178

   Paving square 6287

   Paving broken 7341

   Paving snowy 3387

   Paving snowy 3215

   Paving grainy flat 3180

   Roofing corrida 8762


QuickTiles 1.0.8.2 (18.01.2022)

Feature added:

   Interface lock during updating

Fixed:

   Patterns display during window scaling

   The tile randomization mask did not work on render

   Other minor bugs


Library:

   Paving old city 5811

   Wood ash 6871

   Paving origami 6931

   Paving antique 7375

   Paving rounded 4379

   Paving colour 1547

   Paving modern 3177

   Paving old city 1987

   Paving hexagon 1834

   Paving grained 1563

   Paving rounded 6173


QuickTiles 1.0.8.0 (7.12.2021)

Feature added:

   Partial multithreading. The speed of slicing and updating has increased significantly

   Added the ability to create non-square patterns

   Added the Save all QT to scene function. After activation, the scene can be transferred to another computer. The other user must have the plugin installed. No active subscription require!

   Added the ability to render QT materials after the subscription ends (Store must be activated for this)

Improved:

   The distribution of aspect groups has been improved and has become neater

   In Crop/Center mode, when aspect groups match, the tile switches to Stretch

   Large preview works without any restrictions – you can make any zoom and expand to full screen

   Updated indicators of container randomization

Small improvements:

   The Delete, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V buttons now work in 2022 max as usual (without Shift)

   The gap color on the Roughness channel is now white by default

   Removed the Autoupdate button

   Added recognition of texture names based on a template from Polygon

Fixed:

   The interface on 4K monitors is working properly

   Fixed the "thick" seams bug after closing/opening the scene

   In PE and Slicer, when clicking on an empty zone, tiles were generated

   Fixed crash when copying a QT node

   Fixed: QT nodes remained instances after copying

   Fixed normals for circular layouts

   Fixed crash when enabling circular layout in polygonal patterns

   When opening the Slicer, PE and gap color selection windows, the large preview is slightly reduced


Library:

   Brick orange 3997

   Brick red 6922

   Bricks grey 4927

   Geomesh 1549

   Paving red wet 3164

   Paving simple wet 5736

   Travertin yellow 7349

   Stone blocks 6371

   Paving granite 3168

   Brick yellow 1383

   Paving park 1785


QuickTiles 1.0.7.4

Feature added to slicer:

   Contrast correction in HSV

   Direction of normals correction

   Mark all & Unmark all functions added to Eraser

   In the Slicer and PE, shortcuts (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V & Delete) now works with Shift

Feature added common:

   Position of the buttons in Generated texture settings section has been changed

   CoronaPhysicalMtl is creates in Corona 7 now

Fixed:

   When copying, the QT nodes in any case remained instances

   In the slicer, when you press Enter, the plugin offered to reset the settings

   Incorrect generation of the gaps normals

Small improvements:

   Improved autoslicing

   HSV operation in the slicer has been slightly accelerated

   Small fixes in the slicer when working with nonsquare textures


Library

   Paving park 1785

   Paving orange 8742

   Brick old red 9439

   Paving Tiara 4891

   Paving simple 7468

   Wood decking 5936


QuickTiles 1.0.7.3

Feature added:

   3d max 2022 support

   Individual tiles sets loading

   Subscription expiration notification. It will appear in the About section 5 days before the subscription end

   Improved layout algorithm. Now the plugin tries to take unique source tiles and place same tiles far from each other

   New Crop/Center algorithm. Now, for lengthening, the tile can be duplicated 2 or 3 times, and does not scale in height

Fixed problems:

   Slicing was not saved to the library if Plain texture was checked

   3d max crush when set zero dimensions of base tile or some other parameters. Now generation is disabled is this case

   3d max crash when working with QT in the compact editor mode, on the diffuse of the standard material in the Corona render

   The plugin didn't work on the last day of the subscription

   When saving QT to the bitmap, the texture was generated reflected

   Due to the new Crop/Center algorithm, vertical stripes appeared

   When copying tiles in the slicer, new tiles appears highlighted now

Library

   Paving modern 4789

   Paving park 4658

   Paving concrete 5891

   Rubber tiles 1978

   Wood planks 8127


QuickTiles 1.0.7.1

Fixed problems:

   No warning message when trying to install plugin with working 3d max

   Convert all QT to textures didn't work with non-latin characters

   3dmax crush when trying to copy QuickTiles node

   Offset tiles appears in slicer when container cross the border line

   Copied QT nodes worked as instances

   Other minor bugs

Library

   Tactile paving 6872

   Bowtie paving 5973

   Bowtie 2 pattern


QuickTiles 1.0.7.0

Features added:

   Slicer zoom

   Slicer HSV

   Save generated mask to file

   Slicer non-square preview

   Overlapping tiles autoslice

   Non-tiled tiles excluded from autoslice

   Select smaller tiles in slicer

   Select same aspect tiles in slicer

   Group disabling in slicer

   Full size texture preview in slicer

   Slicer tools hotkeys (Ctrl+1 - Ctrl+6)

   Procedural gap channels drag'n'drop

   "Update" button hotkey — ctrl+space

Mask creation speed up

Some icons changed

False activating message changed

Fixed problems:

   Pattern loss when canceling pattern editor

   Source gap size in all patterns

   Herringbone interactive pattern regeneration

   Minor bugs and crushes

Library

Paving wet 1379

Paving zigzag 6572

Red brick 3761

Red brick 3547

Penrose mosaic pattern

Wind stone 2 pattern


QuickTiles 1.0.6.0

Fixed crush on empty texture viewport show

Fixed 3max 2018 tiles offset with 4K testures

Fixed vertical sliced elements excessive overlap

Fixed slicer second mode now called "Lines"

Fixed crush on mat.editor close/open

Loading accelerated

Fixed edit poly lags in 2021 max

Fixed "Convert all QT to plain textures" same file name issue

Library

Paving simple 3184 texture

Shingles Hex 8174 texture

Wood planks 5102 texture

Simple material creation

Setting up any material in QuickTiles starts with adding the QT node itself. It is available from the list of General textures (1-2) in the Compact and Slate material editor. You don't need to create the material and connect QT on any channel. Add it to any slot in the compact editor or any place in the slate (3).

Then we go to the QT itself. By default, the bets start parameters that are set. The first step in the setup is to add a set of tiles (1) and open the Slice Editor (2).

Slice Editor is a QuickTiles module in which you enter the original textures and specify the borders of the tiles (or that the texture is seamless). For more information about all the module parameters, see the Help section Slice Editor

The input textures are entered in the Input maps zone (1). You need to select the Diffuse channel, and the other channels are recognized and loaded automatically. After that, you can mark up the tiles manually, or recognize them automatically (for more information, see the section Slice editor). We will show a more convenient path now and make recognition based on the Mask channel. Set the value of Gaps (2) to about 0.7 — this will indicate to the recognition module the approximate error when gluing the seams. And click Autoslice (3). Recognition by mask is almost instantaneous.

Also, you can select and add one of the already saved templates from the library (4). After completing the work, click Done (5). At this point, the texture is cut into tiles. The larger your sources and the number of channels, the longer the process will take.

The next step is to select the pattern. You can take one of the templates (1) from the Preset drop-down list, or open the Pattern editor (3) and create a new pattern. Also, for tiles that have original seams, set the width of the procedural seam to 0. This will disable the procedural seam and enable mixing of the original seams (2).

For example, let's create a simple pattern in the Pattern editor. Use the  tool to create several tiles (1). Do not forget to reduce the field to the minimum required size (2). After creating the base pattern, you can fill the repeating part with the Fill gaps button (3). You can also select any template from the library. When you finish, click Done (5).

For more the details of the Pattern editor, see the corresponding section.

In fact, our texture is ready. Now we can make various settings in the internal interface, set randomizations, etc. For reference, we have added a light preview of the texture.

When everything is ready, you can set the size (1) and resolution (2) of the output texture piece. We recommend testing the settings on a small size (2x2 meters, 2048 px).

After that, click the Update button (3). At this point, the finished texture is built and written to temp. All changes in the material and on the render will appear only after clicking the Update button. The process of creating a texture can take 2-3 seconds on small resolutions, and 3-7 minutes on top sizes of 16-32K

After completing the process, click the Create material button. The plugin automatically recognizes your render engine (Vray, Corona, or Fstorm), and creates the appropriate material, with the correct configuration. Texture channels will be added according to the source texture.

Other render engines will be added later.
The algorithm for working with Fstorm is different from working with Vray and Corona. See
 Compatibility/ working with Fstorm

На этом все! Материал создан и готов к настройке. QuickTiles работает с интерактивным рендером как в Vray, так и в Corona, так что можно смело использовать его в процессе. При повторном нажатии на Create material, будет создан еще один материал, так что будьте осторожны.


That's it! The material is created and ready for customization. QuickTiles works with interactive rendering in both Vray and Corona, so you can safely use it in the process. Be careful, if you click on Create material again, another material will be created.

Quick Tiles channel node

Quick Tiles channel is an auxiliary texture that specifies which QuickTiles channel to feed to the material slot. The fact is that 3d max can't produce more than one output from a single texture. Therefore, in order not to generate and configure each channel of the material separately, we created a scheme in which the main QuickTiles texture feeds all the channels at once, and the QuickTiles channel nodes select and pass on only the necessary one.

The interface of the node itself is very simple:

In the material structure, it is located between the main QT node and the material. In its interface, there are only two parameters — a drop-down list with the names of channels to choose from, and a slot for connecting the main QT texture.

Attention! When connecting normal maps, you do not need to enable gamma correction, since QTC node automatically corrects the gamma.

Generated texture settings

This tab contains technical settings that are responsible for the size and resolution of the created texture, as well as buttons for saving and updating textures.

Patch width — width of the created texture in scene units

Patch height — height of the created texture in scene units

Initial size — input for the desired physical size of the created texture

Result size — displays the resulting physical size of the texture. Works only when the enlarged preview is open.

Due to the complexity of the tiled texture formation mechanism and the desire to create a texture in which the tiles will be as close as possible to the size set by the user, it is impossible to accurately get into the size of the patch set by the user. For this purpose, fields of the desired and final size were created. Read more about this in the section "Texture formation mechanism»

Seed — randomization number. Changes the randomization version for the current settings.

Resolution — the resolution of the created texture in pixels.

Update — generates channel textures according to the QuickTiles settings

Create material — creates a material based on the loaded texture channels. The required material type is determined automatically for Vray and Corona. 

For FStorm, separate bitmaps are saved and loaded onto the material. At the same time, the QuickTiles node remains in Mat. editor

Save as plain texture — saving the resulting texture to a regular bitmap

Store to temp — saves the QT texture to a special temp file. The next time you open the scene, the texture is not generated, but is read from the file. This significantly reduces the opening time. In this case, the interface is locked — to unlock it, click the Store button again. The created temp file will be deleted.

The materials saved in this way will be rendered even without an active subscription.

Store to scene — saves the QT texture to a scene file (.max). The next time you open the scene, the texture is not generated, but is read from the .max file. This significantly reduces the opening time. This operation increases the size of the scene. In this case, the interface is locked — to unlock it, click the Store button again. The material will be deleted from .max file. 

The material saved in this way can be easily transferred from the scene to another computer, and it will also be rendered without an active subscription.

Load preset — load fully configured QuickTiles material from the Preset library

Save preset — save the current QuickTiles material settings to the Preset library

Scene units

Due to the complex technical features of Quick Tiles, we recommend that you work in it as if you are using centimeters as scene units. In this case, the appearance of the quick preview will be more correct.

For example, if you need to create a 2000x2000 mm parquet texture with a board size of 600x60 mm, set the values 200x200 for the Initial Patch size, and 60x6 for the base tile size. When applying to the surface, set the mapping to 2000x2000 mm.

For distributed rendering:

1. Install the Quick Tiles plugin on all render nodes

2. Activation of the plugin on additional computers is not required.

3. Activate the Store to scene function in all QuickTiles materials

4. Done!

Tile set parameters

In this tab, you can add sets of tiles and adjust the parameters of their distribution.

Add bitmap tile set — adds an empty set of bitmap tiles

Add color tile set — adds an empty set of single-color tiles

Noise type — choose between a simple uniform mix of tile sets and a custom map. (see examples below)

None field —adding a custom map for mixing sets.

Add tiles — opens the bitmap tile slicing editor (Slice editor, SE).

Bitmap set— here you can specify the name of the tile set selected in SE.

Probability — the frequency of appearance of tiles of this set in the final texture. Works if more than one set is added.

   — change the position of the set in the stack by dragging it . The order depends on the position when using a custom distribution map (see the examples below)

  — deleting a set.

 — duplicate the set.

Tile set id's — opens a window for selecting the ID numbers of the pattern tiles to which this set will be distributed. You can select one or more numbers.


For more information, see the section Tile ID

Сolor set — here you can specify the name of a single-color set.


Diffuse, reflect, roughness... — setting the colors or noise of the set channels. If you leave the color completely black, the channel will not be generated.

Examples of how to use custom maps of the distribution of a set of tiles

Example 1. Noise type — regular, three sets of bitmaps.

Example 2. Noise type — Custom map, Gradient, three sets of bitmaps.

You can use any black and white image as a custom map of the sets distribution. In the final texture, the tile sets will be distributed over a range of grayscale colors according to their position on the stack. The lower the set correspond to the darker image area. And vice versa - the upper sets correspond to the light zones of the user distribution map. In the example, you can see that the yellow bricks located at the top of the stack appeared in the lightest part of the gradient.

Example 3. Noise type — Custom map, Radial gradient, three sets of bitmaps.

Example 4. Noise type — Custom map, Clouds noise, three sets of bitmaps.

Slice Editor

The entire process of working in QuickTiles can be divided into three parts: the first — adding the original textures, the second — creating a new layout pattern, and the third — setting up the details and randomizations of the layout.

Slice editor (SE) is a small additional module in which the first stage of work is carried out — adding the original textures and cutting them into separate tiles. Here you can add or change sources, save or extract sets from the library, recognize individual tiles automatically or specify them manually, as well as edit the cutting. It is also possible to import or export the finished slicing

The SE consists of three sections. On the left, in the red zone, there is a library of cuts. Here you can see all the saved and imported cuts by the user, as well as the cuts supplied with the plugin.

In the center, in the yellow zone, is the viewport window, where the selected texture channel and the created slicing are displayed.

On the right, in the blue area, there are settings for slicing and the source texture displayed. Let's see the composition of all the elements in more detail.

Slicing Library

 — search by name and tags

Category — select the cut category

Create set from texture — create a new slicing from a solid texture. Resets the interface and all settings.

Create set from individual tiles — creating the cutting of already pre-cut tiles.

 Icon of the finished cut saved in the library.

Double-click on the icon - loads the slicing and all settings to SE. A right-click will open the context menu.

Duplicate — duplicates a set in the library

Rename — rename a set in a library

Delete — deleting a set

Save to file — export set (when you exporting the slice, the source bitmaps are written to the file, so you do not need to transfer them separately)

Set custom preview — set a custom icon for the selected set. You can use images of any format, the plugin will reduce it and trim to a square.

Set default preview — resets the custom icon to the standard one.

 Slicing and source texture settings

Import tile set — import the ready slicing from a file. When importing, the source bitmaps saved in the slicing file will be unzipped into a folder C:\Users\your_user\QuickTiles\libs

Save (to library) — saving the slicing with the settings to the library. When saving to the library, the original bitmaps are not duplicated, and are loaded from the place where they were originally. Therefore, do not delete or move the original bitmaps used to create the slicing, otherwise the slicing will load empty.

You cannot save or change the source files of the library.

 — tools for creating and editing slicing

 — slicing creation and editing modes


 — Mode 1, the generation of the grid. In this mode, you can create a grid of lines that will be slice a texture and move it away from the edges. Tools and manual editing are not available here.

Preset — choosing a grid pattern — standard or herringbone

Vertical — количество вертикальных линеек

Horizontal — number of vertical lines

Row offset — the distance by which the row is shifted

N row offset — number of offset rows

Usually we need to slice a texture where the original tiles are not under each other, but are offset by a certain distance. For example, bricks are often laid off by 50% every second row, and laminate, with an offset of every second row by 1/3, and every third row by 2/3. The Row offset and N row offset functions allow you to create a grid for such layouts. If you set the offset to 66 and the row number to 2, you will get a grid like in the example. Every second row from the original row will be shifted by 66%, and every first row will be shifted by half of this distance.

Cropping — grid offset from the edges

Top — top edge offset

Bottom — bottom edge offset

Left — left edge offset

Right — right edge offset

 — The second mode is manual editing mode of the grid. In this mode, you can manually shift the slicing lines, adjusting to the imperfections of the texture. Some of the tools are available here.

 — Move tool. Shifts the horizontal rulers along the entire length of the grid, and the vertical ones in the limits of the two closest horizontal ones.

 — Erase tool. Deletes rulers. The horizontal lines are removed along the entire length of the grid, leaving the ones above as vertical lines.

 — Cut tool. Adds a new line. To create a horizontal slice, hover over the nearest vertical ruler and you will see a preview. To create a vertical slice, hover over the existing horizontal one.

Functions Preset, Vertical, Horizontal, Row offset, N row offset and Cropping are blocked in the second and third mode.

Returning to the previous mode from the previous ones will cancel all the changes made.

 — In the third mode you can edit individual tiles manually. Move the finished tiles, rotate them, remove , cut , etc. All the tools are available here.

Context menu of the tools:

Select smaller — selects all tiles of a much smaller size. Useful when cleaning after autoslice.

Select same aspect — selects all tiles with the same aspect ratio

Select same ID — selects all tiles in the same ID

Mark all — disable all tiles (only for the erase tool)

Unmark all — enable all tiles (only for the erase tool)

 — Move tool. Offset the tiles. To select multiple tiles, use Ctrl. You can also use the keyboard arrows to move tiles.

 — Rotate tool. Rotates the tiles around the center.

 — Scale tool. Stretches the tile by the selected side. The rotated tiles will stretch in local coordinates.

 — Erase tool. Turns off the tiles by marking them black. These tiles will not be used in the layout. They can be turned on at any time. Erase+Shift — complete removal of tiles. You can also delete a tile by pressing Delete.

 — Cut tool. Cuts the tile vertically. Cut+Ctrl - cuts horizontally.

 — Create tool. Creates a new tile.

In this mode, copying tiles via Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V works, as well as steps back via Ctrl+Z.

 — Set orient tool. Allows you to set a custom tile orientation.

By default, the orientation of the tiles is set perpendicular to the long side of the container. When you click on the tile once, an arrow will appear showing the default direction.

To change the direction, move the mouse cursor with the left button pressed, just as if you wanted to rotate the tile. At the same time, the direction arrow will rotate in increments of 45 degrees.

To rotate at an arbitrary angle, hold down the Shift.

To align the arrow perpendicular to any face of the container — Alt+Click

To align the arrow in the direction of the specified vertex — Ctrl+Shift+Click

To align the arrow vertically — Ctrl+Click

To reset the direction to default, and remove the arrow — double Click

This function is useful when placing tiles of complex, asymmetrical shape, as well as in cases when it is necessary to observe a certain direction of the tile pattern.

The direction set in the Slicer will correspond to the direction set in the Pattern editor.

*When using the function, it is often necessary to disable random reflection of tiles and switch to Stretch mode in the Bitmap-in-container section.

**After using the Rotate tool, you need to re-set the tile direction.



In the third mode, the drop-down menu works (right mouse button)

Copy - copy the selected tiles. You can copy from one set to another

Paste - paste the copied tiles

Outline - expand or reduce the selected tiles evenly from all sides

Select all - select all tiles

Invert selected - invert selection

Select smaller - select all tiles significantly smaller in size than the current one

Select same ID - select all tiles in the same ID as the current one (same function - double click on the tile)

Select same aspect - select all tiles in the same aspect as the current one

IMPORTANT: create tiles so that the blue area overlaps the tile surface and does not go into the seam.