Variable Wood Texture via Randomized Noise Distortion

Artwork Blender Tests
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I made this wood shader for handling multiple objects of like-cut wood, such as these Jenga-style blocks:

Jangle_blocks.png960×960 489 KB

It is accomplished by applying a noise texture to the UV vector using an “Image Mix” node. Details on this specific technique can be found here:

Greg Zaal’s blog is a GREAT source of information.

In my case, the Object Info “Random” output is fed into the Distortion parameter of a plain-jane "“Noise Texture” node. It is further added to the base texture UV vector using “Vector Math” in so that the grains do not line up.

I was pretty surprised how well it worked.

Here is the setup for the texture mapping section:

Screenshot (4).png1665×757 119 KB

I have also included the blend file, but I do not have distribution rights for the wood texture itself, but can be found herefrom the publisher. Any wood should work with tweaking.

Jangle! File

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Very nice technique. I don’t think it will work for close ups, but from a far it’s nice and a hell of a lot easier than unwrapping a different texture for each brick.

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Yes. the other nice thing is that you can use it with instancing (as here) and particles. Just make one block and the random parameter varies across instances.