H4ch3 Portfolio

Case Study

Turning a texture-map prototype into a Blender add-on people can actually use.

Generation alone was not enough. Blender integration, material application, and post-generation control were what made the tool actually useful.

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Challenge

Take a standalone concept and make it feel native inside Blender.

Starting Point

Separate scripts and a desktop-style workflow

The original project centered on texture-map generation outside Blender. Useful, but still far from how artists expect an add-on to behave.

Goal

Installable, controllable, and practical

The goal was to keep the generation pipeline, but make the overall experience feel like a proper Blender workflow rather than a detached utility.

Approach

Respect the user workflow

Packaging, UI integration, material application, and verification took priority over treating Blender as a thin wrapper around scripts.

Build

What the add-on does now

01

Generate maps from source textures

The add-on produces a set of texture-driven outputs including ambient occlusion, height, roughness, metallic, and normal maps.

02

Apply materials inside Blender

The generated results are wired into Blender materials so users can move from output files to a usable material workflow quickly.

03

Adjust maps after generation

Live controls for toggles, strengths, displacement, and height smoothing made refinement possible without constant regeneration.

04

Verify behavior in Blender

The work was validated through scripted Blender runs so registration, operator flow, and material setup were checked repeatedly instead of guessed at.

Inside Blender

Real screenshots from the working add-on

Blender add-on panel for generating and applying texture maps from a single source image
Blender add-on panel for generating and applying texture maps from a single source image.
Workflow view showing map generation settings, material options, and output controls inside Blender
Workflow view showing map generation settings, material options, and output controls inside Blender.
Add-on interface integrated into Blender for configuring diffuse, normal, roughness, metallic, AO, and height map generation
Add-on interface integrated into Blender for configuring diffuse, normal, roughness, metallic, AO, and height generation.
Material-building toolset embedded in Blender, taking an input image through map creation and shader setup
Material-building toolset embedded in Blender, taking an input image through map creation and shader setup.
In-editor controls for texture map generation and material assignment inside Blender
In-editor controls for texture map generation and material assignment inside Blender.
Custom Blender add-on UI focused on fast texture-map iteration, export management, and material application
Custom Blender add-on UI focused on fast texture-map iteration, export management, and material application.

Generated Results

A compact look at the map set produced by the add-on

Rock texture source

Source

Base texture used as the input for map generation.

Generated height map

Height

Used for bump and displacement, now with stronger post-generation control.

Generated normal map

Normal

Helps surface directionality and makes the material read more clearly in lighting.

Live Preview

See the generated maps react on a 3D mesh

Drag to orbit. Scroll to zoom. The preview uses the generated source, AO, height, normal, and metallic maps from this project.

Why This Project Fits

Product thinking, quality, and hands-on implementation all showed up in the same project.

Interface work, engineering judgment, migration planning, verification, and steady attention to real user workflow all had to move together. That combination mirrors the kind of software work that fits best.

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