Creating Roof Tiles in Substance Designer by Daniel Thiger

Daniel Thiger walks you through building a roof tile material in Substance Designer, using the new nodes from version 2019.1. This is a fully narrated, step-by-step tutorial that covers everything from reference breakdown to final color and roughness.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Create a procedural roof tile profile from scratch
• Add realistic cracks and surface damage
• Apply color blocking and roughness variation
• Use new Substance Designer 2019.1 nodes effectively

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic knowledge of Substance Designer interface and node workflow
• Tools: Substance Designer 2019.1 or later
• Hardware: Standard PC capable of running Substance Designer

📝 Description

This tutorial is all about practical, hands-on work. Daniel doesn’t waste time on theory—he jumps straight into Substance Designer and shows you exactly how to build a roof tile material using the 2019.1 update’s new nodes. You’ll see how he breaks down real-world references, then translates that into a fully procedural graph.

The focus is on adding believable detail: cracks, surface damage, and color variation that make the material feel lived-in. Daniel’s approach is methodical, so you can follow along even if you’re relatively new to the software. By the end, you’ll have a solid workflow for creating any type of roof tile, not just the one in the tutorial.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Artists new to Substance Designer who want a structured, project-based introduction
• Experienced users looking to learn new nodes and techniques from a pro
• Game environment artists needing realistic, tileable materials

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Daniel Thiger has 15 years of experience in the gaming industry, working at Dice and Bungie. He specializes in material, texture, and asset creation, with a passion for procedural workflows. He collaborated with Allegorithmic on their Signature Series project and spoke at GDC 2018. His work has been featured in 3D Artist, 80lvl, and Marmoset Toolbag.

🏁 Final Result

• A fully procedural, tileable roof tile material with realistic cracks, surface damage, and color variation, ready for use in game environments.