TEXEL DENSITY/ PIXEL RATIO

PIXELS TEXELS

PIXELS
TEXELS
SIZE OF THE TEXEL IS INDICATIVE
FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS IMAGE

PIXELS ARE THE SMALLEST UNIT TEXELS ARE THE SMALLEST

OF INFORMATION THAT MAKES UNIT OF INFORMATION THAT
UP A SCREEN MAKES UP A TEXTURE.

ONE SCREEN PIXEL MAY BE DETERMINED BY MANY TEXELS (MINIFICATION),

OR ONE TEXEL MAY COVER MANY SCREEN PIXELS (MAGNIFICATION)

TEXEL DENSITY
TEXEL DENSITY IS THE AMOUNT OF TEXTURE RESOLUTION ON A MESH
MOST OF THE TIME PEOPLE SAY PIXEL RATIO or PIXEL DENSITY MEANING TEXEL DENSITY

PROBLEMS

TEXEL DENSITY WRONG

10.24 px/cm DENSITY

HOW TO CALCULATE TD
1024px 100cm

1024px 100cm

1024px 100cm 10,24px/cm

4096px 100cm 40,48px/cm 512px 100cm 5,12px/cm
2048px 100cm 20,48px/cm 256px 100cm 2,56px/cm
1024px 100cm 10,24px/cm 128px 100cm 1,28px/cm

EXAMPLE
IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE 1024 PX PER 1 METER SQUARE
(100CM), TEXEL DENSITY WILL BE 10,24. MIND THAT IF YOU PLAN
TO USE A 2K TEXTURE, THE TEXEL DENSITY STILL THE SAME. E.G.
AN UV OF A PLANE OF 1M X 1M WITH THE TEXEL DENSITY OF
10,24 WILL COVER ENTIRELY THE UV SPACE IF YOU USE A 1K
(1024X1024PX) TEXTURE IF YOU USE A 2K TEXTURE THE PLANE
UV WILL COVER A QUARTER OF THE UV SPACE.

IF YOU USE A 2K TEXTURE INSTEAD OF 1K

TEXTURE FOR AN ASSET MADE WITH TEXEL
DENSITY 10.24 ON A 1K RESOLUTION, JUST
BECAUSE YOU MIGHT THINK IS COOL,
ACTUALLY IS NOT CORRECT BECAUSE AN
ASSET WITH TEXEL DENSITY 10.24 WILL COVER
A QUARTER OF THE UV SPACE WITH A 2K
(2048X2048PX) TEXTURE

TEXTURE SIZE: 1024px TEXTURE SIZE: 2048px

WRONG UV
OF A PLANE
1MX1M

UV OF A PLANE
1MX1M
WITH TD 10.24
UV OF A PLANE
1MX1M
WITH TD 10.24
100cm
100cm

1024px 1024px

1024px 2048px

AS YOU CAN SEE THE IMAGE BELOW ALL THE ASSETS HAVE AN
UNIFORM TEXEL DENSITY.

TEXEL DENSITY RIGHT

10.24 px/cm UNIFORM
DENSITY
ON ALL THE ASSETS THAT
PLAYER CAN REACH

WHY IS TD SO IMPORTANT

BEFORE YOU START WITH AN ENVIRONMENT OR A GAME IT’S VERY

IMPORTANT CHOOSE THE RIGHT MODEL SCALE, TEXTURE SIZES
AND TEXEL DENSITY TO USE ON THE ART ASSETS OTHERWISE
THINGS WILL NOT BE PROPORTIONAL. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE NOT
WORKING ALONE. CHOOSING A TD AVOID ARTISTS PRODUCE
OVER-DETAILED ASSETS IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE OTHER
ASSETS ARE NOT THE SAME SCALE AND/OR QUALITY.

THE BEST THING TO DO

1
CHOOSE WHAT KIND OF GAME/ENVIRONMENT YOU
WANT TO MAKE (FIRST PERSON, THIRD PERSON, GOD
VIEW, SIDE CAMERA ETC) (see next images)

2
DIVIDE YOUR ASSETS IN TWO OR MORE CATEGORY:
ASSETS THAT THE PLAYER CAN FACE THEM, BACKGROUND
ASSETS, LANDSCAPE ASSETS.(See next images)

3 MAKE SOME TEST AND CHOOSE YOUR BEST TEXEL

DENSITY FOR ALL YOUR CATEGORY

4
FIND A WAY TO APPLY THAT TD TO YOUR MODEL’S UV
(see the last image)

5
KEEP THE SAME DENSITY FOR ALL CATEGORIES ALL
THE TIME UNTIL THE END.

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 AD HOC AND TILEABLE TEXTURE

ASSETS WITH AD HOC TEXTURE

WITH A TEXTURE AD HOC FOR A MODEL YOU JUST NEED TO APPLY THE
TEXEL DENSITY SCALE TO YOUR UV AND/OR USE THE RIGHT
RESOLUTION TO MATCH THE TEXEL DENSITY.

ASSETS WITH TILEABLE TEXTURE

"The Town of Light - Lka.it - 2016"

ALSO WHEN YOU USE TILEABLE TEXTURE YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF
THE OVERALL TEXEL DENSITY. YOU STILL HAVE TO SCALE THE UVS
BASED ON THE TEXEL DENSITY EVEN IF IT WILL BE APPLIED A TILED
TEXTURE

IN ORDER TO GET THE RIGHT TEXEL DENSITY, EVEN IF IT’S A TILED

TEXTURE, HERE IS THE EQUATION THAT YOU NEED

METERS PIXEL PER METER TEXTURE RESOLUTION TILING VALUE

EXAMPLE

TEXEL DENSITY
= 1024px PER METER
10.24 px/cm
512px

2x2m 512px

2 1024 512 4

EXAMPLE #2

TEXEL DENSITY
= 512px PER METER
5.12 px/cm
128px

4x2m 128px

4 512 128 16

EXAMPLE #3

TEXEL DENSITY
= 1024px PER METER
10.24 px/cm
1024px

1x1m 1024px

1 1024 1024 1

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 CHOOSE THE RIGHT TEXEL DENSITY

HOW TO DETERMINATE THE TD THAT FIT YOUR GAME

THERE ARE TWO MAIN FACTORS THAT WILL DETERMINE YOUR TEXTURE SIZE. THE FIRST IS HOW
BIG THE OBJECT WILL BE ON SCREEN AND THE SECOND IS YOUR MEMORY BUDGET. IDEALLY YOU
WANT THE TEXELS (PIXELS ON THE MODEL ITSELF) TO BE ABOUT THE SAME SIZE AS YOUR
SCREEN PIXELS, BUT OF COURSE WE DON'T LIVE IN A PERFECT WORLD, SO YOU JUST HAVE TO
GET IT AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE.

~1000px ~2000px

THIS IS A CUBE OF 1x1x1m IN YOUR GAME LET’S MAKE THING EASY AND LET’S SAY THAT YOU HAVE
A MONITOR 2000x1000px OF RESOLUTION (1920x1080)

HERE FEW EXAMPLES

THOSE ARE THE CLOSEST POSITIONS YOU CAN GET TO AN OBJECT IN
YOUR GAME. EVERY SQUARE OF THE GRID IS 100X100px

1000px

100px
EXCEPTION

500px

500 -> 512px 100 -> 128px 1000 ->1024px

512px 100cm 5,12px/cm 128px 100cm 1,28px/cm 1024px 100cm 10,24px/cm

THIRD PERSON STRATEGIC FIRST PERSON

CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA

"The Division - Ubisoft - 2016" "Dota2 - Valve - 2013" "Dishonored 2 - Arkane - 2016"

"Uncharted 4 - Naughty Dog - 2016" "Diablo 3 - Blizzard - 2012" "Half Life 2 - Valve - 2004"

"Ryse: Son of Rome - Crytek - 2013" "Civilization VI - Firaxis Games - 2016" "Battlefield 1 - EA Dice - 2016"

IN THE THIRD PERSON WITH THE STRATEGIC IN THE FIRST PERSON

GAMES USUALLY IT’S GAMES YOU ARE ALWAYS GAMES TD IT’S USUALLY
UNLIKELY THAT YOU GET FAR FROM ENVIRONMENT HIGHER THAN THE OTHER
VERY CLOSE TO THE DURING THE MOST OF THE GAMES, SINCE YOU CAN
ENVIRONMENT. INSTEAD PART OF THE GAME. SO GET VERY CLOSE TO MOST
IT’S LIKELY THAT YOU ARE THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE OBJECTS IN THE
CLOSE TO THE DOESN’T NEED AND HIGH PLAYABLE AREA.
CHARACTERS. SO USUALLY TEXEL DENSITY. WEAPONS, HANDS ETC
ENV IN THESE GAME ARE HAVE AN HIGHER TD
ABOUT 512px PER METER.
AND CHARACTER HIGHER

5,12px/cm 1,28 or 2,56px/cm 10,24px/cm

EXCEPTIONS

FP WEAPON ETC TP CHARACTERS BGR ASSETS

CHARACTERS AND WEAPONS THAT ARE CLOSE UP TO THE CAMERA (SUCH IN AN FPS
GAME) USUALLY HAVE HIGHER TD THAN THE ENVIRONMENT. IT'S ALSO COMMON TO HAVE A
HIGHER TD IN THE FACE OF A CHARACTER, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE PLAYER USUALLY
LOOK. ALSO IN THE ENVIRONMENT IT'S OKAY TO SET A LOWER TD FOR THINGS THAT THE
PLAYER USUALLY WILL NOT GET CLOSE OR SEE: SUCH AS THINGS THAT ARE FAR OFF IN
THE DISTANCE (SKY-BOX MODELS, BACKDROPS, ETC), OR UNDER A CAR FOR EXAMPLE.

MADE BY: LEONARDO IEZZI IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS/FEEDBACK CONTACT ME. - WWW.LEONANO.COM
 TEXEL DENSITY MORE IN DEPTH

NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE BASIC YOU CAN START THINK IN A DEEPER WAY ABOUT
HOW TO MANAGE TEXEL DENSITY ASSETS IN DIFFERENT GROUPS OF DISTANCE (I
DON’T MEAN LEVEL OF DETAILS. THAT IS ANOTHER THING THAT MIGHT BE RELATED
SOMEHOW BUT WE ARE JUST TALKING ABOUT TEXEL DENSITY RIGHT NOW)

FOR INSTANCE YOU CAN DIVIDE YOUR ENVIRONMENT IN 3 CATEGORY:

FOREGROUND/PLAYABLE AREA, MID-GROUND/FAR ASSETS THAT YOU CAN SEE THE
OVERALL DETAILS BUT YOU CAN NOT GET CLOSE) AND BACKGROUND ASSETS THAT
YOU WILL NEVER GET CLOSE TO THEM.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU CAN DIVIDE THOSE GROUPS (IMAGE IS JUST AN
EXAMPLE, AND THE HIGHLIGHTED AREA ARE INDICATIVE)

"The Last of Us - Naughty Dog - 2013"

SO IF WE TAKE A VIEW FROM THE TOP WILL LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

BASE ON
THE OBJECT BASE ON
SIZE ON THE THE OBJECT
SCREEN SIZE ON THE
TD 2.56 TD 2.56 SCREEN

TD 5.12

NOW THAT YOU HAVE PROTOTYPED THE GROUPS, NEXT STEP IS DETERMINATE HOW
BIG YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THEM IN A MONITOR (SEE “CHOOSE THE RIGHT TEXEL
DENSITY” PAGE) AND CHOOSE AN APPROPRIATE TEXEL DENSITY FOR EACH GROUPS
STARTING WITH THE ASSETS THAT ARE GOING TO BE IN THE PLAYABLE AREA, THEN A
LOWER DENSITY FOR THE MID-GROUND ASSETS AND THEN A RANGE FOR THE
BACKGROUND ASSETS. WHEN I SAY RANGE I MEAN THAT IT’S HARD TO DEFINE A
SINGLE TEXEL DENSITY VALUE FOR ALL THE BGR ASSETS. BECAUSE YOU MIGHT HAVE
VERY FAR MOUNTAINS AND NOT SO FAR HOUSES IN THE SAME BGR GROUPS.

ASSETS USABILITY
AFTER YOU’VE DONE THAT, HERE ARE FEW ADVICES REGARDING HOW TO USE OR
NOT TO USE ASSETS OF DIFFERENT GROUPS

50%

50%

PLAYABLE AREA ASSETS FAR ASSETS BGR ASSETS

THE USABILITY OF ASSETS MIGHT WORK JUST FROM THE PLAYABLE AREA ASSETS TO
THE BGR ASSETS BUT NO VICE VERSA. LET’S SEE FEW EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE

50%

PLAYABLE AREA ASSETS

PLAYABLE AREA ASSETS ARE PERFECT FOR THE PLAYABLE AREA...OF COURSE. THEY
STILL WORK ON THE MID-GROUND AREA, BUT THEY MIGHT BECOME MORE EXPENSIVE
FOR WHAT THEY ARE IN THAT POSITION, MORE EXPENSIVE IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE.
SAME IF YOU USE THEM VERY FAR. PLACING THOSE ASSETS IN THE BGR WILL BE VERY
EXPENSIVE, PLUS YOU WILL PROBABLY NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE OF DETAILED ASSETS
AGAINST THE BGR ASSETS

50%

FAR ASSETS

MID-GROUND ASSETS ARE GOOD FOR THE MID-GROUND AREA. IF YOU USE THEM IN THE
PLAYABLE AREA THEY WILL LOOK LOW-RES. IF YOU USE A MID-GROUND ASSET IN THE
BGR AREA WILL BE MORE EXPENSIVE PERFORMANCE WISE, BUT THE DENSITY SHOULD
WORK

BGR ASSETS

USE BGR ASSETS JUST AS A BACKGROUND ASSET. IF YOU USE THEM IN A MID-GROUND
GROUP OR IN THE PLAYABLE AREA YOU WILL HAVE BIG PROBLEMS TRYING TO MATCH
THE DENSITY

WHATS THE BENEFITS OF THIS

DIVIDING YOUR ASSETS WITH THIS APPROACH WILL ALLOW YOU TO

HAVE AN HIGHER TEXEL DENSITY FOR THE PLAYABLE AREA ASSETS
AND GRADUALLY HAVE LOWER RESOLUTION FOR THE FURTHER
ASSETS. AND THAT MEANS THAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE AND PUSH
YOUR TEXTURE WITH MORE DETAILS ON THE ASSETS THAT YOU
GET CLOSE. AND NOT WASTE MEMORY WITH TOO MUCH TEXTURE
RESOLUTION APPLIED ON FAR ASSETS

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 HOW TO SCALE YOUR UV

THERE ARE DIFFERENCES WAY TO SCALE YOUR UV BASED ON THE TEXEL DENSITY
WITH DIFFERENT SOFTWARE AND WITH DIFFERENT PLUG-IN/SCRIPTS

MANUAL: IT WORKS ALWAYS

1 METER

1 METER

LET’S SAY THAT YOUR TEXEL DENSITY IS 1024 PER METER. WHAT YOU CAN DO IS
CREATE A PLANE OF 1X1 METER AND THE UV COVERING ENTIRELY THE UV SPACE.
- YOU HAVE TO ASSIGN A 1K TEXTURE OF A CHECKER TO THE PLANE AND YOUR
MODEL.
- THEN YOU HAVE SCALE THE UVS OF YOUR MODEL IN ORDER TO MATCH THE SAME
SIZE OF THE CHECKER APPLIED TO THE PLANE.

TEXEL DENSITY SCRIPT MEL BY MARTIN DAHLIN

goo.gl/m2V4XN

HERE YOU PUT YOUR HERE YOU PUT THE

TEXEL DENSITY LIKE RESOLUTION THAT YOU
YOU LEARNED ON THE WANT TO USE FOR THE
PREVIOUS IMAGES TEXTURE

SELECT UVS THAT YOU WANT TO SCALE AND THE PRESS

APPLY.

UV-DELUX BY ERIK SPELLERBERG NIGHTSHADE UV BY MARTIN DAHLIN

goo.gl/m2V4XN goo.gl/m2V4XN

A
B

D C

A: MAKE SURE YOU’VE SET THE UNITS IN METER
(JUST TO MAKE THINGS EASIER)
B: SET MANUALLY THE RESOLUTION OF THE
TEXTURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO USE
C: HERE JUST PUT HOW MANY PIXELS PER
METER SO IF YOU ARE USING 10.24 TD YOU WILL
PUNT 1024
THEN SELECT YOUR UVS AND PRESS “SET PIXEL
DENSITY”
A: HERE YOU SET THE TEXEL DENSITY LIKE WE
HAVE SEEN IN THE PREVIOUS PICTURES
B: HERE YOU SET THE RESOLUTION OF THE
TEXTURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO USE
C: PRESS THAT BUTTON IF YOU WANT TO APPLY
THE TD TO THE SELECTED UVS
D: ALLOWS YOU TO COPY THE TEXEL RATIO
FROM AN UV SHELL AFTER YOU SET “B”

AFTER YOU APPLIED THE

TD TO YOUR UV YOU
PROBABLY GET YOUR UV
BIGGER OR SMALLER
BASE ON YOUR SETTING.
AND YOU WILL GET
SPACE BETWEEN EACH
UV SHELL. HERE IS THE
SETTING TO LAYOUT FOR
THOSE UV SHELL AND
KEEP THE TD

TEXTOOL BY HENDRIK-JAN SCHOENMAKER

goo.gl/m2V4XN

B
C

A: YOU SET THE RESOLUTION OF THE TEXTURE YOU ARE

GOING TO USE
B: YOU SET HOW MANY PIXEL PER UNITS THAT YOU
SPECIFY IN “C”)
C: YOU SET THE UNITS TO CALCULATE THE TEXEL
DENSITY.

FOR INSTANCE YOU WANT TO USE 10.24 AS TD YOU HAVE

TO PUT B: 1024 C: 100 (cm)

AFTER YOU SET UP THE RIGHT SETTINGS, SELECT YOUR

UV ISLAND AND RIGHT-CLICK ON THE BUTTON “D”

E: PRESS “E” TO PACK THE UVS WITHOUT RESCALE THEM

TEXEL DENSITY TOOLKIT BY JAMES O'HARE

goo.gl/m2V4XN

A: YOU SET THE RESOLUTION OF THE TEXTURE YOU ARE

GOING TO USE
B: YOU PUT THE TEXEL DENSITY E.G. 10.24
C: PRESS C TO APPLY TO THE SELECTED POLYGONS
D: PICK THE TD FROM A UV ISLAND.

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ANOTHER WAY TO ANCHEIVE UNIFORM TD

ANOTHER WAY TO ACHIEVE AN UNIFORM TEXEL DENSITY BETWEEN MODEL IS TO

CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE TEXTURE SIZE BASED ON YOUR MODEL’S SCALE AND UV
LAYOUT.
THIS APPROACH ALLOWS YOU TO AVOID WASTING OF UVSPACE BETWEEN EACH UV
SHELL/ISLAND OF EACH MODEL. HOWEVER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOOD, YEAH
YOU DON’T WASTE UV SPACE, BUT YOU WILL PROBABLY USE AND HIGHER OR LOWER
RESOLUTION RATHER THAN THE PERFECT SIZE.

E.G. IF YOU HAVE A MODEL AND THE PERFECT SIZE TO ACHIEVE YOUR GAME TEXEL
DENSITY IS 1554X1554PX YOU WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE A 2K
TEXTURE GIVING MORE DENSITY, OR USE A 1K TEXTURE GIVING A LOWER TD

TEXEL DENSITY ADVISOR BY SERGEY LYUBICH

goo.gl/m2V4XN

512px PER METER

UV
A

B C

D
E

A: HERE YOU SET YOUR TEXEL DENSITY PER METER

B: HERE YOU WILL SEE THE PERFECT SIZE BASED ON YOUR MODEL SCALE AND
UV SCALE.
C: HERE YOU CAN CHECK HOW MUCH UV SPACE ARE YOU WASTING, IT’S MORE
KIND OF ADVICE
D: HERE YOU SEE THE HIGHER AND LOWER ESTIMATED RESOLUTION
E:DOUBLED PROGRESS BAR SHOWS YOU TD DEVIATION FOR LOWER AND
HIGHER ESTIMATED RESOLUTIONS. VALUE ON THE LEFT SAYS "IF YOU ARE
GOING TO USE LOWER ESTIMATED RESOLUTION FOR YOU TEXTURE, THEN YOU
WILL LOSE 'THIS' % OF TEXEL DENSITY". AND THE SAME FOR THE HIGHER
ESTIMATE RESOLUTION BUT IN A GAINING WAY

F: HERE YOU SEE WHAT RESOLUTION YOU SHOULD USE. IT ALSO TELL YOU
WHEN IT’S BETTER TO USE A TILEABLE TEXTURE

ADVANCED UV NORMALIZER 2.0 BY POLYTOOLS3D

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A B

C D E

A: FROM THE MAIN WINDOW YOU HAVE TO PRESS “A”

B: SELECT THE OBJECTS THAT YOU WANT TO CALCULATE THE BEST
RESOLUTION FOR EACH SELECTED ASSETS.
C: HERE YOU CAN SEE WHAT WOULD BE THE PERFECT SIZE FOR YOUR MODEL
D: SINCE WORLD IS A BAD PLACE HERE YOU SEE THE NEAREST POWER OF 2
RESOLUTION.
E:HERE YOU SEE THE TD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO USE IF YOU USE THE
NEAREST ESTIMATED RESOLUTION
UNFORUNATELY SINCE I’M NOT A MAX USER AND THAT PLUGIN IS NOT FREE I HAVEN’T CHANCE TO TRY BY MYSELF.

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