The Plating Generator now comes with the ability to add materials to the plating patterns it generates on the mesh, an often requested feature. Jaroslaw Waskowiak tipped me over the edge with this specific request (among many great suggestions):

Material variations, randomizing UVs, assigning different maps to different “plates” at random

So I set to work:

You can assign different materials which will be applied to the grooves and randomly assigned to the plates. You can also vary the vertex colors of the plates so you can get different colored effects from the same material.

The add-on works by using the existing topology to cut out grooves for the plates in an interlocking pattern. Once those grooves are cut, the faces of the plates can be grouped and different materials automaticaly assigned.

Animation Nodes version

I’ve also included an Animation Nodes version if the add-on so you can play with dynamically changing the effect. The file is part of the samples.

Here are another couple of examples of the add-on at work:

Read more about the feature from the documentation.

Houdini Version

I am also working on a Houdini version of the Plating Generator, but it’s not quite ready yet…here’s a sneak preview of the settings:

If you’d like to test the Houdini version, let me know in the comments.