Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Material Maker VS Cool Backgrounds

Compare Material Maker VS Cool Backgrounds and see what are their differences

Material Maker logo Material Maker

Cross-platform, procedural texture generation tool.

Cool Backgrounds logo Cool Backgrounds

Create fast, one-of-a-kind hero images for blogs & websites
  • Material Maker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-28
  • Cool Backgrounds Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-06

Material Maker features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    Material Maker is available for free and is open source, allowing users to modify and contribute to the software, making it accessible to a wide range of users without financial barriers.
  • Node-Based Workflow
    The software provides a node-based workflow which allows for ease of use and powerful procedural texturing, making it simple for users to create complex materials efficiently.
  • Integration with Godot Engine
    Material Maker integrates well with the Godot Engine, facilitating smooth workflows for game developers who use this popular open-source game engine.
  • Community Support
    A growing community of users contributes to the sharing of tips, resources, and materials, providing a supportive environment for learning and expanding skills.
  • Cross-Platform
    Material Maker is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux, offering flexibility for users across different operating systems.

Possible disadvantages of Material Maker

  • Steep Learning Curve
    While powerful, the node-based system can be complex for beginners, requiring a significant investment of time to become proficient.
  • Limited Documentation
    The available documentation can be sparse, potentially leading to challenges in understanding all features and tools available in the software.
  • Performance Issues on Large Projects
    Some users have reported performance slowdowns when working on larger or more complex projects, which can hinder workflow efficiency.
  • Less Polished Interface
    Compared to commercial alternatives, Material Maker may have a less polished UI, which might impact the user experience.
  • Limited Features Compared to Paid Tools
    Material Maker may lack some advanced features offered by commercial texturing software, which could be a limitation for professional users seeking specific capabilities.

Cool Backgrounds features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Cool Backgrounds offers an intuitive and straightforward interface, making it easy for users to generate and customize backgrounds without requiring any design expertise.
  • Variety of Styles
    The site provides a range of background styles such as gradients, patterns, and abstract designs, catering to diverse aesthetic preferences for personal and professional use.
  • Customizability
    Users can adjust various parameters like colors, shapes, and sizes, allowing for highly personalized background designs that suit their specific project needs.
  • Free Access
    Many of the design tools and features are available for free, making it an attractive option for users who want to enhance their visual content without incurring additional costs.

Possible disadvantages of Cool Backgrounds

  • Limited Advanced Features
    The platform might lack some of the more advanced or specialized design tools found in professional graphic design software, which could be a limitation for users seeking high-end design capabilities.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    As a web-based tool, continued use of Cool Backgrounds requires an internet connection, which might be inconvenient for users with limited or unstable access to the web.
  • Potential Overuse of Templates
    Since the site offers predefined styles and templates, there is a possibility of multiple users having similar or identical designs, which could impact the uniqueness of projects.
  • Ads and Promotions
    The presence of advertisements and promotional content on the site could be distracting or disruptive to the user experience, especially for those not using ad blockers.

Analysis of Material Maker

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Material Maker is considered a good tool, especially for those looking for a cost-effective solution to create procedural textures. Its features and user-friendly design make it a solid choice for both beginners and experienced users in the field.

Why this product is good

  • Material Maker is a popular tool among 3D artists and game developers for creating procedural textures and materials. It is praised for being open-source and free, making it accessible to a wide audience. Users appreciate its node-based interface, which is similar to other industry-standard software, allowing for a smooth learning curve. The software is also valued for its capability to produce high-quality textures that can be used in various 3D modeling and game development projects. Regular updates and a supportive community contribute to its positive reception.

Recommended for

    Material Maker is recommended for 3D artists, game developers, and hobbyists who are interested in creating procedural materials and textures without incurring high software costs. It is also suitable for educators and students who require an accessible and powerful tool for learning and teaching purposes in digital art and design.

Material Maker videos

Material Maker 0.8 Released -- Now with more better!

More videos:

  • Review - Material Maker -- Godot Powered Procedural Texture Creator (Free & Open Source!)
  • Review - Material Maker & Pixelorama -- Godot Powered Open Source GameDev Goodness!

Cool Backgrounds videos

No Cool Backgrounds videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Material Maker and Cool Backgrounds)
3D
100 100%
0% 0
Design Tools
28 28%
72% 72
Architecture
100 100%
0% 0
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Material Maker and Cool Backgrounds. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Material Maker might be a bit more popular than Cool Backgrounds. We know about 8 links to it since March 2021 and only 6 links to Cool Backgrounds. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Material Maker mentions (8)

  • Underw[A]ter [OC]
    In a software called material maker, this is the setup(slightly different but this basically just offsets the textures). Source: about 3 years ago
  • Godot showing off a texture I made in material maker
    Did you find it? Here it is if you didn't. It's made in Godot. Source: over 3 years ago
  • How would you go about modeling this?
    โ€œName your own priceโ€ alternative based on the Godot engine https://rodzilla.itch.io/material-maker. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Helmet Hud Test Godot 4 FPS
    Helmet overlay was made using material maker. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Has anyone been able to run Substance Designer on the steam deck?
    No idea about that one but Material Maker works great! Source: about 4 years ago
View more

Cool Backgrounds mentions (6)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Material Maker and Cool Backgrounds, you can also consider the following products

Substance Designer - Substance Designer is a node-based non-destructive application for material authoring.

Trianglify - Tweakable, one-of-a-kind hero images for your next project

TextureLab - Free, Cross-Platform, GPU-Accelerated Procedural Texture Generator.

Hero Patterns - A collection of repeatable SVG background patterns

Filter Forge - On the surface, Filter Forge is just a Photoshop plugin, a pack of filters that generate textures...

Background - Background is a well-designed and feature-rich application that allows you to find, save, and download high-quality curated images for your commercial projects.