The #1 Trick to Build Better in Minecraft

This is the single best building trick!
"Use blocks as colors instead of textures"

-
Music in this video:

[ajan]

I have a question! What about small builds? What if I'm not a mega build type of person? How do we implement "texturing" there? A house made out of crafting tables would look funky from up close

[pastabucket]

You'd think you wanna build a wooden barn out of wood but in reality you should use 15 different types of stone, clay, and glass

[alexonMC]

Minecraft always goes through some "revolutionary" phases and I believe color gradients really is gonna be the new big thing. Looks great Snarple :)

[isaacsteen]

This is a VERY good tip for larger builds, but for smaller-scale things, everything needs to be taken into account... The color AND the texture of the individual blocks. It'd be awesome to see something like this that considers smaller player-scale builds

[Piktro]

I'm colorblind, and ironically I'm actually a graphic designer. I have no issue with color when it comes to designing brand identities, websites, pdfs, etc. but I have a color picker in those apps so I can check my work and make sure it lines up with my knowledge of color theory.

I just started playing Minecraft less than two months ago, and I don't have a color picker in game. Because of that, I rely on build videos, or I ask my friends to see what materials they've used. Videos like this are super helpful too, and the fact that you actually name the materials most of the time (instead of assuming that people can identify them by their color) is really nice.

Great job! You've earned a subscription for sure, I'm just surprised you don't have more of them.

[cerostymc]

Well, this is generally really good advice, but it depends a lot on what you are going for.

Using blocks as colors instead of textures can look great from far away, but the closer you get, the more this illusion breaks apart.

So when you want your build to be seen only from a distance, you can use pretty much any block for coloring, as long as it has the right tone.

However, when building things that should also look good from up close, I recommend only using blocks with a related texture for your gradient.

[Linardminecraft]

this is one of the concepts in building thats the hardest to explain, and I never seen anyone do as good as a job as you, so congrats! Amazing video 10/10!

[D_To_The_J]

My issue with "Texture" is that it really just matters about the intended perspective of the viewer. If you are making a massive object that you want to mostly only be viewed from far away, sure throw the random blocks in. But if you want a realistic close up, build like a house etc, not throwing random blocks is more realistic.

[TheNicJellie]

I super love the message that this video is trying to make. It's essentially trying to see minecraft as a 3d pixel art medium. It's unlike the opposition where their original "texture" thing, from these other Minecraft builders, are coming from a place of pracitical use of the blocks. Using "textures" by the same block groups as different types of stones. Whereas this proposes to judge block choices by colors which is a lot more liberating to use wools together with wood and stones freely.

[EmeralBookwise]

Texturing is also very dependent on function and scale. That barn for example looks great from a distance as part of the landscape, but would look pretty terrible if you were trying to use it as a part of a base where you'd be going in and out the door frequently enough to see that glazed terracotta standing in for wood.

For any build that a player intends to use and interact with regularly, the blocks at eye level need to be handled differently the ones that are always further away, like the roof.

[henry]

my problem with the majority of the big youtubers that bang on about "texture" is that all of their builds end up as greebled nonsense, covered in random blocks protruding out all over the place, just for the sake of adding blocks to the build. then as soon as you step back, all of that information is lost in the mess. theres something called a 70:30 rule, where 70% of an image or design should be relatively detail free, and the remaining 30% should have the detail. this contrast is naturally appealing to us visually. the trend now is to just cover 100% of the build in random walls, buttons and stairs, and theres no contrast at all

[thedogsarestarved]

this is like impressionism!! it might look like a mess of colors up close but when you take a step back you see beautiful art. it’s inspiring. i think if youre going to use this, you should only apply this coloring stuff to really big builds, and focus on the actual textures like others say for smaller builds that you’re going to be super close to regularly.

[Waterfaulter]

translating it from "Texturing" to "coloring" completely shifted my view on the concept, thank you!! ill definitely keep this in mind if i ever try large scale building. Also, the fact you've recreated painting in minecraft is incredible. I have to imagine since you have control over the perspective of the whole piece you can get alot of freaky with the visual texture you get!

[crayfishinbruhzil]

The editing bits where you change the word's font, matching it to the bassline are so satisfying

[hugglesnz]

Snarple, what a great video, so helpful! Thank you! I look forward to the colour theory video - and any others you bring to us!

[necroseus]

Very cool! Though this also only applies to megabuilds, I appreciate someone finally articulating this concept to a broader audience, because this has been a secret sauce technigue for a while.

Funnily enough, it's followed the exact same trajectory that Minecraft skin art has followed over the years:
- Flat colours blocked out in basic shapes
- Utilizing random noise to make the shapes look more interesting (What most people refer to as "texturing" when building)
- Detailing the noise for better shapes (Shading)
- Utilizing more advanced colour theory and shading to make more refined skins.


My gripe with this technique though is that for player scale builds, it's a mess and pulls me out of the immersion. Castles made out of snow, wool, dead coral, and fuckin' DIRT make me curl up into a ball and die. So, every time that I build, I genuinely try to only use blocks that are available with some suspension of belief.

- Castle walls made from stone bricks, cobble, andesite, textured/coloured so the less refined/rougher materials are towards the bottom. This makes the eye climb the build since rougher blocks have higher contrast. (Or any specific category of similarily coloured rocky blocks)
- Wooden beams always derived from logs, where floors are always derived from planks/ other hard, similarly coloured plant blocks, and using light to dark gradients to imply dampness
- Buttons to act as knots on wood to give it more roughness and catch the eyes
- Wattle and daub walls made of white stones (NOT WOOL >:( !!!!), such as calcite, quartz, and concrete (with clay and concrete powder for roughness like the above stone walls)
- Rooves are always made of tile, thatch, or wooden blocks, such as nether brick, mud brick, regular brick, deepslate tiles, planks, haybales, etc. Sometimes trims look better as heftier stones such as blackstone, deepslate, or stone bricks

So, as you are an obviously incredibly talented builder, my challenge to you is to make a player-scaled build that is coloured just as artfully as the lovely pieces you showed off here, but every single block feels like it could believably exist there!

[valooncolonthree]

We need color theory!!! Teraformnig and building shape tutorial too! It is also interesting how to take ideas and come up with buildings.

[TurbFlo]

I love how this is essentially an art tutorial video with all the concepts you're explaining. It really shows how minecraft can be used as a medium for art and how much building has evolved. Love the video and all the builds in it! :)

[tortilladog]

This may be the only build video that has ever immediatly improved the quality of my builds, you have just earned yourself a new subscriber. I look forward to that color theory in Minecraft video you mentioned, it sounds super useful!

[MazzyGG]

Wow my life is a lie, I have got it all wrong, now I understand why people who have random colors of blocks that don’t like what they’re supposed to be makes the build so good! Thanks Snarple!