Texturing
Sad Mike
is split in two parts. Both parts
are about texturing SadMike's head
but each part will deal with this
problem in a different way. In part
one we will see how to apply textures
using the texporter
plugin, and in part two we
will use the "Unwrap UVW"
modifier.
-
The
completed model on the left is where
we stopped last time. (see
here for this modelling tutorial)
I did some modifications, nothing
big, I just added some new edges to
make a smoother model. So now it is
time to put some textures on it.
The
Image on the left shows just an Editable
Mesh without any modifiers.
Now
apply a Mesh Smooth modifier. You
can change the number of Iterations
to 2. You can also change this any
time later so set Iterations to 1
for now. The Computer will work faster
that way.
The
next step is to apply a UVW Mapping
modifier.
You
can use either the Cylindrical or
Spherical mapping type. Here, I used
Cylindrical, because I wanted to concentrate
on the face's texture.
When
you apply the Modifier you will see
that the gizmo is aligned in a wrong
way. We will have to rotate it twice
to place it in the right position.
At
first we will rotate it by -90°
(watch the minus) around the Y-axis,
to place it in up/down position.
Now
we rotate it by -90° around the
Z-axis, so that the green line of
the gizmo is at the back of SadMike's
head.
This
is the place where the texture is
going to be split and then unwraped
into 2D by MAX. This green line should
always be hidden from the camera!
After
all the rotating just hit the "Fit"-button
in the UVW Mapping modifier. Now the
head is completely in the gizmo cage.
Next
steep is to use Texporter. If
you install it and you do not
see it in the Utilities panel,
click the "More..."-button
and find it in the list.
Texporter
is a very useful easy-to-use-very
plugin.
It
allows you to specify the image's
size. This is the size of the
image that Texporter will print
the unwraped mesh into.
After
unwrapping you can save the
image and open it in your favourite
2D Software. There you paint
the texture over the image and
later assign it to your model.
I used 2000x1200 pixels, here.
Now, click "Pick Object"
and select SadMike's head.
Texporter
will start calulating. When
it's done an image of thet unwraped
model appears. Save this image
and use the painting software
(I use Photoshop myself) to
paint the texture over this
image.
Textporter
will mark overlapping faces
red. See that red smile? That
can be a problem.
click
on the image to see it
at full resolution
Proceed
to page two, to learn texturing
SadMike in a more complex way!
To
solve it try to rotate the mapping
gizmo in the UVW Mapping modifier,like
on the image on the left.
You
will end up with a different unwrapped
image. Maybe it is a a little better
than the previous one but there is
still a red smile... You can perhaps
try some different type of mapping
- spherical for example.
But
in the end the smile will remain.
Luckily those faces will be covered
by the chin and cannot be seen by
the camera. Now all you have to do
is to paint a decent texture over
the image you exported and use it
in your material's diffuse map slot.
Bump and specular map should be created
from this diffuse map by first converting
it to grayscale mode and than adjusting
the white and black parts of the image.
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Next
steep is to use Texporter. If
you install it and you do not
see it in the Utilities panel,
click the "More..."-button
and find it in the list.
