[lisa]

Originally Posted by Wiggles

Is there a way to get one of the vertice's to go to the other, so they both don't move, i have to move the vertice as close as I can before I snap them together.

Sure thing! Select the destination vertex by itself. Next to the "Move To" panel on the left is a small button with an arrow on it. Click the arrow, and it will store the position of the currently selected object. Then, select the vertex you want to move and click the Move To button.

Originally Posted by Wiggles

If texturing it, will I still need to change the materials?

It's not strictly necessary, but I'd still recommend it. Many people think of materials as a way to set the color of an object, but that’s not really what they’re for. In actuality, materials control how light reflects. Changing settings like shininess or specularity can cause a *big* difference in the way an object appears, even with the same texture map applied. Large highlights, for example, indicate a very rough surface; while small, sharp highlights indicate a surface that is very smooth and hard.

Originally Posted by Wiggles

What are the steps needed to texture it?

Texturing can be an art unto itself, but I can give you a few pointers to get you moving in the right direction. :-)

The first thing you need to do is layout the UV (texture) coordinates. Some people do like the tutorial video and create the texture first, but I always layout the pieces first and then paint after I have the layout.

Laying out the UVs is sort of like playing Tetris with your model. You need to select each part of your model a section at a time, apply a projection to it, and then scoot all of the mapped areas around until they all fit inside the square in the texture coordinate editor. You can also think of it like gift wrapping... the goal is to have a bit of gift paper, or texture space, evenly placed over all areas of the model.

To do this, switch to surface mode and select an area of your model... something you think you might paint as all one piece. Try to avoid discontinuities, such as faces on opposite sides of a hard corner; make these into two different map sections instead. For example, if I were texturing a turtle I might make the top of the shell one piece, the bottom of the shell another piece, and each foot and the head their own pieces as well. If I were texturing a bowl, I might make the inside of the bowl and the outside of the bowl their own sections.

After you select some faces, you need to apply a mapping to them. Basic planar mapping, which you will use a lot, can be done directly in the texture coordinate editor. Just open the texture coordinate editor with your surfaces selected, then click Remap > [Front\Right\Top\etc.] based on which direction your surfaces are facing. I’d also recommend check-boxing “Keep size ratio” as this will keep your textures from distorting. For organic shapes, this isn’t as important, but for objects like vehicles where you might want to include text, this will save a lot of headaches. So, for example, if I were texturing the turtle’s shell, I would select the faces on the back of the turtle’s shell, open the texture coordinate editor, and click Remap > Top. You should then see the faces appear in the texture coordinate editor drawn from the direction you specified.

After you’ve mapped the shape, in the texture coordinate editor move the mapped section somewhere off to the side of the map to make room for the next section. Try to move each part someplace where it won’t be on top of something else, because that will make it a pain later. Deselect the faces and go on to the next section. Keep repeating this until you’ve mapped every surface in your model.

Planar mapped surfaces are (usually) easiest to paint, but some areas of your model won’t always play nice with planar mapping. To use a different mapping mode, you’ll need to use the UV Map tool. You’ll find this on the tools menu.

The UV Map tool works basically the same way as Remap in the texture coordinate editor, but it allows you to do other types of projections. For example, unlike a planar mapped projection which is like taking a picture from a particular angle, a cylindrical projection is like wrapping a cylinder around the object. Cylindrical mapping is really useful for things like human heads, where the surfaces are all pointing in different directions, but you still want to paint the whole thing as one continuous object to avoid seams. Another useful projection is spherical mapping, which is like cylindrical mapping but uses a sphere shape instead. Spherical mapping is great for making things like sky domes. Try experimenting with the different mapping modes to see what they do; you can see your results in the texture coordinate editor.

After you’ve mapped all the parts, now it’s Tetris time. Select the entire object and open the texture coordinate editor. Select each part in the texture coordinate editor, and slide it inside the square. You may need to scale or rotate parts in the texture coordinate editor to make them all fit on the map. Don’t worry if the size of the parts on the map isn’t proportional to the size of the parts on the model. Scale them instead based on how important or detailed the parts are. For example, professional character modelers usually devote a disproportional area of the texture map to the character’s head and hands because these are most important. The bottom of the character’s feet will take up only a tiny portion of the map, because they’ll almost never be seen.

After you have everything in the square, you’re ready to paint! From the Window menu in the texture coordinate editor, select Copy Image to Windows Clipboard. (Uh... if you’re not on Windows, I assume there’s a similar menu. If not, there’s a plug-in that will allow you to export the UVs to a bitmap.) Paste into your favorite paint program, crop to the square, and paint away. :-)

When you’re done painting, you can apply the finished image to your model by selecting Object > Texture > Load Texture. Don’t forget to set your material color to white first so that you can see your texture.

Hope that helps!