AC3D Forums - View Single Post - Looking for Tutorial on texturing/preparing UV maps

lisa · 3rd June 2009, 03:46 PM

This tutorial is for 3D Studio, but the same basic techniques apply:
http://www.rensheeren.com/mirrors/senor/tutorial1.htm

Ideally, you would fix the stretching you see inside the TCE versus editing the texture bitmap. (although obviously you could do either) If you select the surfaces that are warping, then scale them in the TCE you can adjust them so they no longer warp.

One trick a lot of people use is to apply a checkerboard texture while you are building your UV map. A checkerboard can help you visualize how much texture space a surface is consuming--the smaller the checkers, the more texture space on the bitmap. In addition, a checkerboard can help you see if your map is distorted. You want each checker to appear as a perfect square. If they are non-square, you'll want to select the surfaces and scale them in the TCE until they are, or choose a different projection.

As far as borders and seams, it's mostly a matter of lining it up very carefully. If you snap two parts of the map together in the TCE it will prevent a seam along that edge, so the more you can stitch together (within reason) the easier it is.

The most difficult projects are ones like the corners you show on your image. Again, often you can just stretch them in the TCE to fix the problem, but occassionally you will need to re-map just those surfaces. Sometimes an non-planar projection, such as a cylindrical projection, will work. Otherwise, another trick is to temporarily rotate the model so that you can get a clear planar projecton on those faces. i.e. Rotate the model 45 degrees so the surfaces in question face the camera directly; planar map the surfaces from the camera direction (top/bottom/left/right/etc.); then rotate the model -45 degrees back to its original position. Once you have the faces mapped, inside the TCE move the surfaces into position and snap them together with their neighbors.

3rd June 2009, 03:46 PM	#2
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Looking for Tutorial on texturing/preparing UV maps This tutorial is for 3D Studio, but the same basic techniques apply: http://www.rensheeren.com/mirrors/senor/tutorial1.htm Ideally, you would fix the stretching you see inside the TCE versus editing the texture bitmap. (although obviously you could do either) If you select the surfaces that are warping, then scale them in the TCE you can adjust them so they no longer warp. One trick a lot of people use is to apply a checkerboard texture while you are building your UV map. A checkerboard can help you visualize how much texture space a surface is consuming--the smaller the checkers, the more texture space on the bitmap. In addition, a checkerboard can help you see if your map is distorted. You want each checker to appear as a perfect square. If they are non-square, you'll want to select the surfaces and scale them in the TCE until they are, or choose a different projection. As far as borders and seams, it's mostly a matter of lining it up very carefully. If you snap two parts of the map together in the TCE it will prevent a seam along that edge, so the more you can stitch together (within reason) the easier it is. The most difficult projects are ones like the corners you show on your image. Again, often you can just stretch them in the TCE to fix the problem, but occassionally you will need to re-map just those surfaces. Sometimes an non-planar projection, such as a cylindrical projection, will work. Otherwise, another trick is to temporarily rotate the model so that you can get a clear planar projecton on those faces. i.e. Rotate the model 45 degrees so the surfaces in question face the camera directly; planar map the surfaces from the camera direction (top/bottom/left/right/etc.); then rotate the model -45 degrees back to its original position. Once you have the faces mapped, inside the TCE move the surfaces into position and snap them together with their neighbors.