Texture Mapping (beginner)

Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Texture Mapping (beginner)
http://wooyah.com/heidi/txtr_tut_2/title.jpg
Let’s face it… sometimes the texture maps provided with object files are
less than optimum for producing good textures. Sometimes there’s no map
provided at all. This tutorial will walk you through the process of creating or
re-mapping an object texture map.
Scope: Re-mapping object files, import and export of UV’s, saving new
object files.
This tutorial is meant to take up where ‘Texturing for Beginners’ left off. It
is recommended that you at least read through that tutorial before
proceeding with this one.
Programs Required:
UVMapper Classic (www.uvmapper.com) freebie (Some parts of this tutorial
use Pro's features... you can still do it with Classic...but it's easier with Pro)
Poser 4 Woman’s Catsuit (included with P4, Propack, and P5)
Paint program with Layer capability (I’m using Photoshop in this tutorial)
Recommended free “Eliminate White” plugin
(http://www.edesign.com/filters/)
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Theory:
Just as with your rendered images, the larger the texture map, the greater
the detail. Also, when you look at the shape of the mesh, the more square,
the polygons are, the less distortion you’ll get when applying patterns to your
texture. The more squished those little squares are, the more distortion
you can expect when you apply your texture. You really want to check your
distortion and lineup? – apply a plaid.
I’m on a PC and the instructions will reflect PC keystrokes. The COMMAND
key on the Mac corresponds to the ALT key on the PC.
TUTORIAL (backup your original file)
What about those UV’s
1. In UVMapper open the geometry file for the P4 Woman’s catsuit
…Runtime\Geometries\Poser4Clothes\Suits\blcatsuit.obj
NOTE: When you move parts of the mesh around in Mapper, you’re
moving the UV references and the map will no longer line up with the
original object.
2. I know… you backed up your original file (it’s over 1.3 meg, right?).
Well, we’re going to back it up again…
From the File pull-down menu select ‘Export UVs’. In the dialog box
that opens check the lower three boxes. Ok… now THAT file is just
over 430k, right?
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
3. On the UVMapper toolbar, click on the black marquee button and the
red marquee button. Use your cursor to grab any part of the mesh
and move it (it doesn’t matter where).
4. From the File pull-down menu, select ‘Import UVs’. In the dialog box
that opens, find that UV file that you just exported and click Open.
Now you’re back where you started.
NOTE: You can alter your object file by importing different UVs for
that file and then saving the resulting model. This is really handy… It
is legal to re-distribute UVs – and a UV file is typically less than 1/3
the size of an obj file (the user must already have the original obj).
This is also a great way to save your re-mapping in progress, especially
with complex objects that take some time to map.
Re-Mapping
1. Use the Select pull-down menu to select by material. Select ‘Skin’.
Grab one of the handles for the selection and make it teeny-tiny then
move it into one of the corners where it will be out of the way.
2. Zoom (UVMapperPro -- Classic doesn't zoom) in on the shoulder area
of the map. Click the red marquee button and the lasso tool (with
UVMapper Classic you'll have to hold down the shift key and select
polygons to do this). Use the lasso tool to select the part of the
sleeve where it attaches to the shoulder. Double-click to complete
the selection and move the selection so that it overlays the sleeve
that it’s attached to.
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
NOTE: Hold down the shift key to add polygons to selection or the
alt key to delete polygons from the selection.
Repeat this step for each shoulder area.
3. Select each of the sleeves and use the Map pull-down menu to map,
planar, z-axis, no gaps (yep, I know the sleeves for the back flip over…
that’s so that they’ll line up with the sleeves for the front).
4. Select each of the sleeves using the shift key to add polygons to the
selection and move them around so that they look something like this
(sleeves front are on top and sleeves back are on bottom in this
image):
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
5. To aid in getting your side seams to line up, select the entire front
body and move it so that it overlays the back (do not deselect). Using
the arrow keys on your keyboard, fine-tune its placement so that the
waist on the selected front lines up with the waist on the back (not
selected).
6. Once you have them aligned use the left arrow key on your keyboard
to move the still-selected front mesh clear so that it is no longer
overlaying any part of the back.
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
7. Deselect the front body and select all of the sleeves. Using the
Select pull-down menu, rotate them 90 degrees CCW. Move them
down so that they are down next to the front body.
Now all that’s left is to optimize the actual size of the map to the mapping
area. So…
8. Select the sleeves and body meshes. Using the Select pull-down
menu, choose Scale – Maximize. Whoa! That’s bigger … grab one of
the handles in the corner and downsize it slightly so that you have a
little bit of room around the edges.
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com
9. From the File pull-down menu Export UV’s (don’t write over the top of
the UV file from the original mesh) – now you have two UV files, this
one and the UV’s for the original obj.
10. If you backed up your original obj file, use the File pull-down menu to
Save Model
(…Runtime\Geometries\Poser4Clothes\Suits\blcatsuit.obj)
11. Use the File pull-down menu one more time to Save Template. I
suggest that you save your template with a size of at least
1024x1024.
You now have a new map for working your texture magic on the P4 Woman’s
catsuit.
Tips and Tricks:
To change from one version of the object file to another, load the obj file
into UVMapper and Import the appropriate UV file, then save the model. I
save a copy of the UV file with my texture map(s).
If you are applying a new UV file to an object file, the UV’s must be applied
BEFORE the object is loaded into the posing window.
After I finish creating a new template, I open the figure in the posing
window and apply the template as a texture… to see how everything lines up.
While you’re working in UVMapper, you can assign various parts of the map
to different Materials, Groups, or Mapping Regions. Any empty names within
these groups are not saved when you save the model, UV’s or template.
In this tutorial we only used the Planar Mapping… feel free to explore what
some of the other mapping looks like and what it does to your map.
If you have any questions on parts of this tutorial, please feel free to either
PM me or send an email to heidi@wooyah.com.
Copyright © 2003 WooYah.com