Character texturing strategy

[Chris]

I can give you an example of how I've been setting up UV's on a human figure, its not the only way of doing it, but it works for me!

Ok, first I think about the various parts that I want to split up & texture separately.

1. Then do a mesh or poly select, select the first part's poly's

2. right after that assign a 'material' modifier & set the material ID

3. then I apply an UVWMap, & set the type & move & resize the gizmo if appropriate. I set the mapping channel to the same as the material ID

4. Then I apply a UVW Unwrap, working off the channel I set in the last step. I then edit the UV's if needed.

Then is rinse & repeat going from steps 1 to 4 for as many parts of the model as I need.

If I encounter a part that is a horrible tangle when I open the edit UV's I go back & place either an edit mesh or an Xform before the Unwrap UV [edit]sorry this should read 'before the UVW Map' the modifiers have to go into the stack before the UVW Map![edit]. You can then twiddle with the mesh (without deleting anything!) until you think it is good to go. If you then go back up to the Unwrap UVW, reset the UV's & edit them it will lock the UV's in the current state, allowing you to just switch off the Xform or Editmesh. Then your mesh is back to its original state, but with the better UV mapping...

I generally then just go back through the UVW Unwrap modifiers & take a screenshot of each one to bring through to potatoshop.

Theres no rippin apart of meshes & it seems to work really well...

[dvornik]

Thanks, I'll give it a try. In our character modelling class we didn't have enough time to go over textures and I was left kind of clueless.

Why do you need a 'material' modifier?

OK, so the trick for parts that are too complex for standard gismos is to turn off the modifier lower in the stack (XForm, Editmesh, I guess I could use Relax here as well) after tweaking Unwrap UVW UVs. Then collapse the stack and on to the next part. I think I got it.

Would texporter fit into this workflow? Are there any benefits in using it instead of using screenshots?

[Chris]

>Why do you need a 'material' modifier?

to assign the faces you selected the unique material ID (for when you apply a multi-sub material). I find it easier to organise if you have a material modifier in the stack.


>OK, so the trick for parts that are too complex for standard gismos is to turn off the modifier lower in the stack (XForm, Editmesh, I guess I could use Relax here as well) after tweaking Unwrap UVW UVs.

Yep, so you apply the material ID, then apply any modifier you need to make the mesh easier to map (I used a '2x2x2FFD' on a chest section & 'Spherify' on a fist last night for example). Once you've done that, apply the UVWMap (moving & fitting the gizmo appropriately) then apply the UVW Unwrap, click edit & have a look at your UV's. Then you can turn the distorting modifiers off, or even delete them out of the stack altogether & the nice mapping will remain...

>Then collapse the stack and on to the next part. I think I got it.

I tend to go right through & assign UV's & mapping channels to everything before collapsing the stack. Just in case you change your mind about how things will be split up or something.

>Would texporter fit into this workflow? Are there any benefits in using it instead of using screenshots

The benefit of texporter would be being able to assign an arbritary size to the image for texturing. I just zoom close in in UnwrapUVW & screen capture, this gives me an image of around 1200 pixels high, which I can upsize in potatoshop before beginning to texture if need be. Its personal preference I think... :)

[dvornik]

Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation. I understand it much better now.

[kandyman]

Texporter is also very precise - no need to fuss with the mesh image in PShop.

I'm using 3000x3000 maps on a character right now, and texporter is nice for that!

[boomji]

ok dudes,
this thread seamed very informative but uv mapping being as deceptive as it is (or does it just sound).i would really appreciate if you guys put up pics of the steps you just explained.
dvornik if you dont mind you could also up the mesh you got and the uv studs out here ;) could have a go at uv mapping the mesh in their own way.this way i think the whole forum would learn a ton of diffrent ways to map the same charachter.there isen't a better way to learn !!!
what say???
thanx for listening
b

[JamesDeschenes]

I wish texporter worked in GMAX... I use it all the time in 3dsmax4... but my current project requires me to build everything in GMAX.. anyone know of a similar way of getting the same results as texporter? taking a screenshot of the UVWunwrap window is not my favorite solution.

Im probably stuck with the screenshot method tho :hmm:

[dvornik]

There's a sticky thread in 'Texturing & Surfacing - General' discussing some approaches, with links to tutorials. Some of them for max.

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7598

Look at the Workshop in that forum, too.

[javierdl]

This thread has come in a very good time for me :)
For this is precisely what I'm going through right now.

I am really looking forward to try Chris' recommendation on the "No ripping meshes" way.

I thought of sharing a couple of tutorials I came across a few days ago, I know they may be somewhat redundant by now but they may still help those that are just starting on these subjects (skin mapping, UV mapping, etc)

http://www.nmba18878.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Tutorial%20unwrap.htm

http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/cottages/pixelated/tut01.shtml

Comments on each tutorial would be greatly appreciated. Like mentioning the Pros and the Cons, and so forth.

DrPepperCan

[Reality3D]

James Try with this script in Gmax(i don't know if gmax has maxscript suppot)

[dvornik]

I'm having problems with nose, lips and ears overhanging. I've tried every combination of modifiers I can think of and still the resulting unwrap from a cylindrical map looks impossible to untangle. Or in case I use relax the polys end up bunched up too close together on these rather important body parts, so I won't be able to texture them properly.

I guess it would make sense to texture them separately, but then I will have to worry about the seams in the texture. In case of the nose it's a problem cause it's too visible.

[Chris]

you could try adding an editmesh modifier & pull the vertices out manually. Heads are a mission tho... :)

[dvornik]

What I'm trying to do now is to create a uvw map separately for each part of the head and then stitch them in UVW editor. I keep getting mixed up but I think I'm on the right track. The idea is that it's simpler to untangle UVs for one relaxed nose or ear and then attach it to the head UVs than untangle one big messy map for the head. I still want to have one map for all parts, obviously.

[dvornik]

That may be rather tedious but I guess that's how you learn. I may not even need relax on ears.

[dvornik]

Umm... Kind of embarassing to post 3 times in a row. But anyway, DrPepperCan, the best tutorial I found so far can be found here (written by Logan Foster, download the first tutorial):

http://members.shaw.ca/loganfoster/download/index.html

You don't have to use maxscript from it - it's just supposed to make things faster.

Now, what is probably best for character modelling is to combine Chris' method with the one in the tutorial. Basically you follow the tutorial but apply modifiers to stretch your SUB-objects to fit your UVW gizmos. You don't have to do it if a few planar (or other) UV maps work for you from the start. Then disable these modifiers after you got your unwrap.

The important thing is first you have to come up with a UVW unwrap in your head and then think how to make it, in my opinion. Like that hoof tutorial - he knows he needs 2 sides the same (that's why they overlap) and then buttom, front and back unwrapped (that's why he unwelds vertices).

About the bag tutorial - well, I guess you want to try to achieve the same thing, only without detaching and reattaching parts. You use multi/subobject material instead.

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