Hello,
new to this site. I started out with Blender and I can model and MY texture uv mapping is in the works . I want to learn Maya and taking a digital tutors course and, I am wondering how animation films get a certain look in there textures. By this I mean, are they using digital paint on Google image textures? mixed with volume lighting or teal lighting with dust particles. Here is a you tube link to what I am talking about. any info would be appreciated because my textures look like I just posted them on a mesh object. I know there is normal maps and displacement map etc but, in blender they were used in texture nodes. I see peoples demo reels and they have a break down of specularity, occlusion maps etc and it’s in a black and white view with out the textures, and I don’t know if that’s using the models with out the textures or what and it’s lighting for this affect? any info would be greatly appreciated.
Quick Newbie Question
In some modelling software and game engines you can view just the lighting information; all I really see in that demo reel is the untextured models with the lighting, then the wireframe and diffuse textures/materials added, and AO/spec/etc. swept in.
Most photo source textures will still have some modification done to them (layer blending, decals, painting). A lot of the materials used in that demo reel look to have been completely hand painted, but some could have been modified from photos, and some could have photo based details added to them.
I might not know exactly what you’re asking though 
how do people modify there textures to look digital painted? That’s the affect I’m going for. I figured maybe I should learn Photoshop for digital painting? then, i wonder if they still apply normal maps, displacement maps and so on to a digital painting image texture?
You’re probably not going to get a fully hand painted look from modifying photos in Photoshop, it really depends what look you’re going for exactly, and using Photoshop filters (oil paint, blur, and some of the ‘artistic’ filters) is just going to give you a ‘Photoshop filter’ look.
A lot of hand painted textures have highlights and shadows painted right in to the texture to fake the depth and don’t rely on normal maps much, or at all, but there are some modern video games using normal, specular, etc with a more realistic hand painted look.
You can also hand paint over a photo and use it as a reference point, or leave in some details from the photo. You could also apply filters to a photo and then hand paint over it! I’d say most people do at least some manipulation of photo textures, even for photo realistic stuff.
There are just so many ways to achieve different results, so if you’re going for a stylized look you’ll have to dive in to a photo editing program and start learning all the different techniques.
I really appreciate the info. i mean, I know there is tutorials but, the problem I find with tutorials is, I think things should be broken down into a full picture. For an example, there modeling, uv mapping, lighting, applying textures but, it really doesn’t go into how to make an animation film or how they get there effects from. I haven’t found much info on teal lighting and I guess, some people are using after effects to composite and color correct there animation?
thanks again for all the info you have provided. to me, my learning is understanding the big picture than understanding the small parts. I mean you cant put together a bed if you only watch a video of how to put screws into a post and not see how the actual bed is constructed. by this I mean it show the whole outline then broken down into tutorials, tutorials don’t do this, they just go by breakdowns and thi sis why I have questions.