Tiling normal and diffuse without unwrapping?

Cody

I recently received an art test, and have a question about some of their instructions. They want me to texture "using two 1024X1024 tiling textures (one color map and one normal map)". My question is, do they want me to create a tiling texture, and just slap it on the model with no unwrapping? It's a tree trunk, and the texture has to be hand painted. But if it is a tiling diffuse and normal, then I can't make a high poly and bake down some normals for detail that way. So are they seeing if I can make a tree trunk texture that can be used on other tree models as well? And do engines even support a model not being unwrapped at all, and having a tiling texture on them? Help please.

Eric Chadwick

I've used photosource of bark, crazybumped it, and tiled it across some tree mesh. Probably what they're asking for, except painted.

Here's a really old example of how to tile the UVs, using spline mapping (now integrated into Max 2009). Really helps to twist the UVs around the trunk, helps hide repetition, also gives it a more organic look.
http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/images/texturelayers_tree.gif

Edit... another example or rotating (well, skewing) the UVs, for a palm tree
http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/images/turbounwrap_skew.jpg

TSM

Just make a tiling wood diffuse + normal and make sure each UV piece has the same texel density.

Cody

Thanks, Eric. The first one looks like what I want it to look like. I'm going to try the second method, but paint the bark diagonally. I'm gonna have problems unwrapping because my tree is complicated.

MoP

Unwrapping a tree should be a fairly simple matter of cylinder-mapping each branch (very easy if they're separate elements, slightly harder if they're all merged because you'll have to select groups of polys and unwrap those).

Why paint the bark diagonally? Horizontally or vertically would be easier to tile, and would also be easier to unwrap for (each unwrapped chunk would be either horizontal or vertical).

Cody

Diagonally because in the concept the bark kinda twists around the tree.

Tumerboy

No, that's why you do the UV Skew trick. It makes the map twist around the object, without having to paint it wierd, or twist the actual geo.

Cody

ah