Getting started with Textures.

N0TJamie

Hi everyone. I understand this is a massive post but I want to make sure I have the right idea/direction and not delusional with my overall goals.

So I am looking to start making textures for modding purposes for my most beloved games as purely a hobby.

I also am fully aware of how much of a newb I am, and this is a hobby I am seriously wanting to start (without digressing into the reasons I can say I am fully committed) and have taken the time to read up on how to approach this mammoth task.

It seems while there are a dozen or so programs used for different things like, Maya, Painter, Mudbox, ZBrush, Photoshop etc. My expertise or lack of, ends with basic Photoshop usage which will not do. In terms of the programs I think Photoshop will be the best place to start as it is great for a lot of things and is able to do many things while the other programs seem to be aimed at doing specific things better.

I have got myself Photoshop (I love the subscription) and have signed up to Lynda.com as it’s a highly recommended site. Lynda has a series called one on one made by Deke McClelland who seems to be pretty bright when it comes to Photoshop. It starts off with beginner level slowly building you up introducing features and has plenty of exercises to work along with. These 3 (beginner, intermediate and advance) span 35 hours or so of video. I plan to work through this so I understand Photoshop better, by no means do I think it’s a definitive guide.

This is my base, I plan to spend a lot of time here as I have a lot to learn, I am not trying to master Photoshop in a short time or expect anything crazy. I want to tackle it this way so I know the program layout, how things work and most importantly the terminology and tools. Moving forward I have a base were working with more texture specific things I understand the terminology and even jumping to another program if needed should be less daunting.

While learning that I plan to read stuff on the way to work as I catch the train, I have already picked up art books on the concepts of detail, composition, color etc

Goals... I hope to have the base lessons done and to be starting to get a solid foundation within 6 months, I plan to game much less and want to work on this daily while making sure I don’t burn out of course. From there I will be much more knowledgeable and have a much better idea of what I need to learn next, I hope to start really jumping in and creating textures for my favorite games like Skyrim and Fallout while making sure I continue to push myself learning new techniques working with different textures/surfaces. I don't expect to be making textures that are insanely well done, but I want the basics down so I can build upon them and practice efficiently.

Is this a decent plan? Or am I delusional?

Eric Chadwick

My first thought? That's a lot of text! But yeah that sounds like a good way to start.

N0TJamie

Thanks for the reply it means a lot... I know its a massive post but I figured it would be worth asking as you always see posts like, "things I wish I knew before starting". I felt pretty confident with the plan but if I started and 4 months down the track was talking to someone and they said why not just use X program its a lot easier etc I would have died a little inside lol.

lorenzo_di_pietro

Deke McClelland's tutorials are great, but (if I remember correctly) not focused on game art. I think It would be a good idea looking also at other resources, for example:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/texturebootcamp

http://eat3d.com/texturing

http://3dmotive.com/series/texture-creation-in-photoshop.html

Good luck

ekul

Hi, I started off my 3D career the exact same way as you, by modding Oblivion/Skyrim! From what you say (and how you say it) above, I feel there are similarities in the way we approach things, methodically and with the end goal to fully understand what it is we're doing, so I can definitely relate to the position you're in.

Yes, there are a tonne of programs out there that all seem to do the same thing. I guess when it comes to this, you need to try them and find the one that feels comfortable for you to use and that does what you want it to quickly and efficiently. Photoshop is definitely the best place to start as you will be using it for a range of different things and knowledge in it will carry over to other programs. Creating textures in PS will also get you to start analysing all the small details of a texture and teach you to see that accurate materials are built up by many layers; primarily because you'll be using literal Photoshop layers to create a texture!

Once you're comfortable with Photoshop, Substance Painter (absolutely brilliant - best thing since baked bread) is definitely the way to go. You'll have to do some tutorials - the ones on Allegorithmic's YouTube channel are great - but knowledge from Photoshop and its layer system will carry over. Otherwise your plan is good. You should definitely read through the Polycount Wiki's texturing pages to get a good knowledge base of common terminology and components of a texture, specifically map types. Here are some links:
- http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Texturing
- http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Category:TextureTypes

Try not to let all the new information confuse you. Most of it is linked somehow and it shouldn't take long to start piecing it all together.