Two texture sheets to one character model

Z3NZY

I'm making a character and we've been told to use 2x1024 for diffuse.

So I made my UVs and the only once i started painting i realised i don't know how this is going to work.

How can two texture sheets be used for just one model?
Do i have to assign with multi/sub object or something?

I have no idea what i'm meant to do about it. Do i make specific assets and keep them on a specific sheet or what?

Macattackk

Just UV everything and make sure its all the right texel amount in relation to each other and just fit things the best you can on both sheets so that you are using the most space possible.

Z3NZY

Sorry if this is going to sound stupid but does that mean that i should make EVERYTHING have a relative size, or just things for the same element. I know it probably isn't but it doesn't hurt to ask.

It's more an issue of how will i assign the material to the element if the UV is on a different sheet. plus if i make them the whole model the same asset then i'm even more lost.


Also how do i stop things from humming in the view port. It's like as i move the view the different assets do this weird ass X Men shit on the screen, but it renders fine.

Pola

In maya you can assign shaders to individual polygons rather then the whole object, though its not recommended. This also imports fine into UDK providing you with two materials.

Butthair

First off, you may want to symmetry you're model (specifically the body). It'll save some room and give more space for more detail resolution.

Secondly, and I'm no pro character artist, but when there are two texture sheets, usually one is for the body and the other is for the face (and sometimes the hands).

The face is the focal point of a character so have a separate sheet for that is usually what I've seen. Hand too, but this is usually if they will be a focal as well.

Relative size is important because the texels will differ in resolution size and may be noticeable if the parts are near enough (it mainly ruins the aesthetics). Usually everyone is set to the same scale relative to everything, but in many cases the face holds more detail due to it being the focus. (And to match the texel scale from face to body, it usually involves much more subtle transitions to blend the two scales better - this is largely a trial and error process.)

nfrrtycmplx

Assigning multiple materials to character models (or any model) in a game is standard practice. Particularly in the case of characters.

When mapping your objects, think of it as uvwmapping two different objects.

Both maps should be in 0 - 1 space.

In 3dStudio Max, this is achieved by assigning a multi-subobject material to the object, and assigning two material id's to the object.

Most often this is because considerable pixel density needs to be applied to the face/head of a character.

Also, different shader properties need to be applied to the face, than to the body. This is because flesh reacts differently than metal/cloth.

So to start, i'd think of the face/hands and any fleshy bits as a separate object and apply the materials accordingly.

If you were to look at your UVW coordinates for the entire object, these UVWs should be overlapping. This is because you don't want to "tile" your character textures/materials... you could do this, but it would be unnecessary.

I hope this helps to explain, and if you need clarification, just ask.

rorozilla

What Nfrrtycomplx said pretty much sums it up, Map all your elements in two separate maps. Make One with all your body fleshy parts and you can give more pixel space to the things you think would need more details ( the face in particular). the other one with the rest of your character and every other thing that he might have on himself.

Once your done your UVs, you need to brand them as separate IDs, you select the geometry of the first map, go in your edit geometry, and you should find a little section there that tells you which ID belongs to that geometry, by default it would be ID 1.

then you just need to do the same thing with your second map, but this time brand it as ID 2

And all you need to do form there is make your two separate maps and but them both in a Multi-subobject materiel and putting the right maps with the right ID.


I hope this makes sense to you! if you have any questions, feel free to ask!


Oh! And by the way, you can mirror your UVs to save some space, but if you are going to do a Normal Map for you character, i strongly recommend not to, it will give you some problems and if you are not so familiar with normal maps, it will just give you hell. so if you want to save your self some time and sweat, i would simply not us symmetry for now. There are tricks to do it though, its not impossible.

But If your not planning on using a normal map, then go right ahead and us symmetry!

Hope this helps!

Z3NZY

All you help is and will be incredibly helpful. I'm redoing my UVs now and will follow the advice you've all given and report back with the results.

Thanks everyone.