[texturing] What is happening here! /o\

Nekomata · Jun 2011

Okay.. I have recently found out that I suck, suuuuuuck at texturing.. I just have no idea what I am doing.. I mean I can throw a few pre-made textures or photo textures onto something but that just looks terrible..

I know in the past I have asked you people to do work for me but I have honestly tried and tried and I have NO idea what I am doing. Help? Please?

I know in some game companies there are texture artists but I know I need at least SOME texturing skill and that is what I am after. I have read a few tutorials but I just cannot seem to grasp the concept of textures and materials.

Sooo.. TL:DR, Tell me what to do to get better at texturing and I will do it..

Right now my projects are on hold because.. well I cannot go further than modelling and unwrapping them.

Will Faucher · Jun 2011

Keep practicing. Read the wiki. Think about things logically. Are you using a tablet? Add wear/ signs of use where necessary. Don't go overboard with grime and rust and mud.
Could we see some pictures of what you're doing? It would help alot if we knew what exactly you were doing wrong.

Striff · Jun 2011

Start at the base of the texture.

Lets say your working on a dumpster. Get a base metal texture down first. Then build up layers of dirt and grime where there would logically be some.

Go out into the world and take note of what these textures look like. Take photos for reference.

Ace-Angel · Jun 2011

Mind showing us an image of what you're trying to achieve and what you mean? We can guide you better if you have some example, also, have you started a Pimp and Preview thread with your stuff? That can help.

Bart · Jun 2011

Ye I have had the same problem some time ago. I was frustrated by it. But I kept on going and practicing. I still got alot to learn tho. You're not practicing becouse you have the fear of doing it wrong and you tell yourself that you suck. Thats not true. You need to forget about those thoughts and keep pushing forward becouse without it you won't get better.

I go out with my camera alot and take pictures of random interesting places and textures. That helps me understand it better.

I am curious what other suggestions people will have

Mark Dygert · Jun 2011

Is your problem that you suck at unwrapping or that you suck at drawing/painting? It's hard to tell you what to fix if we can't see where you suck...

Serp · Jun 2011

Some quick basics:

Make sure the texture you're slapping on is the right size. I.e a little texture in real life but you make it really big on your model will look weird

-Everything has a similar saturation.

-Don't just put on 1 texture. Use at lest 2. I.e if you have a wall. Get two textures and blend them over eachother, this will make the texture a lot richer. (see pic)

And then it's mainly just trial and error, in seeing what looks good.

Eric Chadwick · Jun 2011

here
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryConceptFundamentals

and here
http://wiki.polycount.com/TexturingTutorials

Nekomata · Jun 2011

Thanks to all of you

I will be reading through those tutorials as soon as i am done typing this.

Okay to answer the questions, No I do not have a tablet. Unwrapping I don't think I have a problem with and I will continue to texture what I am working on and post it in the pimping and previews

Thanks again ^-^

Eric Chadwick · Jun 2011

Tablet isn't required, I've seen some artists who do great stuff with the mouse alone. But the truth is, a pen input is much much easier to paint with, since you can use the finer motor control from rotating your wrist and fingers. Using a mouse is a bit like drawing with a potato in your hand.

Nekomata · Jun 2011

haha xD well, I am planning on getting a tablet at SOME point.. just tight on cash at the moment..

anywho! Redirect to my PnP thread: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1379255#post1379255

Mark Dygert · Jun 2011

Like Eric said, using a mouse is like painting with a potato in your hand and at that point a jump to just about anything that resembles a classic drawing implement is a step up. You don't need to go top of the line tablet, I kick myself for going super expensive then buying a cheaper tablet for my daughter and finding out there really isn't that much of a difference.

Ace-Angel · Jun 2011

[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cdN6FFMun8[/ame]

Nekomata · Jul 2011

Wow.. that is quite impressive and does show that it is possible to do it with a mouse.. but I think I will take the easy way and just buy a tablet when I get the money for it ^-^

DrunkShaman · Jul 2011

Nekomata wrote: »

Okay.. I have recently found out that I suck, suuuuuuck at texturing.. I just have no idea what I am doing.. I mean I can throw a few pre-made textures or photo textures onto something but that just looks terrible..

I know in the past I have asked you people to do work for me but I have honestly tried and tried and I have NO idea what I am doing. Help? Please?

I know in some game companies there are texture artists but I know I need at least SOME texturing skill and that is what I am after. I have read a few tutorials but I just cannot seem to grasp the concept of textures and materials.

Sooo.. TL:DR, Tell me what to do to get better at texturing and I will do it..

Right now my projects are on hold because.. well I cannot go further than modelling and unwrapping them.

There is a common saying here on PC and everyone will agree to it. "USE THE REFERENCE." <.<

That applies to the texture as well.

For example: If you are creating a rock, and you have unwrapped it. Use the real life rock and see how you are implementing texture. =\

Creating a rock is very basic so I suggest you should practice that until you finally understand how to work things out.

EDIT: I have a related question so I wont bother creating another thread about texturing since there are many.

How do you know if your UV co-ordinates are inverted? For example if you are creating pants and you have belt stripes (the place where you put the belt <.< sorry I forgot what you call it) you are applying planer maps to the front four, and planer map to the back four. How can you tell that UV co-ords for the back four are NOT inverted? Using Maya here. I'd appreciate a good intel, if not, no harm done. Thanks in advance.

Nitewalkr.

Eric Chadwick · Jul 2011

Nitewalkr wrote: »

How do you know if your UV co-ordinates are inverted? For example if you are creating pants and you have belt stripes (the place where you put the belt <.< sorry I forgot what you call it) you are applying planer maps to the front four, and planer map to the back four. How can you tell that UV co-ords for the back four are NOT inverted? Using Maya here. I'd appreciate a good intel, if not, no harm done. Thanks in advance.

I made a UV grid/checker texture that helps with this. It has text that makes the mirroring more obvious. The color gradient makes tiling obvious. The checkers and circles make distortion obvious. Circles are especially helpful for seeing distortion, since the human brain seems to be adept at judging the proportions of circles. There is also a fine 1-pixel checker pattern, helpful with judging UV stretch.

Uncompressed:
http://ericchadwick.com/examples/images/testgrid_circles.tif

Preview:

More checker maps:
http://images.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=uv+checker

throttlekitty · Jul 2011

Thanks for that one Eric, I had sniped it from these forums long ago but never made a note of who made it.

NinthJake · Jul 2011

Another great texturing tutorial by Racer455.
http://www.nextgenhardsurface.com/index.php?pageid=racer445

Mark Dygert · Jul 2011

In max, in the UV editor window, under select, choose "select inverted faces". Also if you go to relax something and it flips inside out, it was inverted.

Also depending on what type of metal it is, up to 75% of a great metal texture can come from the spec map. But really depends on the surface, if its painted or treated, what kind of paint, and how long its been around.

[texturing] What is happening here! /o\

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