Basic texturing tutorials
polygon
Does anyone know any good basic texturing tutorials out there for newbies? I've searched the wiki a bit but am finding some of the stuff is gone/broken links or just kinda old. A lot of it is also a bit overwhelming and too advanced. I'm using max and would be looking to learn a workflow used commonly in the industry. Hoping these extra programs have free trials. I've been using arrimus' tutorials for learning basic modeling but i'd also like to take a very basic 3d model through all the steps to being a game-ready model.
Edited to add that I'd like to learn something other than only the photoshop way since from what I'm reading most people are moving away from that flow and into other programs that are faster/more tailored.
Edited to add that I'd like to learn something other than only the photoshop way since from what I'm reading most people are moving away from that flow and into other programs that are faster/more tailored.
Replies
Yes you can get substance painter 2 on a free 30 day trail.
After you have done your textures view them in a game engine such as Unreal 4 (free) or Marmoset toolbag 2.
If you going to spend a lot of time doing 3d, i do highly suggest investing in some good tools they will make your work shine, (with the right input of course)
what are you using to model atm?
Of course, tutorials about PBR will help a lot as well, as it seem that's direction that lot of games are going.
EDIT: Found a link with material tutorials by Philip Klevestav, which I always liked, he also have some tutorials about modular sets: http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/materials/materials.html
@McGreed - thanks I'll try to make my searches more specific. I found those philip k tuts (I think on the wiki) and I'll use those, but I also need to find a more holistic description of the entire process. In my old job, I used to render my architectural models in mental ray with arch + design materials, and I would create custom textures all the time, tweaking glossiness, specularity etc... I think the actual material creation won't be too mind-boggling to me (I hope). What I really am confused about is more the proper and most efficient process to take from unwrapping UV's, up to the finished rendered product. Oh and shaders! - that's another mysterious topic to me right now.
I always prefer the 'learning-by-doing' approach, I come up with something I want to make, and then I try to figure out how to actually do it. So the process is not just to make something, but also to find the most efficient way to do it. It does mean the project takes a bit longer, but I find I learn more by doing that. Then again, I got a lousy memory, so I need to work it into my 'muscle memory'.
I'm using 3ds Max, its good program will take a little time to get the hang of using all the tools, just keep making and learning. even if you lean one new thing per project. No your right and nothing is a dumb question, ask all you can people are pleased to help. marmoset is totally for portfolios and testing. You can think about it as a minimised version of an engine. Its a great way to showcase your work. Find a tutorial series and follow it honestly its the best way iv found to accelerate your learning.
Do you have more questions? would be happy to answer if i can
Anyway, as I'm watching it I am having a hell of a time hearing what he's saying. I have a couple Q's about the modeling if anyone has time:
1. I notice he's making a lot of tri's and ngons while doing his low poly. Then when he does his high poly, he doesn't really fix this everywhere, but seems to do it only where there are visible smoothing errors after using turbosmooth. Is that really all we care about when it comes to tri's and ngons? That it looks smooth after applying turbosmooth? Will that mean the game will render it correctly?
2. what's the rationale for modeling a low poly - I notice he's adding some lines/making some triangles or ngons in certain areas but not others. For example adding lines around a hole extending to the surrounding edge. Is it for slight surface tension differences and for smoothing properly?
3. What's the purpose of chamfer before turbosmooth? just a quick way to add edge loops?
4. whats the extra menu/program/plug-in indicated here in black:
Substance looks killer!!
yes i am familiar with arrimus's channel and have watched a couple of his videos, good place to learn.
About question 1 : Yes if it smooths correctly thats what your normal map bake will look like!. Its good to have triangles and ngons on flat surfaces as this is where the curvature is not happening. i terminate all of my loops this way. Try having triangles and ngons on a chamfer and it will look bad.
About question 2 : The low poly is for the game engine, it will be automatically triangulated when you put it in an engine. You dont have to be perfect about having totally all triangles or quads or ngons as it will be all triangles at the end. You can see what is looks like triangulated by applying the triangulate modifier in max if you like. Its also going to have the normal map applied to it, so thats what highpoly to lowpoly workflow is about, taking the smoothness of the high and applying it to the low poly.
what you are probably seeing is him adding support geometry to aid the smoothing, he then removes this in the low poly as its only the silhouette of the low poly model that matters.
About question 3: The chamfer modifier is a quick way to add support edges to your high poly. you then apply a turbosmooth over the top and the edges are nicely smoothed. you can use it on low poly to to add nice chamfers to it. it can be used in lots of ways.
Question 4: Thats textools. you can download it free. its a plugin for max for uv mapping and unwrapping.
comment back if you dont understand or want me to explain more. Honestly getting started is the hardest part.
I always thought that there would be issues in rendering with too many ngons because the triangulation would be unpredictable. So you're saying we can check the triangulation to make sure everything is fine? Any risk the engine would triangulate it differently and cause problems?
You would then use render to texture inside of max to bake your maps. or you can use external programs like xnormal or you can bake inside of substance painter.
Yes you can triangulate the mesh manually for the engine so it doesnt have to. you can use it to check if you like too. Not to sure if the engine would do it differently or not, i really dont know.