Creating a texture for the finished model. Tips and Tricks for Creating Seamless Textures

The process of producing a product using 3D computer graphics technology consists of several stages. One of the most important and mandatory stages is the stage of creating three-dimensional models, which in the future will be part of the story being told. Moreover, it does not matter at all what exactly the 3D models are created for or in what industry they will be used. After all, the main task of three-dimensional models is to create a sense of reality, to make the viewer believe in what he sees on the screen and to be completely at the mercy of the story being told. Ultimately, 3D graphics are just one way to convey to the viewer the story created by the screenwriter.

But underneath the short phrase “create 3D models” lies a much more complex production process. A very important component in the stage of creating 3D models is the creation of materials and textures for 3D models.

Promotional poster for the short film "Architype" by Aron Sims, in which the main role is "played" by a character created entirely using 3D computer graphics.
Copyright © 2012 Aaron Sims

general information

Before a three-dimensional model appears on a cinema screen, TV or monitor, it must be created. As a rule, the term “create a model” means alternately going through the following stages of production:

1. Creating an image of a future model.
2. Creating the geometric shape of a 3D model.
3. Creating a set of textures for the model and setting up materials.
4. Setting up the skeleton and rigging of a 3D model.
5. Model animation.

The last two stages of production are only present if the 3D model is a character. If it is simply a detail of the environment, that is, the world in which events unfold, then to create such a model, as a rule, only the first three steps are sufficient.

Creating a model image performs concept artist(concept artist) based on the verbal description of the director or screenwriter. The resulting sketches are transferred modeler(modeling artist) so that he creates the three-dimensional geometric shape of the model. This completes the first two steps in the 3D model production process, but is not yet sufficient for the model to be used in the final project.

The fact is that after the modeling stage, the model only has the correct geometric shape, i.e. a dog is a dog, a car is a car, but the model completely lacks materials that give it its unique characteristics, and also make the model realistic. It is after the creation and assignment of materials that the three-dimensional model of the dog has a black coat color, and the car is painted red and has a brown leather interior. Without materials, a 3D model looks gray and featureless, but it is the materials that breathe life into 3D models.

An example of a 3D model of a mechanical soldier of the future. The left side is the clean 3D model, the right side is the finished model with assigned materials.
Copyright 2011 © Mike Jensen
Source: http://eat3d.com/zbrush_hardsurface

Creating and customizing materials

What are the “materials” that 3D models need so much? This term refers to a description of a set of surface properties. That is, the material stores within itself a description of what properties (parameters) the surface has. These are properties such as: surface color, glossiness or dullness, presence or absence of relief, reflection, transparency, glow, etc.

There are a huge number of materials and each of them has its own unique sets of properties (parameters). For each three-dimensional model, its own materials are created. For example, a model of a glass wine glass requires only one material with the properties of color, transparency and reflection. And for a three-dimensional model of a person, you need several materials. One for the skin with the properties of color, glossiness and relief, another for the hair, with the properties of color, glossiness, relief and transparency, and a third for the eyes, with the properties of color, reflection and transparency.

Materials create texture artists(texture artist), and can also be created by modelers or render customization specialists (lighting/shading artist). In large companies, the process of creating the geometric shape of a 3D model and creating materials for it can be performed by different specialists. In small companies, all work on the full production cycle of a model is most often performed by a modeler.

An example of the appearance of the different materials that are used to assign to 3D models.
Source: http://www.vray-materials.de

But materials are usually created and configured in the same programs in which the geometric shape of the three-dimensional model is created. These are packages such as: Maya, Softimage, 3dsMax, LightWave 3D, Cinema 4D, Blender, Houdini, Modo and many others. As a rule, all these programs provide a convenient interface for working with materials. And the work process itself comes down to the fact that the artist needs to select the correct value of one or another parameter in a particular material so that it more accurately matches the desired surface.

The artist can change the material parameter values ​​in several ways. The first way is this is the color. For example, a red cloak looks red due to the fact that the color parameter in the material that is assigned to the geometry of the cloak is set to red. The second way to change or set a material parameter is this is a digital value. For example, the transparency property of a material can be specified by a number in the range from 0 to 100, where 0 means that the model is completely transparent, and 100 means that the model is not transparent. At the same time, a value of 68 will make the model partially transparent. And the third way - this is the use of textures. For example, by simply assigning a terrain texture to 3D terrain geometry, we can immediately make our 3D model look like a landscape. It is the third method of setting up the material that is most often used when creating complex types of materials.

An example of setting up materials in Autodesk Maya software.
Source: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94077

Using textures

Textures in all packages dealing with 3D graphics are divided into two types:

• raster textures;
• procedural textures.

Raster textures are ordinary raster images that can be obtained in any way: photos, video techniques, scanning images, self-creation in raster graphics editors such as Adobe Photoshop, Gimp, etc.

Procedural textures are textures whose design is obtained thanks to a certain algorithm (mathematical formula). As a rule, such textures are not very detailed, but are very convenient when producing complex materials, where they are used to mix raster textures with each other.

More often than not, texture artists use raster images to create materials for 3D models. And here it is very important to remember one feature of the raster. It lies in the fact that the quality of a raster file is limited by its size. The greater the width and height of the picture (image), the higher the likelihood that the material will be displayed in quality at any degree of camera approach to the surface of the model. Therefore, modern models usually use textures of at least 2k (2048 pixels), and ideally at least 4k (4096 pixels) and even larger.

When using textures as an integral part of the model material, it is mandatory to create a texture scan of the three-dimensional model. If for materials that are created without using textures, and even in some cases when using procedural textures, creating a texture scan is not a mandatory requirement, then for raster textures it is a necessary requirement. Therefore, before textures are created for a 3D model, it must have its texture coordinates scanned.

Unfolding texture coordinates

There are a huge number of tools for creating 3D models, and each modeling package has its own tools for this task. There are spline-based modeling, modeling using NURBS curves, polygonal modeling, modeling with Sub-D surfaces, but usually at the very end, the model is converted into a polygonal mesh. And one of the reasons for this conversion lies in the fact that for a polygonal frame it is not so difficult to create a scan of texture coordinates.

Under the term scan(unwrap) - implies the process of creating for each polygon a three-dimensional model of its display (projection) on the coordinate plane. The models that are created are geometric shapes located in three-dimensional space, and the textures are flat images. Unwrapping allows you to solve the problem of how to apply a flat (two-dimensional) image to three-dimensional geometry.

To create developments, you can use both programs that model objects and specialized programs that exclusively create developments. Examples of programs of the second type are programs: headus UVLayout, Ultimate Unwrap 3D, UVMapper, Unfold 3D.

There are several requirements for unwrapping texture coordinates:

1. The size of the polygons on the texture coordinate grid should match or be close to the size of the polygons on the 3D geometry. Otherwise, the texture on the surface of the model may be distorted (compressed or stretched).
2. You need to try to use the space of the texture square (the place where the texture coordinate scan is located) as efficiently as possible, otherwise this will lead to a deterioration in the quality of the texture display.
3. In most cases, layering (overlapping) one texture coordinate with another is prohibited. The only exceptions are symmetrical and sometimes identical parts of the model.
4. You should try to make as few seams (places of separation of texture coordinates) on visible parts of the model as possible.

Once the model is unwrapped, the texture artist can move on to creating a set of textures.

Example of unwrapping texture coordinates (right) for a 3D model of a pistol (left).
Source: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80947

Creating textures for a 3D model

There are currently two main ways to create textures for a material that will be assigned to a 3D model in the future.

The first method is to create textures in raster graphics editors (Adobe Photoshop, Gimp, Painter, etc.) from scratch or using ready-made raster images (photos, drawings, etc.).

The second method is to create textures in specialized programs for drawing textures directly on the surface of a three-dimensional model.

Both methods are now actively used. Both one and the other have their supporters and opponents. In both one and the second way, you can obtain high-quality textures for models.

Before the advent of specialized programs, textures were drawn only in raster graphics editors using a texture layout template. This process is still used for various models. The only drawback of this method is that if there is a seam on the model (a place where the texture coordinates are separated), the artist needs to work it out perfectly so that it is not noticeable on the surface of the 3D model. Although if the seams are made correctly, you may not even notice them.

An example of a 3D drone model (left) and a set of textures (right) created in Adobe Photoshop.

Applying different textures to elements can greatly enhance your design. Textures can be used to create print designs or for various web projects, and in any case you need to know how to handle them correctly in Photoshop. After all, the ability to create different textures can also be very useful for building modeling. Therefore, today we will present to your attention a selection of lessons in which you will find various techniques for working with textures.

5 Ways to Use Textures in Design

Adding a rust texture

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to add a rust texture to various objects using additional adjustment layers, color adjustments, and simple filters. This technique can be applied to more complex illustrations and collages.

Create a realistic paper texture in 5 minutes

Cookie Effect in Photoshop

Creating a website layout using different textures

Creating such a template will take you less than an hour. In the lesson you can find some practical tips.

Adding texture to the image

This technique is not suitable for all illustrations - the superimposed texture will look better with some, and worse with others. It is very important not to overdo it with such textures in your images.

Stone texture in Photoshop

This tutorial will show you a quick and easy way to create a realistic rock texture using the Liquify filter. This lesson was created for users who already have an understanding of working in Photoshop.

3 Easy Steps to Adding Textures

Using textures in design is quite an important thing. This tutorial will help you do this very quickly and easily.

Creating grunge textures in Photoshop

This tutorial shows you a quick and easy way to create a grunge textured background in Photoshop.

Using different textures to create compositions in Photoshop CS5

Certainly. you can take a photo and use it for texture. But this is not the only option. You can create the wood texture yourself, following the steps of this lesson.

Create a grunge design using Photoshop

Lesson on creating lighting effects

Wood texture tutorial

An easy way to create realistic wood texture.

Create a concrete effect using different layer styles

It's amazing what you can do by playing with different styles.

Scaly skin

The thing to thank Photoshop for is that it can make things a lot easier. Imagine how long it would take to create an illustration of a dragon, dinosaur, or other reptile that has scaly skin.

Adding Textures to Skin

Tip: How to turn wood texture into an amazing background

Dynamic watercolor typography

This tutorial will show you how to mix some vector elements and watercolor effects into your design. A very quick effect that mainly depends on the correct choice of image and color.

Maya 3D Paint is certainly a good tool, but it is often not enough. Sometimes we need more complex editing tools to paint textures, and Photoshop or other image editors can help us with this. Let me show you how to paint Maua textures for example in Photoshop. We'll select our character and go to the UV Texture Editor. I choose UV Texture. And now we see my development for this character.

I can export it as an image by going to Polygons/UV Snapshot. And then I have to fill out this form. The file name is already there. So I'm going to my Source Image folder and I'm going to name the file Mapping. We gave such a name of a general nature. Now I'll choose a size, I want about 1000, so I'll leave it at 1024 by 1024 and keep the aspect ratio.

Then I can select the UV color. And then, specify the image format. We have all standard image formats. I'll use JPEG because it's easiest. Now we can click OK and my map will be exported to a folder. Let's go to Photoshop and open it up. I'll go to File/Open and find the Mapping file here. I open it. So here's our unwrapping and we can use it as a basis for drawing a new texture.

I can just create a new layer and start painting. So, let's say I want the character to be blue, for example we can choose this sky blue color. And I can just draw all the parts of the character that will be colored with this color. I can use a brush, or I can use a more global tool and just select the fill.

Very often you will need to draw from a reference, and it is much more convenient to constantly see it at the same time. The easiest way to do this is to invert the image and multiply it. Let me show you what I mean. I select the Background layer where my map is located, choose Image/Adjust/Invert. Then I'll select my level and click Multiply. This will show the wireframe on top of my color and will make it much easier for me to paint.

If I want to paint the legs blue, I can do that with a wash, and maybe we want the arms and hands to be the same color. I also have the inside of my mouth. Maybe I want it to be red, maybe dark red, something like this. This way we can draw on the map or use various tools. If I want, I can add noise or something to it to give it a little more texture.

And these are things you can't do in Maya 3D Paint. You can't make a material by adding textures or placing images. If I want to put an image on my card, I have to insert it here. So, let's say we wanted to make pants for the character. And we can, of course, use our sweep for this. Let's just make a rectangular selection. Here are the holes for the hands. Let's highlight the area a little lower and choose a dark gray or even a dark blue color. Or perhaps this grayish-blue one.

Like this. This will be his pants and then we can do the fill. And if we want, we can do the same for the legs and feet. If we want to make him black shoes, we can do that. Here are the character's shoes. Let's make the soles black. Next, let's make the upper part of the shoe a lighter gray color like this.

And we're just in the business of adding color. But if I want, I can add texture. I can draw whatever I want. Let's say I can draw something like a diamond in the center of a character's chest. Perhaps it will be a logo or something like that. See, I can do so many different things in Photoshop, it's a very good way to paint textures.

When I'm done, I have to save the resulting image and it will become a texture. I turn off Background because I don't want to show the scan and just flatten the image. Now let's save it. File/ Save as, let's just call our file Texture. And save it as a JPEG, done. Now let's return to Maua.

I have this texture on my character. If I select it, go into the Attribute Editor and select the Body material in Color, we can see that I have a charactershape_color.iff file. If I open it up, we can see what we drew last time in 3D Paint. I'm not going to use 3D texture anymore

I'm going to use this texture that I created in Photoshop. I'm going to go over here to the Source Images folder and then I'm just going to select the Texture file and we have what we created. Let's open it. It was applied to the model. Now my character has the texture I created. If we want, we can also look at it in the UV editor. And if I click on our character, we see that everything corresponds to him.

This is a great way to transfer textures between the image editor and Maua. You can use it to create some interesting textures for your own character.

When texturing various objects, it is very important to be able to create seamless textures. Our tips and tricks will help you avoid major mistakes and better understand the subject.

When texturing roads, walls or roofs, for example for video games, it is especially important to be able to create a tiled or seamless texture over the entire length of the geometry, since creating a texture for, for example, an entire brick wall can be quite a labor-intensive process. The peculiarity of this approach lies in the need to deceive the viewer, not giving him the opportunity to distinguish the beginning from the end of the texture.

What is a seamless or tiled texture?

A seamless or tiled texture is usually a photograph of an object, such as a brick wall, that can be repeated as many times as necessary without visible seams or breaks, with each corner of the image matching perfectly with every other.

If you have already photographed a brick wall and are trying to shade it onto the geometry, then nothing will work, since the left side of the texture will not coincide with the right. A correct tile texture is characterized by its opposite parts matching perfectly. To achieve this effect, you need to do a number of manipulations in Photoshop.

How to take a photo correctly

There are many websites with tile textures. In general, this is not bad, most of these textures will be ideal for your project, but in some cases you have to create textures manually by photographing surrounding objects. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, some ideal textures are not available for free download, they can only be purchased, which will significantly affect your budget.

Secondly, usually we, having a perfect idea of ​​what we need, unsuccessfully scour the entire Internet in search of a suitable texture. In the case of a brick wall, it is much easier to walk up to the wall you like and take a photo of it.

If you do decide to photograph the desired texture, you need to remember a few important points.

First, you need to stand parallel to an object that cannot be viewed at an angle. It is necessary to photograph this object as directly as possible.

In the future, an object shot at an angle can cause quite strange distortions in the texture, which will be impossible to shade correctly.

An example of an incorrect perspective can be seen in the image below; due to the seemingly small perspective, the lower bricks look smaller than the upper ones. It will be quite difficult to make such a photo tiled.

When photographing textures, you must also take care of the correct lighting of the object. All kinds of glare should be avoided. When shooting outdoors, it is better to choose well-lit places without shooting into the sun.

Creation seamless textures

So, the photo is ready. It's time to open it in Photoshop and crop it into a square. For example, 1024x1024 or 2048x2048.

After this, using the Selection tool or the Layer Via Copy command, you need to select the right or left part of the image and drag a new copy to the opposite part of the image.

In this case, a rough seam will immediately catch your eye, which must be fixed in any convenient way, for example, select the Eraser tool, reduce its Hardness and Opacity, and run it along the seam, which will make it less noticeable.

The same process must be repeated for the top and bottom parts of the image. When trying to blend the resulting texture, minor seams still appear. This can be easily fixed using the Clone Stamp tool or any other similar tool. The process may vary depending on the photo, but only slightly.

Removing seams using a toolPatch

You can also say goodbye to seams using the Patch tool, in which you must first select the desired area of ​​​​the geometry and then copy it to another, for example, to an area with a seam. In this case, Photoshop will ideally erase any boundaries between these areas of the image.

This approach is best used for abstract photos such as asphalt or grass.

Everything ingenious is simple!

The main goal of this article is to show some texturing techniques and rules that will take your textures to the next level of quality. All the tips that you will read in this article are not the only method for solving problems, but judging from my many years of experience in creating textures, I can say that these methods work the best (quickly and efficiently).

1. Expressiveness of the material - what is it?

Concept expressiveness of the material I will use it very often.

Demonstration of the NOT(!) expressiveness of the material.

But in the end, it doesn't really matter whether the texture itself looks good or bad, as long as it looks great on the finished model.

However, a great way to check the quality of the texture is to look at the layout and see if you can recognize which material is where (metal, stone, rubber, etc.) or determine which part of the model is deployed there.

But if you are working on modern materials or materials of a new generation (NextGen materials), then this is not always possible. However, if you can still recognize the material, then there is a great chance that the material will look great on the model. But if the material cannot be recognized, then there is a good chance that you will be looking at a bunch of random colors and pixels, but in fact it should be metal.

(Using photos as textures can easily fix this, but more on that below.)

Besides good diffuse map (diffuse map) quality is also of great importance reflection maps (specular map). There are many tools that will create a reflection map for you, but they don't give you the control you need. Especially when you are working on different materials placed on the same texture, or with bright text.

This leaves Photoshop as the only great tool for creating reflection maps. Using it you can make a mask that will exclude areas where the reflection map is not needed. And if you have white text on your texture, then using a mask you can dim the brightness of this text on the reflection map.

Above is a picture that shows how you can create a reflection map for a simple texture with two materials: concrete and metal. Each material has its own level correction (Levels 1 and 2) with a mask. You can also use Brightness/Contrast instead of adjusting levels, but using levels gives you more control over the picture. And on top of the adjustment layers (Levels 1 and 2) lies Hue/Saturation so that the reflection map becomes black and white.

2. Base material

When creating a texture, it is good practice to start working with a base material. If you are creating a metal material, then first create a uniform (preferably repeating - tiled) texture, completely filled with metal. If the metal is needed damaged, then the damage can be painted on top of the base material.

Be sure to keep the base textures. This way, if you need to create a metal material again, you take the base material and create a new one based on it.

This is very convenient if you are working on a number of typical objects or buildings. So, starting with a base material for each type of material in your texture can create good material expression. Once each part has its own material, you can start adding details.

3. All the beauty is in the details that are invisible at first glance.

High-quality texture on a low-poly model.

This is what a lot of people miss when creating textures - small parts. They are not visible at a quick glance, but greatly increase the interest and liveliness of the texture.

Depending on the style and theme, you can use both minimalism in details and textures that are extremely rich in details.

Your job is to give the viewer an object that looks awesome. Subtle details are perfect for this task, and these details can be anything. Stickers, leftover paint, rivets, bolts, some scribbles with a black marker, dirt, grease stains, whatever.

But the main point is to make it all discreet/inconspicuous. If you overdo it, the effect will be the opposite and the picture will deteriorate.

The object in the picture below is a very good example of creating parts in the right quantity. As you may have noticed, the diffuse color is immediately loaded with details and most of them are invisible at first glance. The object contains pieces of film, stains, stickers with text, scratches, rivets, labels, etc. It is these details that give the twenty-two triangles of the model a realistic look.

4. Make your textures clearer.

Be careful. Some love clear (sharp) And sharp(crisp) textures, while others leave them a little blurry.

Personally, I prefer sharp textures, so I always apply a sharpness filter (Unsharp mask in Photoshop) to the entire texture as a final step.

Essentially, I just make a copy of my entire texture and make that copy the topmost layer. Then I apply the Unsharp mask filter to this layer (despite its controversial name, this filter will make your texture sharper).

I prefer to use a filter instead of Sharpen Unsharp mask- with it you will 100% not spoil the texture. In addition, the Unsharp mask gives additional control over the final image.

There is a great temptation to make a very clear texture, but this can lead to all sorts of artifacts in the picture.

The first picture (normal) is the original texture. This is how it looks in Photoshop without any adjustments.

The second picture is the original with the Unsharp mask filter applied at 70%. The paint details and scratches came out very well.

True, now the highlight on the horizontal edge has become very expressive, but it can be dimmed a little. (You need to do this on the original texture and re-apply the Unsharp mask filter. In this case, you will have a completely clear texture in the output and save your .psd file in perfect order).

The last picture clearly shows artifacts that you definitely don't need. Here the white color clearly dominates, as well as bright orange pixels on the sides of the paint, etc. This should be carefully avoided.

5. Be careful when using photographs.

Carefully avoid using photographs when creating your textures. Read about the reason for this in one excellent article. It is very rare that you have the opportunity to use part of a photo directly in a texture without adding/removing details or adjusting the photo to UV.

I'm not saying it's impossible. Some texturizers are very good at this. But for the most part, using photographs for textures is the prerogative of beginners. But it would be better for them to look at other techniques for creating basic textures.

6. Use Photo overlays.

Even with tip #5, using photos isn't always a bad thing.

Photos are a great way to add small details. Those. details such as small pores, which dilute a simple uniform fill and make the model less cartoonish.

The best way to demonstrate what we're talking about now is to show the texture with and without photo overlay.

The best way to get a good effect is to go through all mixing modes (blending modes) in Photoshop and choose the most suitable one for the pair: base material + photo.

Modes usually work well Overlay And Vivid Light. The result of other blending modes depends greatly on the image, but very often you end up with a burnt-out image. But one must always keep in mind the fact that the photo overlay should be barely visible.

These small details should be completely discreet.

Another thing to always keep in mind is scale of details.

If you need to add a small blemish in the paint, like in the second picture of the doors, then you should choose the scale of the details to be the same as the scale of your subject. If the scales do not match, then the viewer will immediately notice the catch, since these paint defects will be inappropriate.

For the best overlay effect, I advise you to spend a little time on the option Blend if(Mix if) for each layer.

This option is extremely useful if you have very light or dark areas in the picture that spoil the beauty. With Blend if you can smooth them out significantly. And if hold Alt and drag the slider, then it will split and you will get a smooth transition between what is mixed and what will not be mixed.

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