Chicken tutorial wrap-up

Select Edge Border
Select/Convert/To Vertices
Snap Align Vertices
Mirror Geometry
Smoothing/Partial Smoothing with Exponential Smooth
Hardening/Softening Normals

In anticipation of model triangulation for rendering purposes:

1. Reduce number of faces where possible

2. Explicitly flip edge orientation where the surface flow requires

Mesh/Triangulate
Before Triangulating SAVE A VERSION OF YOUR MODEL for laying out UVs and potential hi-rez work

Construction History

Texture Mapping

1. Surface Properties:

- color;
- transparency;
- bump/displacement;  
- ambient light;  
- incandescence;  
- translucence;  
- diffusion;  
- specularity;

2. Shader (Shader networks)= Material + Textures

Window/Rendering Editors/ Hypershade

3. Textures:

- image-based (unique features and patterns)


- 2d procedural : 2d patterns, varying througout the surface of a model, described by a math algorithm: checker, cloth, ramp, etc


- 3d procedural: 3d patterns, varying througout the 3d space of a model, described by a math algorithm: wood, marble, elevation, etc)

Image-based texture has to include a 2d file which commonly is a square. Pixel size of the square depends on the purposes of the texture. Texturing for games requires high optimization, so textures are smaller in size (16X16 to 512X512, very rarely 1024X1024px) and can have a .jpg compression. Texturing for film or video production depends on the desired level of detail and can range from 256X256 to 1024X1024px and higher. Texturing for film utilizes .tga, .tiff, or any other file format that does not have compression.

4. UV mapping is a process of preparing a surface of a poly object for applying a 2d or image based texture. It consists of following steps:

- dividing the object's surface into smaller areas, that can be flat, cylindrical, or spherical.
- making individual projections for these areas and combining resulting shells into a 0 to 1 texture coordinates space of anobject (sometimes entire model can be mapped with just one projection type)
- avoiding gaps and overlaps in UVs
- minimizing distortion in the texture (sometimes a grid-based reference texture (such as checker) is applying to control the degree of distorion);
- using 0 to 1 texture space efficiently: shells should be as large as possible and placed as close to each other as possible;

5. Types of Projections:

Planar Projection -similar to video projection, texture is distributed as if it is laying on a flat surface.
Cylindrical Projection is appropriate for shapes similar to cylinders.
Spherical Projection is great for round objects.
Automatic Mapping - a combination of 3-12 simulataneous planar projections

6. Helpful metaphors:

- using patterns to cut fabric for sewing clothes;
- making a panoramic photo out of several smaller pictures;
- peeling a skin and unfolding it onto flat surface;

Texturing a Cube:

1. Create a cube.
2. Go into component mode –Uvs.
3. Cannot move them. They belong on the surface of the object. Can only be moved in 2d.
4. Open Windows/UV Texture Editor.
5. Look at UV layout. By default each face is the size of entire UV texture space. This is ok for tileable textures.
6. Open Windows/Rendering Editors/ Hypershade. Create a new material. Assign file “Dice.tiff” to color. Assign material to cube.
7. Check UV editor again.You should see the texture file underneath the UVs.
8. Try planar mapping on individual faces.
9. To select UV shell, select one UV then right click and Select/Select Shell.
10. Hold down "x" on the keyboard to snap UVs to grid, when desired.
11. Try automatic mapping with 6 projection planes.
12. Place individual shells correctly onto a texture map.

Resources/UVmapping/Banana

lay out UVs and create photo-based texture for a banana model in banana.mb

Resources/UVmapping/leon

lay out UVs for creating customized texture file in photoshop for a character model, leon.mb