An intermediate guide to skinning...

[Lentonius]

This tutorial follows on from 'a beginners guide to skinning'

Therefore I assume everything in that tutorial you know

In this tutorial you will see how to fix certain problems caused by uv mapping, and how to create custom patterns and use effects in photoshop to make your skins look even more professional. Also, i will show you alternate UV mapping solutions, and how to create a full shield
By this i mean a shield that does not require symmetry so that patterns such as thishttps://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4442/shield016mn.jpg (https://imageshack.us)can be used.

Tutorial 1
more advanced UV mapping...

Sometimes when a model has been created, there are many different new features on them that take up room. An example is a model which has added belts, scarves, cloaks, plumes, weapons and other decorations attached to this.

Therefore when you look at a UV map you may get a shock when you see something along the lines of this...

https://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8646/intermediate018he.th.jpg (https://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=intermediate018he.jpg)

This can look daunting to most beginners, but it is really quite easy to fix.

The first thing we need to do is find out what part of the model is messed up there...

on your UV co-ordinates box, select 'select face' and using this select ONLY Select one part of the body. Select and drag so that you have one element selected, and click edit on paramaters.


https://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6599/intermediate026ii.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Now we know that the arm is messed up, we shall move it. It is a simple step
Basically just once ALL faces are selected you can move it anywhere in the grid smoothly.


https://img310.imageshack.us/img310/4838/intermediate030tz.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

BUT- NOTICE YOU CAN STILL SEE THE OUTLINE OF THE ARM ON THE BODY!!!

this is because if you look closely i have only selected ONE arm. be careful to select both parts if you are doint a leg or arm or whatnot.


This can be applied to any part of the model that is messed up. Also, i'd like to add that arms and legs dont have to be symmetrical if you look at my 'mistake'.:2thumbsup:

Other UV techniques

fiddling with it:

excuse the title, i found it hard to make any other titles.

This is very useful. You can scale, rotate and move any part of the UV map to fit your needs and space requirements...

https://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2342/intermediate042tw.jpg (https://imageshack.us)


basically, click freeform mode (i find it is better), select what you want and you can rotate, enlarge and or move the shape to your desired place.


MAKING A FULL SHIELD

This is a surprisingly easy task. simply select the shield, click mapping, normal mapping, and then a box will come up. select box mapping and it will look like the end result. You may have to fiddle with the leftovers but it is a crude way of making it work


https://img318.imageshack.us/img318/2585/intermediate059mc.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

By also using the mapping you can make a UV map look something like this...


https://img333.imageshack.us/img333/3166/intermediate061nr.jpg (https://imageshack.us)


Most of the time though, people prefer the UV maps to be similar to those of Vanilla ones...









TECHNIQUES:

I will be using photoshop for this.


Sometimes, we may want a specific pattern or texture to use in our skins. For instance, a shield pattern or a pattern for a cloak.

This is a really good resource for shield designs. I use it for all sorts of shields- http://www.littlebigmenstudios.co.uk/Shield%20Transfers.html (http://www.littlebigmenstudios.co.uk/Shield%20Transfers.htm)

NOTE- respect the fact that the artists may have copyrighted some of their designs and that you should respect that and not copy them...:2thumbsup:

Now. I am making a persian- baktrian trye unit for this tutorial, as if not historical it uses many good techniques.

STEP ONE

load the old texture

https://img305.imageshack.us/img305/5931/intermediate070ar.jpg (https://imageshack.us)


If you have not made one it doesnt matter for this section...

Looking at the Vanilla texture, I would like to texture the arms a distinctly persian texture.

This is a good website for free patterns and textures

http://www.grsites.com/textures


https://img312.imageshack.us/img312/9578/intermediate084sa.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

I have looked for the 'cloth' textures and have found one I like. I click on it and copy it onto a new document in Photoshop.

https://img505.imageshack.us/img505/4497/intermediate091de.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Using the rectanguar marquee, I selected the arm and then you DRAG the box onto the new document. Then, copy the new selection and paste it on the hillman texture.


Now. I want the texture to look more like a rough cloth, so select it again
with the transform button, go onto filter, texture, and texturiser

https://img420.imageshack.us/img420/6572/intermediate110tz.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

perfect. With these effects you can use and play around with yourself.

Find textures you like, and these can be from anywhere, not just those sites.

'MODDELING' WITH PHOTOSHOP

It is quite easy to 'model' a shield shape using photoshop.

For instance, this persian shield has two side holes

https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4436/persian016sb.png (https://imageshack.us)

In photoshop, simply right click the rectangular marquee tool and select elliptical marquee tool. Then, simply move it over the part of the shield you want to delete and delete it!
Then you simply go into the alpha channel and press delete again in the same place!
https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5978/intermediate122lq.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8106/intermediate139kj.jpg (https://imageshack.us)


Thank you. I hope you've learned something new and you can now make professional (and realistic) skins!

[Myrddraal]

Very nice guide. Thx

[Duke John]

The ultimate tutorial to modelling and skinning in 3ds Max:

http://67.15.36.49/ffa/tutorials/max/joanofarc/joanmenu.asp

I must recommend you to take a look at how to use checkerboard textures to make UVW map perfect.

[miak]

Umm I've got a question. If you just skin without using 3dsmax why is it that I always endup have square shields??? Is there any way to stop this without using 3dsmax?

[Lentonius]

Ah, i think this is to do with your alpha channel. In photoshop, under channels, select alpha, and this will show which parts of the texture show up in-game.

[snevets]

One thing I think should be added is that the business about merely selecting the faces and moving them in the uv only works with pre-uv'd models which have been appropriately separated. You might think based on this that if you selected a quarter of a quarter shield alone, detached the uv's and moved it somewhere else on the texture it would work. When exported it would be the same if you had merely moved the uv's without detaching them. To acheive the affect of moving uv's which were not meant to be separated you will have to detach them from the model then rework them. :no:

[Javi_Wan]

Im new at modding unit, and i have been looking for the way for make the uv maps of all objects of the model(shield, weapons, man, shoulder, etc..) in only one but i cannot find it, i have to make it separetly, and moreover i dont know how to pass the map to a bmp o tga file, i ahve make it by "print screening" and remaking the uv map in Paint, and the result has been aceptable. but i think that exists a easier way to make it (the unit cannot use the textures of the base unit, due to it has accesories of other)

Please excuse my english

[Burns]

You have to UV map the items individually. Weapons, body parts, decorations should all be serparate. So UV Map > UV Map Editing. UV mapping is a bit of a pain no matter what. Best thing to do is look at the uv maps of rome models as a sample. Once you have all the uv maps for each item or body part ready youll need to reattach everthing together and then move all the uv maps into the Blue box in 3dmax (this box is visible when you edit uv maps). Place them all where they fit, turn off the grid so you only have the seams and the blue border. Print screen with everything nicely in view. I recommend using Photoshop because there you can just crop the excess area of the screenshot. If this doesnt make any sense, watch Professor's skinning tutorial, its the best visual tool available.

[crazydude]

where can I download photoshop