Need help texturing

[Tristonwilson12]

yes is that a problem

[sumghai]

No, not at all! Less problems for you to deal with.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we won't bother with rearranging UV islands to optimize packing efficiency (you can learn that in your own time), so we'll get on to (very basic) texturing:

1) In the UV/Image editor view, select all the faces (Press A)

2) Go to UV > Save UV Face Layout

3) Save it as commandPodUVTemplate.png in the same folder as your Blender model

4) Now open commandPodUVTemplate.png in your graphics editor, and use the outlines as a guide to paint your command pod as desired

5) Save it as commandPodTexture.png (so that you don't overwrite your template - you don't need the template anymore, but keep it just in case)

6) Back in Blender and with all the model's faces select, go to Image > Open Image and select commandPodTexture.png

7) Click OK

8) In the 3D view, change the Viewport Shading mode to Textured - your command pod should now be textured

Let me know how it goes, since I'm recalling these last steps from memory and I might haven gotten something wrong.

[michaelhester07]

I'm just gonna add some things:

You may wish to make the UV polys for the hatch bigger so you get more texture pixels to play with on those. Particularly the large flat part of the door should have seams on it so you can do the door texture right. The edge can be smaller if you want a matte color on it.

Once you're done with the UV's duplicate the door polygons:

Select the door polygons. Press Shift+ D. Right click so you don't move it

Next

Split the duplicated door out: while it's still selected press P and click "Selection"

Tab out of edit mode, then select the new door polygons. Rename them "Hatch". This will give you some hatch polygons to use in unity. If you make this part through unity you'll have the Hatch object which can serve as both the hatch and the ladder on your capsule. You can follow that huge sticky thread for what to do with the hatch.

[sumghai]

I'm just gonna add some things:

You may wish to make the UV polys for the hatch bigger so you get more texture pixels to play with on those. Particularly the large flat part of the door should have seams on it so you can do the door texture right. The edge can be smaller if you want a matte color on it.

This is definitely something I can vouch for, as I myself have larger UV islands for higher detail objects in my add-ons.

That said, the reason I didn't touch on this here is because reese is extremely new to UV mapping, and I just wanted him to get a rough feel for the overall process before he starts refining his technique.

[Tristonwilson12]

This is definitely something I can vouch for, as I myself have larger UV islands for higher detail objects in my add-ons.

That said, the reason I didn't touch on this here is because reese is extremely new to UV mapping, and I just wanted him to get a rough feel for the overall process before he starts refining his technique.

how does all the other mods look real

[sumghai]

how does all the other mods look real

I don't understand what this means.

[Tristonwilson12]

I don't understand what this means.

like they look like real spacecraft

[sumghai]

like they look like real spacecraft

Right, so this is an art style question.

The simple answer is that getting the "right" look of parts requires iterative revisions and comparisons with other people's work.

I've worked with two different art styles in my mods:

- The SDHI Service Module System uses stockalike textures (a slightly weathered, cartoonish aesthetic with somewhat saturated colors). In my case, I would identify the stock parts that contains elements I want to replicate, convert a copy of the texture to PNG format, and use that as a guide for painting my own textures in Photoshop - I would experimentally figure out how to reproduce the same sort of scruff marks, dings and scratches using paint brush, dodge and burn tools.

- On the other hand, FusTek Station Parts was based on existing work done by Alex "fusty" Sterling, who opted for a cleaner aesthetic of whites and greys with sparse use of bright colors for things like EVA handgrips and warning labels.

Another thing to consider is Ambient Occlusion, which shades parts of the texture itself to simulate shadows. Blender has a function to semi-automatically bake AO maps, which can then in Photoshop be applied over the base colors of the texture in Multiply blend mode to give a more realistic appearance.

At the end of the day, this is something you have to learn yourself, not something any one of use can teach you (even if we tried).