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Texturing Aircraft

S

Southwest

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unitedkingdom
Hi All,

As seen i am currently re-vamping a few old source files and have got to the stage where i need to start to texture.

I have managed to do some seen below, and would like to know please if anybody is aware of any tutorials availible as i am finding this rather frustrating to get it all to line up properly, should i have started with the nose section?

123ie2.jpg


Many Thanks Again Chaps!
 
Looks great SouthWest!

You are on the way....


There is a simplified way of mapping a fuselage. Apply a planar and map, like what you have done, then save as Editable Mesh, (collapse the stack). Then select Polygon mode, and select polygons for next group to be mapped, select 'UVW Unwrap', and click Edit and move the mesh over the region of the art you wish to use. Resave as Editable Mesh. Continue until done.

You can do this with the entire side of your plane (3 sections), then select the other side polygons 'only', and apply a UVW Unwrap (not the map), and then if your texture is reversed for the other side, then select the mesh in Edit mode and click the green dual arrow 'flip' button' and reverse the mesh, move over the artwork, and Voila, the mesh for the other side is done.


So long as your first Plannar is proper for the entire fuselage, you shouldnt have to redo it each time, only the UVW Unwrap for sections of polygons that go in diff locations on a texture bitmap.


As for doing multi-materials (more then one bitmap), I'll let someone like guru-meister Fr. Bill N4Gix do the instructing on that steep subject... (gets goosebumps thinking about it).



Bill
 
Thats a much easier way to what i was doing, thanks again Bill....

I am just finding it hard to get the UVW Maps all to the same size and scale.....!
 
Last edited:
Southwest said:
Thats a much easier way to what i was doing, thanks again Bill....

Cheerz, Piran, I am just finding it hard to get the UVW Maps all to the same size and scale.....!
Click to expand...

That is a hard thing to do.

If you map the entire thing as one piece, and set the mesh to a Plannar and you dont have to move the mesh around anymore, then you only have to do that one time. From then on, just select Polygons in Polygon mode, add a UVW Unwrap, and move the mesh in the Edit window to the area desired. No 'additional' UVW Maps should be required.. (none).. This is because the mesh is already scaled and mapped.


But, if you have a top and bottom in there also, then you cant do that. But at least with top and bottom, and then right and left, you can do them in groups, so that takes away 2 Mappings from a total of 4.

Just remember in my easy way, that you must collapse the stack each time you redo a section of Polygons with a UVW Unwrap...



Bill
 
Never thought of that thanks Bob, What i did was attach all the fuse parts togeather to produce one fuse texture... Please see image below, all i have to do now is to create a set of blank textures for it.... !!

Many thanks again.

fusetexsx2.jpg
 
Some little hints on working with Plannars (UVW Map Planes);

* Always reset the Scale on a part. (I click it several times just in case, dont ask, I have had it not take a Scale Reset a few times).

* I always click 'Adjust to View' and then I go to the size of the Plannar and punch in the nearest amount in X and Y size, such as 20, 20, or 5, 5. What ever is close. This way, the grid is perfectly square and you will only need to use the 'square' scale tool to align to size.

* You can click 'Fit' which will cause the parameters of the Plannar plane to fit to the part, but you should still then enter the closest size of the X,Y from that point. This just gets it to the closest size first.

When you get proficient at this, you can start doing things like snapping a screenshot of the part at the best angle (doesnt have to be exact left, etc), then pasting it into a layer of your graphics, use magic wand to erase the gray background around the part, save, Alt-Tab back to Gmax, click Material/Reload, click Material Apply to paint the object with the updated graphics, then without touching the angle view, apply your Plannar and adjust the Polygons right to the Plannar mesh in the Mesh Edit window. Voila!

By doing the snapshot right then and applying it to the art, then bouncing back to Gmax and pasting/mapping the graphics right back on it without moving the view angle, you get an elaborate angle 'and' its right on precise, treating the 'view' as a graphics shot.

This enables you to do some painting side by side with model creation and saves valuable time. You can also 'cluster' parts with graphics and later 'attach' them, such as bolts and brake lines to a landing gear leg. This enables huge sub-assemblies to be one massive part, which is possible mainly because they are all mapped to the same graphics sheet. :D (Making a engine assembly, having all graphics to be on one sheet, means you can take all the non-Hierarchy required parts and Attach them all together. Then, moving your engine, or hiding it is just a one part job.

You can still map Plannars to sub parts on a massive Attach part, (such as that engine) by going to Element mode, clicking on the part to be mapped or remapped, then adding a Plannar or UVW Unwrap to it to make your adjustments. Then collapse the stack when done.

So much you can do to streamline the build process and mapping...


Bill
 
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