Unwrapping Overview– Everything Else :

After I finish the unwrapping the head, I continue to unwrap the entire mesh. I always keep in mind where the seems are going and where they will be least visible to the player. Below shows my finished product. Notice how everything is placed inside the Work area in the UVW Editor.

Now that the mesh is unwrapped, connected properly, and the seems are placed correctly, we can import our mesh into Deep UV and “Relax” our UVW Coordinates. This will stretch them out to their natural position but still keep them restrained within the seems we created. Resulting in a texture with almost no stretching. I love this program, but since my 30-day trial has expired, I can not give you any screenshots. Collapse your stack with the unwrap UVW Modifier and right click and change it from an Edible Poly to an Edible Mesh. Then install the Deep UV Plug-in. Then click the utilities tab > more > right hemisphere. Under the Pulldown click “Map Selected” with your mesh selected and it will open up inside of Deep UV. Once inside of Deep UV, select your UVW Map on the left side and select “Relax” on the right side of the screen. Take a second and watch in aw as the program magically calculates your UV’s size and placement in comparison with every other piece of your mesh. Then click file > export UVW. Then it should transfer your UV’s back into Max and show up as a modifier. Collapse the stack and your ready to texture!

Unwrapping Overview– Conclusion :

Once you are done with all of the steps, apply a checker pattern texture to your mesh and check for stretching. Notice that I placed seems on the inside of the pants, under the arms (since the arms will be at his side most of the time) and in other well hidden places so the player will not notice them. I also have a little stretching by the neck but the rest looks pretty good.

Unwrapping Overview :

-Download and Install Unwrap Tools 1.4 www.chugnut.com -Download and Install Right Hemisphere Deep UV www.righthemisphere.com -Select Faces you wish to unwrap and flatten them out in the editor -Weld pieces together inside the editor -Be careful where you put seems -Once done, import into Deep UV to relax UVW Coordinates -Import back into Max to begin texturing -Visit Ben Mathis’s Web Site for in-depth video tutorials on texturing and unwrapping with Max and Deep UV www.poopinmymouth.com

Texturing Overview - Exporting using Texporter :

Once you have your model Unwrapped and all of the UVW Coordinates are placed inside the work space inside the editor, you can collapse your model stack so it is just an Edible Poly with no additional Modifiers added. Right click and select “collapse all”

Now we have to install a plug-in called Texporter. You can download it here. It will allow us to export our UVW Coordinates into Photoshop so we can begin painting and texturing our character. Once the Plug-in is installed click Utilities > More > Texporter. Then select your image size settings (It is better to set this big, 2048x2048, then re-size it later for file size), Keep it on Map channel 1, Select Polygon fill, edges, edges only, smooth colors, and constant (change color to white) My settings are shown below.

These settings will allow us to render out an image with our UVW Coordinates on it. We will then bring this image into Photoshop and use it as a template to paint our texture for our character. Pretty cool eh? Texporter can be used for many other things like normal mapping, but this is all we will use it for now.

Texturing Overview – Exporting into Photoshop :

Now once our settings are correct, select the “Pick Object” button and a render window will appear with your UVW Coordinates. Once it is done rendering out your image, click the save icon located on the upper left of the render window. Now save your Image in your project folder where you can find it easily.

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Now that we have saved out the rendered Image Template with polygon edges, we must render and save out another Image Template with no polygon edges so we can easily select areas like the pants, face, and hair without the wire frame getting in the way. Do this by rendering another template, this time uncheck edges. Save it in the same folder as your wire frame template. So now we have two templates to work with, one with edges and one without.

We use the template with edges and a guideline for when we paint. We use the one without edges to easily select areas to paint inside of. Now Open Photoshop and create a new document. Set it to the same size that you rendered out your templates. In my case, I used 2048x2048. I also set the resolution to 300 dpi for better detail. Now that our new Photoshop file is created we can import our two rendered templates into the new file and begin painting.

Texturing Overview – Setting up Layers in Photoshop :

Now that we are working inside of Photoshop, it is very important to get use to working and managing your Layers correctly! I labeled my un-edged render layer “selection” and my wire frame render as “wire frame.” Make sure your “wire frame” layer is moved to the top and then change its properties to “Multiply.” Do this by selecting the box that says “normal.” This will allow us to see through the white areas; thus, acting as our painting template.

Now that our two template layers are ready we can create layers to start painting in. It is important to use them correctly. I use one layer for the basic color of the area I am painting, I use another layer for painting details like scars, and I use another layer for adding a slight texture for a more detailed look. First, create a new layer. Place it in between the two template layers so the wire frame is on top (It will always be on top) and the selection layer is on the bottom (the selection layer will always be on the bottom.) I will label this new layer as “Skin.” Then I highlight the “selection layer.” Then, with the “Magic Wand Tool” I select the areas that skin shows through on the character (the head and body areas.) Once those areas are selected, I highlight the new “skin” layer and click the “Add Layer Mask” button. This will make sure that when we paint on this layer, we only will paint inside the areas that where selected when the layer mask was applied.

Concept Design & Modelling Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Unwrapping & Texturing Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Rigging & Importing Page 9 Page 10 Page 11