take a look at this model and help me fix texture problem please!

Hi all…

I sorta found out by myself how to texture my model.

It looks good for first attempt, overall i’m pleased except a few minor glitches that I need help correcting.

Here is a quick look on what i have done so far.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/t/nnx6o.jpg

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/t/rmvsr.jpg

I found I got better results when I textured the whole thing in one go instead of by in sections. I found the only hig res side view of a mg81 that I could find on the net, and used it as a background image to model the gun, then I sized the pic as best as I could against the projected image and then selected texture paint from the viewer menu.

2 things that bother me about it, is there is this big seam running vertically down the hand grip, and is this causing the huge glitchy artifact thingy that makes it look almost cut-away unless you view it at 90 degrees? Or is it because I only textured from 1 view only (90 degree side view). Is that why It looks messy around the hand grip and mid barrel? Do I need to texture it from top view as well? I couldn’t find a high res top view of the model I was working with - the only ones I could find on the net were 45 degree angle and they were low quality with the ejection chutes attached.

The other thing that bothers me as at mid barrel, it looks like it’s almost see through. I extruded the end of the barrel inwards to make it hollow, and I can see the endpoint extrusion mid barrel.

I’ve included a link to my blender file.

It would be super if someone could take a look at it and maybe fix the seam in the handle? And show me how to texture this thing properly with what I have.
I have also included the photo used as a template.

I tried for several days with this model, and hours and hours trying to texture this damn thing!

I would really, really appreciate help on this! I tried to fix the seam in the handle, but just made more things go wrong…

I also realized that the roundest part and also widest of the receiver is an error. It’s not supposed to be wider than the rectangular receiver housing… I am trying to make an MG81Z (twin barrel). All they did in RL was remove the hand grip and trigger group from one gun, and then bolt the two together, and link the two sear pins. So when I get this model right, I will just duplicate, delete hand grip and trigger from one, and then move the two barrel and receivers close together. (currently I mistakenly made the round, wide bit mid gun too wide so they won’t fit flush together.)

Again I tried to resize the part s,y, etc… but I only made things worse again.

Seems that i’m not good at reverse engineering my own work!

Thx to anyone with the patience to dl this small file (300kb) and take a look at where I went wrong!

Cheers!

Btw. This gun is going to be used in a game, as a replacement for MG15 in the back of a JU-87.

When using projection painting you usually use three different perspectives to cover all the angles. The reason behind this is, your model is 3D while the image is 2D. Therefore faces that are mapped to the image (UV), that are not perpendicular to the view are distorted. There is a good tutorial over at Blender Cookie explaining the technique by painting a face on Suzanne.
In your case I see three options, based on your skills and the desired level of detail one or the other may be better:

  • Use this technique described by Greg Zaal to hide the seams.
  • Use texture painting to finish of the parts that are not perpendicular
  • Also project from view from the top, bottom, left and right side and export these views and complete image by suppling by hand using a paint program of your choosing.

As you end up in all these cases with different UV maps and corresponding images, I suggest you use them to create a single texture using the projection painting method from above, only on a image that you unwrapped with smart projection.

thanks for the reply hotzst. I watched that tutorial by greg zaal. It has no sound and I have no idea what’s going on there. Not a very good tut.

Are you saying I should project different views of the model and then texture paint? If that’s the case maybe I can use parts from different images to create the gun.

What I was really looking for is a way to fix the seam in the handgrip. If you look at the outside, the seam is invisible, and is inside the handle, but when texturing, it shows the handle as if it was opened up. I don’t think seam hiding will fix that.

I checked it and sound is fine, so the problem most likely is at your end (browser, plugin, multimedia codec, …).

The basic of the tutorial is that you paint a mask of where your seam is and then use the mask to control another texture which you map over the seam, as you only want the texture over the seam.