Hi … I am kindoff new to 3D and I am doing alot of tutorials… I have modelled a basic spaceship and I found out that texturing the thing is not that easy… actually it looks stupid…
So maybe someone can give me some pointers on a texturing strategy… I came up the following (I didn’t try it yet because I’m fed up at the moment…)…
Let’s say that I am looking from the top at the spaceship…would it be a good idea to ‘unfold’ the mesh … so that I have a good view of the sides while then taking this template into a paintprogram and then applying the actuel textures? Will this work ? If yes… how do I texture the bottom ? Maybe I should cut the bottom off and texture it seperately ?
This seems logic to me… does anyone know if this will work ? I don’t wanna waste my time anymore…
It took me a couple of weeks to get my first ship textured, and I am definitely still not an expert. Here, however, are some of the things I found to be helpful:
Learn what the material index is and how to use it. Do a search here on the forums and you’ll find LOTS of entries. This is the thingamadohickie that lets you put up to 16 different materials on different sections of the same mesh. Engines one texture; hull texture 2, turbo-toilet texture 3, etc…
Use those indexes to define your ship into sections, and then it is much simpler to do exactly what you are describing, even without the unfolding.
When it doesn’t look right in the textured view, do a quick test render. That often looks completely different, so don’t trust the texture view.
Things not working? Simplify. Open a different .blend, drop in a cube and experiment with the options on that simple shape before you bang your head back against the tough one.
Thanks for you reply … it is certainly usefull! I will try that …
So many things have to be taken into account while doing 3d … I have read some books on 3d and I know the theory … but the practise is lacking… it seems the only way to learn is is to do it! bugger!
There is an awesome tutorial on just what you need by ‘BgDM’. I’m not sure how to go about finding it, but if you messaged him, I’m sure he would know.
I think there’s a tutorial on the BlenderWars site specifically aimed at texturing a spaceship. Maybe you should check that out also. It’s not exactly indepth but it’s a starting point…