Asset Model, UV Map Refresh and Texture: Maya

My my final productive study, I decided to UV map and texture my 'Bin' model from my previous rendered examples. It has been a while since I applied my own UV maps and textures to a model, as more recent projects, texture was not applied. I also found various methods of applying texture through presets on the Hypershade tool. I think it is important to refresh my knowledge, as when I come to make my own 3D environment I will need to add my own Photoshop work, such as texture and colour application. Advertisements and vendors will be areas specific for graphic design, so I need to refresh my understanding. Although I will be transferring this to UDK later  in my next project, It is still good for me to set an example of what I will plan to do.

 

Firstly I highlighted my Bin model and selected the 'Create UVs' tab in the toolbar. I then chose 'Planar' mapping as it would split the model in half, thus making it more efficient to texture. I also applied a Lambert material with a checker pattern, so I could see any potential texture issues. In irregularities in the checker pattern would indicate to a fault.

 

I then took a 'UV Snapshot' of my map and saved it as a 'Tiff' format. This will enable me to bring the map into Photoshop, apply textures/colours and then transfer them back into Maya later.

  

I then opened my Tiff file into Photoshop CS5

 

Using the magic wand tool I selected the map mesh and began applying colour and texture. I decide to choose these colours as I believe it would be nice to have a contrast within my illuminated space. I added scratched effects to areas of the Bin mesh. To develop the texture, I had to desaturate the above image, so when I import it into my bump map software, it can distinguish between white and black, which creates the depth of the texture. I saved my original colour file as Targa, so I could import the colour information to my model after I have textured it.

Here is my desaturated texture map put into a program called 'Crazy bump'. This software reads black and white information with a 'Height' map and produces textures based on the tonal information. I altered some detail intensities to the bump map and then saved it a s NRM (normals) file. This will be a format readable to Maya when I apply my texture.

 

Here is the 'NRM' file of my texture map. You can see how my applied details on Photoshop have transferred with the desaturated method. The darker details (scratches) will add depth to the material of the model.

 

To apply the texture I changed the material settings to 'Tangent Space Normals' this will apply the texture in the correct way. I also decided to change the material to a 'Blinn' as it will make the texture and surface of the bin shinier, which I think is more effective to not only show the illumination technique of the room but also accentuate the realistic aspect of the model itself.

Here is the Blinn texture applied with the 'Tangent Space Normals' tab selected.

I then loaded the Material Attributes tab by right clicking on the model. I then applied a 'Bump map' attribute and selected 'file'. From here I uploaded my NRM file generated from Crazy Bump and applied it to my design. The above image shows the texture applied and I am quite pleased with the result. The efficiency of the Planar mapping worked out well and didn't cause any texture issues when they were applied.

Here is the textured model in my illuminated space. I really like the effect of the material and texture with this lighting effect. It generates a good amount of reflected and bounced light, thus giving the scene more visual depth and realism.

 

To apply the colour to my model. I did a similar process to adding texture, however this time through Material Attributes, I selected the 'Colour' tab and chose to upload my Targa file. This overlaid my original Photoshop design before it was desaturated. It looks good and works well!

Here is the colour and texture combined in my scene. Although i like the contrast between both the model and the environment, I think the Blinn material reflected the colours with too much bright intensity. I believe adjusting the reflectiveness of the Blinn material could change this. However, I am still pleased with the end result.

I have really enjoyed my experiments with light in Maya. Although frustrated at not being able to use UDK at this time, I was pleased I could represent my intention in another fashion. Although I understand the process will be different in a new software, I think I can transfer what I have learnt in Maya. Understand how light science works in a 3D program is important as I am able to understand what types of light compliment each other and how they can generate a good illumination.