Summer Project (Creating a Cyborg) - Texturing a Shotgun Shell

We had to make sure that when we presented the model, we had some evidence of us attempting to texture a model. I wanted to make sure that the thing that I was texturing was a whole model, so Phil could see what it looked like as a full model and texture.

I decided that I was going to texture the shotgun shell that was on my characters shoulder pad. This meant that I managed to get the whole texture at complete to some standard. Texturing a model is something that I have always struggled with. This past year, we haven't really focused on the subject of U.V's so this is something that i'm not looking forward to.

Preparing the Shotgun Shell for Texturing.

I started off by selecting the model that I wanted to texture, the shotgun shell. This model was fairly simple and did not have a lot of parts to it. First I decided that I needed to map it, so I selected the automatic mapping and then went to the U.V texture editor. By automatic mapping the U.V's , this meant that when it came to texturing them, they would be neat and not on top of each other. This can work with small items such as the shell, but if I was to do this with anything else, then I would cut the U.V's myself and scale them accordingly.

The U.V's in the U.V Editor. 

Inside the U.V editor, we get an image or all the U.V's and poly lined up neatly. This is because we selected them to have automatic mapping. The next thing we need to do is select the U.V snapshot so we can texture it in Photoshop and select the right settings accordingly, using the power of two to select the aspect ratio.

The U.V Snapshot.

This is the U.V snapshot that we are left with and when we open up Photoshop. The next task that we were left with, was to add the color and texture that we wanted. I created a new layer on Photoshop, painting the top part of the shell with a gold and the long barrel and end with a dark read. I then obtained a texture, which was rust and applied it over the top of the U.V's. I then made sure that the settings were on multiply, so it faded through the colors and gave it an aging effect.

The Textured Targa Page.

This was the final result that I was left. The next thing that I needed to do was to save the file as Targa. By doing this, it meant that I could apply it as a material and it wouldn't look like a set of U.V's. I went back onto Maya and applied a material to the shell, this was blinn. I then selected the Targa file that contained the U.V's that were textured. Simple as that the model was textured all the way round. If I had the time, I would continue this for the rest of the model. The last thing I wanted to do was get a render of the model, so the texture could be shown off.

A Rendered image of the Shell.

After altering the lighting to suit the render, I set the quality as high and started to do the render. I was actually pretty amazed with the result that I got with this bullet and texture, especially seeming that the idea of texturing a model is something that hasn't really appealed to me. I also like the way that the shell is shiny, seeing the rest of the table in the reflection. Next time I would leave myself a lot more time, meaning that I could texture the rest, but now that I have had a go, it was alot easy than I seem to remember it.

I look forward to starting the new year, especially now that I have got a grip on how to apply the textures and what the U.V's do.