3-D Art - Constructing, Mapping and Texturing a Pot (Test)

I wanted to run through a quick process of how I will construct, map and texture the assets that will set the scene. By doing this, I could get to grips with the process, meaning that I can spend less time on trying to go through the process if I already know it.  

I decided that I would construct a small pot, which if constructed properly, it can go into the scene. It was only something quick which didn't take a lot of effort to construct. I created a cylinder which I slowly expanded over time by pulling the edges out. Then it was ready to map.

The pot created in Maya and mapped.

Mapping is one thing that I really did struggle with over the course over last year. So this was my chance to learn the process properly, as I was going to construct many assets, the use of mapping is going to be extremely important. This is a great opportunity for me to try and hone the process, by constantly repeating it until the U.V's look clean. 

Here I simple cut the edges of the pot and used a cylinder unwrap on the main body. This gave me a great U.V map, after adjusting the other maps. The reason for good U.V's is so that when it is ready to textures, they apply the material to where you set them, and at that size. Bad U.V's means we could end up with a strange looking material in the scene.

The U.V's are in Place.

Now that it is mapped, all we have to do is extract the model as an OBJ so that we can use it in Quixel. We can now apply a base material to the model and see if the U.V process has been sucessful.

Constructing Maps in Quixel.

Placing a Texture in Quixel.

I decided that best thing to do was to apply a porcelain texture to the model. The best thing about Quixel is that I can simply select the mesh and because of how the U.V's have been laid out, the texture that it generated has wrapped itself around the model. 

In doing this, Quixel generates four maps which can be plugged into game engines. These maps are the "Albeado", "Gloss", "Specular" and "Normals". These are required in creating realistic looking textures.

In Unreal Engine.

I felt that the best thing for me to do was to take renders of the model with the texture on. This is built into Quixel, which gives me the opportunity to view the texture and sample it. This is great as I can see if the texture suits the model or not and correct if I see fit.

The Normal's created by the smart material.

A Screenshot of the Test.

This took several attempts to get this map looking right, but this was well worth the trouble. Not only have I gone through the process which I would partake throughout the project, but I also have gotten used to the idea of creating "Good" U.V's. This is something that has bothered me in recent times, but I am starting to warm to the idea.