Texturing a Mudbox Mesh Tutorial pt.2

This time around, things were done a little differently. Although the principles of the previous example were still applyed to this character, I've also experimented with actual textures. Considering that the skater model, unlike the luchador, is made up by various meshes (helmet, top, shorts), most of which have a fabric look to them, I simply used actual photos. Same for small elements on the actual skater like pads, gloves and shoes. In my case, I could take actual pictures myself, but goes without saying that you can 'borrow' off the net as much as you need. You'll end up stretching and cutting enough of it to make it yours in the end. (Fig.1&2).

Adding tattoos was another way to cover the areas where the mesh shoulders meets the neck and the chest. Mind you, to make tattoos look good around this areas takes a bit of time exactly like smudging the colours as shown on the luchador tutorial, so it's not a way to cut corners... you've been warned. (Fig. 3,4&5).

Texturing a Mudbox Mesh Tutorial

This past week I've been diving right into the client project. Is going to be a video aimed to sollicit NTU Alumni that graduated in multimedia (Virtual Environments, to be specific) to donate to the Alumni Fund, so that future talents will have a chance to apply for bursaries, graduate and get a job in the industry. The video will include some animations, and the first character I've been working on to be included in the project is a Luchador (mexican wrestler). During the modelling and texturing process, I came up with the idea of saving screenshots of the work in progress, to show what I did and how. It's basically a tutorial on how to create textures in Photoshop that show some 'depth' (shadows and highlights) even before the model is imported in 3Ds Max and placed under a light of some sort. It will hopefully be helpful to people that are looking for an alternative to flat textures and, of course, the principle can be applied to a model created in any other 3D application (Max, Z-Brush, etc.). Enjoy.

I simply picked the standard Mudbox Human mesh, buffed it up a little bit in Mudbox (the basic human male mesh is slim and athletic but not 'beefy' enough to look like an in ring competitor) and proceeded to paint different areas of the body in different colours to represent the various (all skintight) items of clothing. I also used darker colours to trace guidelines of where the shadows will be. This stage doesn't have to be long and laborious. The painting in Mudbox should be just accurate enough to give an idea of 'what's what?' when working in Photoshop. The result is shown below.

While working on the texture in Photoshop, I suggest you to import the model in 3DsMax and apply the texture you painted in Mudbox. This is because every time you make a change on the texture in Photoshop, and as long as you save the texture with the same name, the model in Max will show you the changes in real time. (Fig. 1)

At this point, go nuts... if you can skin a cat in various ways, the same principle can be applied to paint a wrestler. If you are comfortable with the airbrush tool, use that. If you rather use a soft custom brush, go ahead. Personally, for realistic purposes I use one tone per colour, then I use the 'dodge' and 'burn' tools to create the highlights and the shadows. Keeping an eye on the 'range' and 'exposure' controls also allow you to get exactly the desired effect.

Whatever painting method you go for, if the texture is simmetric like in this case, I strongly suggest you to work on only half of it, then later duplicate it and flip it over (working hard is commendable but working smart is better...). Also, pay extra attention to the areas where the texture join in with other areas... this is usually where the 'smudge' tool come in very handy. Keep saving your progress and check the model in 3DsMax until you are fully satisfied. (Fig. 2&3).

The examples shown on Fig. 2&3 kept me busy for a good while. Don't cut corners! It can be frustrating at times, but do yourself a favour, keep 'smudging' away until the various joining areas look uniform and smooth. A simple base colour plus the shadow (achieved, in my case, with the burn tool) is all you need to get basics right. Once satisfied with that, you can start applying the highlights (again, in my case, achieved with the dodge tool, Fig. 4).

The above part is the most laborious but once you get it right, you'll feel pretty good about it. Keep doing the same for the remaining areas (arm, hand, pelvis, legs, etc.) and keep an eye on the hue. You don't want to end up with areas with a darker tone of shadows (or brighter highlights for that matter) than others, unless there's a good reason for it! (Fig. 5).

Once you are totally satisfied with the look of your model and feel that both shadows and hilights couldn't get any better, it's time for the 'one offs'. In this case, I'm talking about asimmetrical details like the wrestler's name on the belt and the mexican flag on his boots. Check those details accurately. I almost made the mistake to have an inverted flag on the right boot that read 'ocixeM'... (Fig. 6).

Now it's the moment of truth... duplicate the Photoshop layer you've been working on, flip it orizontally and match it in the middle with your previous layer. Save it and take a look at your model in 3DsMax... Do you like it? Was it worth it? I hope so. In my case, I got exactly what I was looking for. A model with depth on the texture, even without any light shining on it. (Fig. 7).