Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
canis lupus

Adding textures?

Recommended Posts

I made a lot of new models for Arma, units and objects but I get stuck at the same place every time...

when I get to the texturing, now I can make the textures I know how to apply them, but when I do they get all stretched out...

I've been looking for a tutorial but can't find any that really shows me what I do wrong, is there like a texturing for dumbies out there or is there a simple solution I can't see to this problem??

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

sorry only found my own thread there...

can I get a link to any discussions about this?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It would be nice if someone wrote new ArmA tutorials, or updated the old OFP ones...

But to get started (in case you didn't get that far), go through menus Surfaces->UVsets->UVEditor. There select Filter->Filter by main texture. That's pretty much all that I know.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

agamoth,

make sure you got a .tga equivalent texture handy,you can place it in the same folder as the .paa's,i always keep tga's seperate,i'll come to that in a moment.

open up the model.p3d,give it a twirl etc,then when you have decided which part you wish to edit,open the uv editor and

1.go to filter and choose by "main texture."

i always ger an error,but choose ok.you will then see your model uv map in yellow.

2.go to filter and choose "browse new texture"

go find the appropriate .tga,and open it,now you will see the texture but no yellow uv map.

3.repeat first step and choose by "main texture" once again.

now you can see the texture and uv map for the model,you can move it around by selecting all,or select a point individually.the uv editor is a very powerful tool,some good points are you can eradicate any unwanted seams on arms and legs,check a uniform reference photo if the seams are at say the back of the arm,then you can select the arm clothing in o2,and alt/tab back to the uv editor and "select faces by  selection in object" and the arm should be highlighted red,you can also "break" the part away on its own,flip it how you want to fit your needs alt/tabbing between uv editor and buldozer you will quckly make great progress.

handy tips:

arrange arm/leg selections so the middle part is the front of the model so the seams at the outer edge in uv editor are the back.

make sure you change the texture name back to .paa in o2 using the great "mass texture renamer"

if you have lots of textures for a model,this is really bad for arma,you really need 1,2 or if you really must 3 maximum and uv editor is a great way to "merge" textures together,the way i find i easier is to...

1.add my child texture to the main in a paint program,then following the steps before,open the child texture in uv editor with  choose by "main texture." this will hold the current uv map you want to change in the editor ready.then go to "browse new texture" this time choosing the new texture you want to assign the child to.

2.arrange the uv model map to how it was before over the part of the texture you want.if you look in buldozer you will see the texture all "funky",but don't worry we can fix that now.

3.go back to o2,and select the part of the model you wish to reassign,you can do this by the "mass name change",or the regular "E" manual selection then "A" "B" (no need to load the texture in o2) and rename it to the new texture.paa

there it is,now make sure it is renamed the .paa version and remove the .tga to a working folder if you haven't already done this.

last bit: sections

the bis soldier model from the official release has 7 sections,try and keep as close as possible and arma will be happy with your addon.things to look for to keep sections nice and low is...

1.EVERY textured polygon must have an RVMAT assignment,if you have lots of sections check that first.o2 might assume some or every texture not assigned is a unique section,even if the polys have the same texture assignment.

EDIT: actually it's not in every case,but each section should either be rvmat assigned or not,sectionally.

2.put the uniform on one texture,gear on another o2 likes this.or even better everything on one texture smile_o.gif

3.sectional count guide: bis soldier

all the proxy triangles count for 1 section

the head should count for 1

the body should count for 1

the gear should count for 1

and each one has an rvmat file which counts for 3 totalling 7.

also try this tool for your normal_nohq and ambient_as textures,it is really cool

http://www.crazybump.com/

crazybump is free,and allows you greater control over your normal maps,and also saves emissive,specular,occlusion,diffuse and displacement textures as well,the displacement texture can be quickly turned into an AS map by turning the red and blue channels to white 255,leaving you to sculpt the amount of ambience shadow

hope this was of help

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

thanks.. that helped alot, still can't get it but at least I get the point now and can get the learning progress started...

one question though how can I get the helmet to be viewed from the side?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

quick helmet tut,my way...

split it into 6 sections

top

bottom

lside

rside

front

back

redefine them

"roughtly" place the texture coordinates on the model the conventional A-B way by manually rotating in o2 selecting each part you defined

hit uv

follow above uv examples i wrote

voila

rearrange the parts so they join roughly

especially at the seam,you can stretch them and move them about for better placement,do not worry how this looks in buldozer.

take pic for the uv reference

go paint the new helmet now from the uv coordinates

load it up and have a look.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

got it... now I just have to get the texture right... thanks alot for all the help

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×