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Texturing tutorial FOR Skyrim?


ghosu

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Hi

 

Do i see right that there is not a single useful texturing tutorial for Skyrim available?

 

Of course there are a few for modeling, game import and such stuff...but i haven't found a single good tutorial for the texturing process including the creation of normal/specular maps and all that stuff.

I'm just curious 'cause i have no problem to create good models but i destroy my whole work since i have no clue 'bout a GOOD workflow regarding the texture process.

 

I've seen many good weapon mods so is there no one out there that could sacrifice a few minutes for a tutorial?

Hell i would spam the whole net with tutorials if i had just a clue 'bout that stuff :(

 

Or is it just me, maybe i'm blind an missed something?

And i'm not talking 'bout general tutorials 'bout texturing...i'm interested in one for Skyrim and its engine.

 

greetings

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There is no "Re-Texturing Skyrim Tutorial" ... BUT, If you read some of the posts in Mod Troubleshooting and here in the Mod Talk forum, there are many, MANY, helpfull posts by members on this very subject, perhaps if you browse through you can find the info your looking for? Or if you have a specific problem/issue you need help with?
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The only real technology leap in textures is megatex an nobody really uses it. Most of the modders are just going to keep doing what they hammered out the last few years for workflow. But if you wanted to be a real stickler for it, you should follow what the pro's use. Photoshop & Autodesk. You can look up most of that on EAT 3D While I wouldn't call it directly related to TES, it does represent the current standard of next gen detail. Problem is that out of all the modders, 4 times more of them will be using freeware an shareware with only the skills they learned from working on the game.

 

After that there are about a million free texture sites, an plenty of people that just draw images as a hobby. Nothing I have ever seen even uses a specular map, but you hear all these people talking about it. Specular was merged an hidden inside normal maps around the time HDR came out, I'm guessing... You can create a normal map in GIMP that uses a specular map, but it still only creates a normal map. It's just a really cool looking normal map basicly. Crazybump is a program that creates normal, specular, bump, defuse, an all kinds of stuff, it's basicly set up so a monkey could use it.

 

Blender will bake normals an all kinds of other texture work, though not many of us have the time to invest into learning or using those methods. You can find endless tutorials on the Blender site that somewhat deal with it. The stuff you see in that engine is going to be methods like that along with advanced photoshop & pen work. I lean toward hand painting things because it's more fun for me, but there are endless filters which I suspect is how they get the ball rolling on some of these images. Throw some hand painting on that, then bake it in a 3D model program, an you basicly have Skyrim. I haven't been in there for a while, but there are 3D Forums here at Nexus. It's at the bottom of the list.

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Do i see right that there is not a single useful texturing tutorial for Skyrim available?

And i'm not talking 'bout general tutorials 'bout texturing...i'm interested in one for Skyrim and its engine.

Largely because it's more or less the same as texturing for any other game. This is kind of a mixed question, there's a bunch of different workflows, and it largely depends on what it is you're texturing. General tutorials are more useful in the long run. Once you know the tools, and understand how shaders and maps work, things get much easier, and let you focus on making art again. I don't pay much attention to tutorials these days, but I'll try to round some up. I've been meaning to do that for a while now. I've considered writing one myself, but I really don't have the time for it, too many things going on now.

 

Of course there are a few for modeling, game import and such stuff...but i haven't found a single good tutorial for the texturing process including the creation of normal/specular maps and all that stuff.

I'm just curious 'cause i have no problem to create good models but i destroy my whole work since i have no clue 'bout a GOOD workflow regarding the texture process.

This hones things in a little better, mentioning normal and specular. Environment maps are commonly used in Skyrim, and they add a lot to a material. That's the biggest thing to cover when working with multiple maps, finding a good balance between them to emulate a physical material in-game.

 

So I'll ask you this, since I'm not sure where you're at. Are you looking more for how to use diffuse/normal/spec/env maps and go from there? Or are you looking for something more specific? Like how to assemble a nice metal texture, or how to paint highlights and shadows, or when and how to put photoshop layers to good use? None of these things are things you'll find in just one or two tutorials.

 

edit: what software, GIMP, Photoshop?

Edited by throttlekitty
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Texturing is texturing. There is no "texturing for X game!". The only different is the file format, which is a different subject and got nothing to do with texturing itself. Most people, who uses Photoshop, texture using .PSD files, then convert to .DDS afterwards. The workflow is no different wether you texture for a model that will sit in your folders for the next 2 years, or you want it inside a game. You will only need to figure out what kind of maps are supported, and how to export your texture as that.

 

That said:

 

3dtotal.com

Eat3d.com

Digital-Tutors.com

3dmotive.com

 

These sites gives all the tutorials one will need for 3d, 2d, sculpting and general knowledge on the subject of modelling.

 

edit: what software, GIMP, Photoshop?

GIMP is free and Photoshop cost. That's about it. If you can pay, you get Photoshop. If you can't you get GIMP.

Same thing with 3d. If you can pay, you get 3ds max or maya. If you can't, you get Blender.

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Thx for your feedback and all those good links - atm i'm watching those videos, might take a few hours but i already learned a lot, great stuff. I liked this guy: http://lesterbanks.com/2011/12/mudbox-masterclass-texturing-of-the-uncharted-3-cipher-disk/

 

Awesome motivated face expressions, that's the way i always imagined a game designer :D

Edited by ghosu
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Jeah thx, have already seen them - good stuff, will rewatch them.

 

Btw, any idea why i end up with such a normal map?

I'm just testing different options so those are just random shapes...just activated diff and norm map, spec map activated doesn't change those errors:

 

 

http://666kb.com/i/c0o3wp7b9fi9nah6t.jpg

 

Just turned on vertex colors and that seemed to reduce the effect a bit, maybe the normal map is too extreme? Will try one with only minor changes.

 

greetings

Edited by ghosu
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