Distortion and UV textures?

ArtMadeon

Hi folks,

I'm fairly new here and have a question about editing UV maps. Specifically, I want to add moles, blemishes and freckles to UVs for my character to make her (G8F) more unique.

From what I understand, it's "as simple as" editing the associated Arms, Legs, Head and Torso graphics, then assigning them to the relevant surface attributes (Normal, Diffuse, etc).

However, it strikes me that the unwrapped UV is by its nature distorted, so wouldn't adding features to the texture need to take this into account?

For example, if I add a mole or some freckles to the texture, won't they be pinched or stretched (depending on where I put them) in the render?  If that's the case, how can I compensate for this?

I own Skin Builder 8 and have read up on adding additional masks ... but I fear these have the same challenge.

Can anyone help me with some tricks and tips to help me solve the problem?

Many thanks.

 

Leana

mattporter said:

However, it strikes me that the unwrapped UV is by its nature distorted, so wouldn't adding features to the texture need to take this into account?

Yes, it will need to take it into account.

How much distorsion there will be depends on how the mesh was UV-mapped, as creators usually try to get the least distorsion possible.

ArtMadeon

Thanks @Leana. Are there any tips or tricks as to how I specifically take this into account - say in Photoshop?

Richard Haseltine

Which version of Photoshop? Some of the recent ones do have 3D tools, albeit fairly limited I think.

Leana

Well the most direct way would be to use an editor which enables you to paint directly on the figure.

With a "regular" editor working on 2D images, I'm afraid it's mostly trial and error, combined with "look at other textures to see how they've done it".

A good way to see how distorted things get is to apply a checkered image as your texture and see how it looks. There are also "seam guides" which can help you visualize what goes where when you use them as textures, SnowSultan has some for G3 which can also be used for G8: https://www.snowsultan.com/pages/seamguides

ArtMadeon

I was afraid that was the case ... so basically the best way for me to tackle this (other than trial and error) is something like ZBrush or Substance Painter...?

Catherine3678ab

For adding blemishes such as you mention in your first post ... just stay away from the actual seam areas and you should be fine. These are tiny enough things that shouldn't be distorting much if at all. Just always work on COPIES of the texture images you're wanting to change. [general advice so to avoid accidentally destroying the original textures]

Any image editor that works with layers can do the easy tasks.

ArtMadeon

Thanks for the tip, @Catherine3678ab.  Sounds like I have some experimenting to do!