Looking for tutorials on painting UV templates
Hi, I'm not new but have a 'newish' problem - I wanted to make a custom clothing texture i n photoshop for a template that came with a DAZ product but I've not done this before so am looking for tutorials that would take me through the process. This is what I've found so far
1. select the white area around the clothing template
2. select inverse so the clothing bits are select
then I guess I can make this a separate layer and us it as a guide to paint underneath - but I haven't figured out yet how to keep the edges neat...I'm sure there must be a simple way to do this but I haven't been able to find any good tutorials on this aspect. What makes it tricky is the clothing bits having a 'mesh' appearance so I've not been able to just use colour or pattern fill on them.
Can anyone guide me in the right direction please or offer any tips?
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I can't help with most of your questions, but the edges are not a problem (or shouldn't be).
The lines are the edges of the area that needs to be filled in (the outside of the line) , but if you go over the edge, it doesn't matter at all, that part is not read by the program anyway. If you try to keep everything exactly within the lines, you may finish up with 'white' areas in the 3D mesh in the viewport and render.
It may look a bit messy, but make sure that you do go over the lines a little. Photoshop can increase a selected are by one or two pixels if you set it that way, that is what I would do, select you area, and then add a few pixels to make sure you have the whole are covered.
Also, the joins are important. Where a map 'wraps round' you need to make sure that the colour at each edge is exactly the same, or you will see a distinct join.
I think chohole did a few tuts on how to texture using templates quite a while ago, but they may still be available.
http://chohole.ovbi.org/texture_tutorial.htm
also we did a New Users challenge on texturing http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/31579/
The grid pattern that you see on most templates corresponds to the mesh of the actual model to which it applies. The mesh can be used as a guide in applying textures, allowing you to put different textures in different locations on the model with some precision. Without them you would need to guess and use trial and error. They can also help to predict any stretching or compression that might occur when the map is applied to the model. The latter would only be an issue if you were using patterned textures, of course.
The method that you have described for selecting the area to be textured would not work by itself unless the template had colored zones. If it is simply a monochromatic grid, as many are, you would only be selecting the grid itself, not the intervening spaces. When you paint you will therefore only be painting the grid.
There are usually multiple ways of doing the same thing in computer graphics, but here is how I would deal with a monochromatic texture template. Start with what you have already done: using the color range option, select the white area anywhere outside the grid. Now invert this selection so the grid itself is now selected, which brings us to where you already were. The next step is to expand your selection by a certain number of pixels to encompass the space between the grid lines. A little trial and error is required since the number of pixels required will vary from template to template. In Photoshop you would go Select - Modify - Expand and a dialogue will pop up requiring you to enter the number of pixels. Try ten. Once done, look carefully at the template to ensure there are no "twinkly" areas inside any of the grid boundaries (usual called "ant races"). If there are not, you're gold. If there are, undo the expand and repeat it, raising the number of pixels by two (or four, your call), and try again. Continue until you have eliminated any unselected pixels within the mesh. Now you will have the mesh, plus an area surrounding it, selected. Good. As Jimmy mentioned, staying "inside the lines" isn't important, and going outside can even be good. However, there is no need for the area outside the mesh to be too wide. In an example DAZ mesh I tried, I had to expand to 14 pixels to capture everything, so a fairly broad band surrounded my selection. Here's how I reduced it to 2 pixels while retaining everything inside:
Invert your selection once more, so that everything but the mesh and buffer are now selected. If I want a 2 pixel buffer, I can then expand that "everything else" selection by twelve pixels (remember I had used 14 before). Now everything surrounding my mesh is selected except for a two pixel buffer. If I really wanted to have no buffer at all for some reason, I could have expanded to the full 14 pixels and only the mesh and the internal space would have been left. Now, I invert the selection once again, and voila, my mesh is selected and ready for texturing. Now you can pick up with Chohole's tutorial.
If you are lucky enough to be using one of SnowSultan's seam guides, they are colored, so selecting the meshes is easier.
(P.S. In deference to our hosts I have deliberately been misspelling the word color, which, as Chohole knows, is correctly spelled colour. :) )
Thanks everyone for the replies and help so far. I'm not sure I still understand the best approach:
The template I was using has a 'mesh' appearance as SixDs describe (screenshot of a portion below). So once I've selected the white background and inverted I'm left with a 'mesh'. But I can't use paint fill on the different locations it because it just fills the mesh lines and it would be really tedious to fill in each gap in between the mesh lines. So instead I could have this on a layer then paint my texture on a layer below using the extracted mesh as a guide - and I can go outside the lines because anything outside of where the template lies won't show up on the figure in DS - is that correct?
I have layers over the top of the UV mesh. Once I have selected the area on the UV I then switch to the next layer up and fill that layer. using that selection.
I don't use Photoshop, I use PaintShopPro so ? is doable in all programs or not. In PSP one can select the area, do the invert, THEN select the clear layer and "fill" the entire space with one click.
After doing all whatever one MUST "paint outside the lines". Just 2-4 pixels depending upon the mesh and all what is expected of it.
I do have some tutorials over at Deviantart [in a tutorial folder] and do cover matching the texture outwards over the seams in that latest big tutorial I released a few days back ...
If it is an item for which Snow Sultan has a guide, those are a must have!!!! He has graciously been providing those for free over on his website.
Edit to add link: Skin-Clothing-on-3D-Models
Outside of the lines is called the "buffer zone" ... I call it also the "seam allowance".
You could try selecting the white background outside the grid with Contiguous checked -that wills top PS from selecting the areas inside the grid that are also white.
Sometimes the best way to understand how the template corresponds with the actual mesh is to simply paint on it. then add it to the DS textures folder, and apply it to the diffuse under the Surfaces tab. Numbered checker patterns can help too.
Just leave the template on the base layer of your paint program and then create another layer over top to paint on.
In my example I added a blue strip, red strip, a green square outside the mesh area and a purple square near the thumb.
Anything outside the template lines doesn't show up on the model. The green does not show up.
also note that though the blue line was equal width on the template, it's misaligned on the actual model at the seam, and that's where 3D painting program comes in handy.
It works the same on any obj model including clothing.
Thank you everyone so much for your help!. I think I've got the hang of it now. Much appreciated :-)