Hi,

I am an infrequent visitor, I tend to try and figure stuff out myself.

That said I thought someone ELSE might have some suggestions about something I'm working on;

I am trying to do a Phymateus Grasshopper (looks most like the "stoli" on the center bottom of the results)

So....

The phymateus has these pronounced spikes on its shoulders/back. I have modeled a few of them. I have then unwrapped them, then -currently- am using Si Illusion to paint the coloring on the spikes.


IS there a way to have the render of these clips update the texture automatically; To automate the process so that I can get some feedback as to where the painting is going?

ANY other suggestions about a workflow for painting this creature are very welcome.

Thanks,

-a5'

Just a thought, but couldn't you just cluster all the polygons of the spikes and assign them their own material?

Using Illusion to paint the texture seems to be an overcomplicated way of doing things. I would always use some dedicated 3D paint application. I'm using 3D Coat myself for all my texture painting needs. This is more of less affordable (by which I mean: way cheaper than the competition), has an impressive toolset and when you ignore the also very impressive voxel stuff, still is "at heart" a texture painting tool/retopo solution that can definitively "play along" the "big guys"...

I could but I would:

a.) loose the subtlety of the individual spikes b.) have inaccurate shapes for the splotches of color

-------also the entire surface of this object is covered with colored bumps and spots. so there isn't much point.


heres an image of what I'm working with





I see that, I hadn't realized there was such a thing.
the price does seem reasonable, for the product.

I thought people used photoshop, which as a replacement I'm using GIMP.

So, most of this is automated then, or at least much easier.

That is enlightening, although I am still curious, and I would like to try to figure out how to do this.


Thanks for all the info,

-a5'

I'll have to consider that_3d coat

Of course you can paint in photoshop. Do a snapshot of your UVs and paint your textures in gimp/photoshop.
Software like 3dcoat greatly helps painitng on uv seams.
There is also a software coming called 'Mari' which looks like a dreamsoft for texture artists.

So your saying that these programs aid in painting the seams, that is, the blending of the seems?

I checked out the 3d coat website. I downloaded the trial version, havn't tried it yet. On the website the pictures indicated to me that there was a lot more that they do.?

So if you were doing it this way you would do a screen shot?

or you mean (Texture Editor>edit>Stamp UV Mesh) which is what I have been doing

or

Texture Editor>File>Export Clip.

They all seem usable to me as long as your painting on a separate layer and using the UV's as a guide. I imagine that the texture programs provide enhanced tools for this.


The nice thing about Illusion is that its all in the same place. Although currently I have to futz around trying to get the texture to update and save the painted image.

Thanks for your input,

-a5'

Yes, I meant Stamp UV technique

3dcoat, zbrush, mudbox, bodypaint, modo - this soft allows you to paint directly on mesh, therefore also on uv seams, which can be a bit tedious when you have to do this in photoshop while having multiple UV islands to paint on. On other hand, painting in photoshop gives you more control and detail. Some people mix photoshop and 3d painting.

your model seems to be fair easy to paint since spikes arent very long so its probably one big uv island ? So gimp/photoshop is all you need

btw Nice tutorial posted recently on cgtalk:
http://vimeo.com/10941211

I apologize to you and to Hirazi Blue I should have stated ahead of time that I really have no experience with this. I don't see why I shouldn't paint the entire thing in one shot. Instead of using islands. Seems more difficult. Although if this is convention generally there is a reason for it.

Here's what I have so far


But the thing is covered with spots, it seems that I would spend the same amount of time selecting islands as painting.

anyway, thank you so much for helping me out. I think when I get to the other parts of the creature I will try 3d coat and maybe then it will be clear to me.

Thanks,

a5'




------->WIP

I'm going to move over to the WIP forum to continue to get feedback

I have to mention though, that I downloaded 3d coat, and gave it about 2hrs so far (not much I know), but I have moved to the tail of the creature and for that it appears that a simple planar map is the best way to go.

Have much to learn about texturing.

-a5'