How to make a new texture in Photoshop. Creating a texture for the finished model

In this lesson we will learn how to make seamless texture in Photoshop.

There are millions of amazing textures and patterns on the internet just waiting for you to download. But it happens that the texture dimensions do not correspond to the size of our file. No problem. After completing this tutorial, you will be able to adapt any texture to any size.

Let's take paper texture as an example. But this lesson is suitable for texture.

Step 1.

Open our texture in Adobe Photoshop. The size of our texture is 1920x1080 px. It is important for us to know the exact size in order to calculate how much the parts need to be moved.

Choose Filter > Other > Offset and set the shift values to exactly half of the image size. We also set the mode Undefined Areas – Wrap Around.

Step 2.

Now you need to retouch the joints. There are several ways this can be done. I used the tool Patch – Patch Tool (J).

Create a new layer. In the top toolbar, select the Patches mode Content-Aware and check the box next to Sample All Layers.

Mode setting Adaptations may require a little experimentation for different images, but as a rule the mode Medium works good.

Make a selection for the vertical joint.

Step 3.

Then press the left mouse button on the selected joint and, without releasing it, move it to the left or right.

When you release the mouse button, Photoshop will replace the contents of the original selection with the texture from where you moved the selection, and take into account the content and its color. And will try to adapt the content to the tone of the desired place.

Since we made our joint on a new layer, we can erase the excess areas if necessary.

Step 4.

Let's repeat the same for the horizontal joint.

Step 5. Pattern generation

Now you can glue all the resulting layers into one. After this, we will create a pattern (texture) for filling. Let's click Edit > Define Pattern.

After this, the seamless texture is ready.

Now you can create a document of any size, then select in the panel Layer Style > Pattern Overlay the pattern we just made.

It is not always possible to find ready-made textures necessary materials for 3ds max. Often designers have to create them themselves. For example, from photographs provided by the customer. In this tutorial we will look at how to make a seamless texture in Photoshop with our own hands.

Open the original image in Photoshop. We have a photograph of a piece of brickwork.

For 3d textures you need to take a square image. This will make it easier to work with the texture in the future when applying it to an object. You can adjust the original image by editing the canvas size. Image → Canvas Size → New Size, Width, Height.

Adjusting the edges

Go to the Filter tab → Other → Shift. In the window that appears, enter values equal to approximately half the size of the image. Click OK. Now the seams are in the middle of the image, the left and right edges of the texture automatically meet.

Retouching the joints

We highlight the joints. Press Shift+F5. In the window that appears, select “Content-aware.” Click OK.

We modify the unsightly areas with a stamp or patch. We will work with a Stamp using Alt+LMB.

All seams should be carefully processed. Special attention pay attention to rhythmically repeating objects (spots, knots). The more there are, the more artificial the texture will look when applied. Therefore, we remove them whenever possible.

Save our square image. We check that the correct color mode is set (Image → Mode → RGB).

Now you know how to make your own texture without seams in Photoshop. You can also watch a useful video on this topic:

Knowing how to create textures in Photoshop is a useful skill, especially for those working with 3ds Max. For 3D graphics, textures play a very important role. The quality of the 3D scene visualization directly depends on the quality of the textures. We can say that 90% of the properties of a material are contained in the diffuse reflection map, which is made from photographs of real textures. In this tutorial I will tell you how to create seamless textures from photographs. IN English language they are usually called patterns or seamless textures.

This lesson is the first in a series dedicated to preparing textures.

The idea of the first method is simple: select the most characteristic fragment of the image, crop it, apply the Offset filter, and retouch the joint.

Let's take this image as the source material. It has some nice wood grain on it. As a reference, I took the piece in the lower left corner and cropped it with the Crop tool.

For 3D textures, it is desirable that the piece be square. This will make it easier to assign projection coordinates in a 3D modeling program in the future. The result is a piece like this. All further work will go with him.

Let's check the selected piece as a texture.
Team Select > All select the entire image.
We call the command in it Edit > Define Pattern, which defines the image as the fill pattern.
Now we create a new document of a large size, say 1024x768.
Call the team Edit > Fill and select a sample to fill.

If we now apply the created sample, we will get clearly visible seams.

In order to be able to retouch the joints, apply a filter to the cropped square Filter > Other > Offset. In the fields of the dialog box, enter approximately half the size of the image, although if you simply move the sliders, it will not be difficult to push the joints into the middle of the image.

As a result of applying the filter, the seams will appear directly in the middle of the image, and the left and right edges will automatically match. All that remains is to use any retouching tool to eliminate the joints. For example, I use the clone stamp most often, although the Patch tool works great too.

If you now apply the created sample, the seams are no longer visible. Usually the procedure must be repeated many times until a satisfactory effect is achieved. When retouching, you should pay attention to overly characteristic image elements, noticeable spots, etc. Rhythmic repetitions of identical knots reveal the artificial origin of the texture pattern.

3ds Max incorrectly interprets CMYK texture files placed in raster material map slots!

Unfortunately, if the original image contains inhomogeneity in the lighting of the selected fragment, then even perfect retouching of the joints will not make the texture step invisible. In this case, you should use the dodge-burn tools. Although it is more technologically advanced to use filters, but more on that next time.

As you know, there can never be too many mods, but everyone wants to make their character stand out from the crowd of Dovahkiin/Nerevarin/elves/vampires... :)

I know very well how different the same thing can look with different textures. Therefore, I decided to write a small tutorial on creating textures and retextures for finished models. More precisely, I will describe the sequence of actions in which I usually work.
I recently made several new models; I will show and tell you an example of one of them. So:

Title: Textures are a subtle matter.
Difficulty level: Adept.
Needs: Photoshop+NVIDIA Tools Normalmap Filter+DDS Plugin, Autodesk 3D Max+Nif Plugin (Importer-Exporter).
Rating: NC-17.
Size: Midi.
Status: Finished.

Textures in many games are “packed” into the DDS format; at its core, this is another image compression algorithm, like PNG or JPEG, which has a flexible system of settings. To create game textures, you need

If you open someone else's texture and immediately start working on top of it, you can confuse the top and bottom, one element with another, left and right (yes, yes, this is also possible). Some textures are intuitive, and some features will break your leg. In order not to guess the beans and not run the game a hundred times to check, we need to find out what we are dealing with :)
The purpose of the manipulations described below is to determine how best to work on the texture in 2D. If you have applied beautiful textures evenly and cannot understand why the magnificent patterns have floated in the game, then 3D will help you.
We will need to consider the selected model in 3D max. I have Max open almost all the time while I’m making a texture, in it you can quickly see the result of manipulations in a 2D editor, connect a mesh for better orientation, etc.
Models in Skyrim (and some other games) are in Nif format. And to export to max you need to set Nif Plugin.

Click on the Max logo in the upper left corner, Import.

The easiest way is to take the file directly from Data, but if you uploaded the model to any other location, check that there are no Russian letters in the path to the file (max may give an error). For me, the importer doesn’t swear only about the Russian-language names of the hard drives and the desktop, but it’s different for everyone, it may not open from your desktop.

Let's squeeze again Import.

Done, the model is with us.

Let's select it LMB. On the right, on the toolbar, go to the tab Modify, you will have three modifiers in the list.

Click on the top line RMB, select Collapse to -> Yes. (Just a precaution to avoid crashes.)

We got to the main thing. A little higher, at Modifier List find the modifier Unwrap UVW. You don’t have to scroll through the entire list, just click on it and press U on the keyboard, everything is simple. I have this modifier heaped up on a separate button, right below the list, along with other “hot” modifiers: D

[For reference: this modifier allows you to assign a value on the plane to the spatial points of the model (vertices) such that a drawing subsequently superimposed on the plane in a 2D editor will not be distorted on this volumetric model.]

Open UV Editor.

We expand the window that opens, in it we need a scan rendering item... Tools -> Render UVW Template.

Now let's choose the size in pixels. Correct values will be: 8x8, 16x16,....512x512, 1024x1024, 2048x2048, 4096x4096. Choose the size to suit your needs. Usually I take 4k or 2k (for large and small objects respectively), the original large size gives best quality upon further compression. 4k can then be reduced by 2k, 2k by 1k, etc. without significant losses. Reduce - don't stretch: D

Render UVW Template.

The resulting image is saved in PNG format. The PNG format is very cool, it preserves transparency. Why the hell do we need it? The image is placed in Photoshop on the topmost layer, it is transparent and does not contain anything extra except the edges of the model. If the original textures on the model you have chosen are very garbage and it is impossible to understand from them what belongs to what, then the rendered scan will help to clearly distinguish objects.

As I already wrote at the very beginning, I leave 3D max open almost all the time of texturing. There are a few more things I would like to mention.
If after rendering it is still unclear which scan element is responsible for what, then you can use the window Unwrap to clear things up. In the lower left corner you need to check “selection by polygons” and “selection by element”. This will allow you to select the element completely by clicking on any polygon related to it.

The element is also highlighted in the viewport.

Very convenient for identifying such small objects.

The scans are different...
Correctly done development is the key to a tasty texture. :3 Bad scan brings with it despair, destruction and baguette :C It is unpredictable and difficult to work with in a 2D editor. Before taking on retexture, it would be a good idea to check whether it’s worth it?

Material editor -> Diffuse -> Checker.

Drag the sphere (material) onto the object. This is Max's standard material for checking for lice. It looks like a "chessboard". Where the squares stretch, the final texture will stretch. It's all about the degree of stretching... There are acceptable stretches, and there are those that are not compatible with life-long work in a 2D editor. Some models are better left alone, seriously... for the safety of your own nerves.

If desired, you can increase the tiling (the squares will become smaller) to assess the adequacy of the scan on small details.

Badly._____.

Acceptable stretches.

Just a few examples.

Everything sucks:D

Usually no one bothers small details(laces, thin soles, eyelets, rivets, straps) - as they unfolded, they unfolded. They can stretch, lie in a heap, overlap each other. In such cases, it is possible to extend the retexture without affecting the original scan, but it is difficult. One of simple solutions is a monochromatic fill.
The checker also helps to see the proportionality of objects. More squares - less space on the scan, smaller squares- more space on the scan. The larger the object (dress, pants, whole body), the more information in pixels it will require for a high-quality result. If a small object (bead, button, cuff) on the scan is enlarged to the detriment of the larger one, this is not good: C

Adequate proportionality.

Is there something wrong...

Someone else's model - darkness. If I know my own mesh inside and out, what seams are where, whether there are distortions, how the parts of the scan relate to each other in size... and other little things, then I have to study someone else’s mesh.

Okay, let's move on to Photoshop.
Let's start by creating a Diffuse map, or, more simply, draw a color map. There is one important step that is useful to do first. Create a "mask" for each element. It's in quotes because it's not a layer mask. This is just one layer on which I have all the silhouettes of the elements, filled with one color.

This is what it looks like.

Green lines - borders of elements (top layer).

I always create a mask with a small allowance, using the pen tool. I don't do any smoothing, just rough selection. The main thing is not to leave open areas.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Everything that happens next is between the first layer and the layer with the mask. There are a lot of layers, a lot... too many:\ (I make backup copies of everything I can, so by the end of the work a huge “Reserve” group is assembled.)

For each object (or material) I create my own folder so that they do not depend on each other. I don't merge layers until the last, so that I can adjust one element without affecting the others.
During the work process, a lot of slag accumulates on the layers. At any time, you can step on the layer mask, select the desired object, invert the selection, and quickly remove all debris. Or cut and try on a stack of photos, looking for the right texture.
By the way, it’s not always possible to find a picture that matches your design on the Internet; sometimes you have to act on inspiration, my brothers. For example, I took a photo of my own boot as the basis for the sole. In general, I try to photograph everything that can be useful for texturing. Also, to create the sole, I needed an old fence, a nail puller and sandpaper.

Another layer mask is useful if you do not have the opportunity or desire to bake a shadow map. Select the desired object and, guided by the layer with the scan, quickly and cleanly cast shadows.

Opening again Material editor, you can try the texture on the model: Diffuse -> Bitmap -> Your_texture.jpg\png\tiff....

Now we can look at what we have done in general. Having turned on the grid, we will see how to fix this or that jamb, to what specific place what needs to be moved.

Now it's time to bring the model to life. Normal map is the same map that gives the flat Diffuse map relief. Roughly speaking, this card creates a reaction to light and shadow. By superimposing normals on a low-poly model, you can achieve a volume effect.

Middle poly pants and high poly shoes.

Normal map of pants.

Reaction to lighting.

I took the card for the pants from a high poly model.

Normals can look different. For rendering in 3D Max, for example, the b/w version of diffuse is suitable, but it also accepts other types of normals. Next, I will describe one of the ways to create such a map in Photoshop.

We will need to install NVIDIA Tools Normalmap Filter.
First you need to desaturate the previously created diffuse. But before this, it is important to take into account one feature: dark shades are perceived as indentations, and light shades are perceived as bulges. What follows from this? You need to pay attention to the materials: scratches will always be lighter than the base, and because... Scratches are indentations, so you will have to make them dark so that the filter understands them correctly.

For example, this texture contains two materials: leather and metal. They both have scratches.

A simple desaturation will give us an inversion of light and shadow when rendering. The right foundation to apply the filter it will look something like this.

IN in this case I inverted both materials at once.
As for our boots, there are some materials on them that do not need to be inverted. You will have to work magic with metal, dark seams and scratches on the sole. The outsole is the most difficult object because it has a ridged surface that does NOT need to be inverted and scratches that need to be inverted. Organizing layers and groups may seem too pedantic, but it would be very difficult without it now.
The first step is to create two new groups Normal and Diff (yes, more groups, more groups). In Diff I remove all the diffuse and turn off the shadows, now they won’t be needed. Next, standing on the Diff group, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E. A layer is created with all the contents, which is sent to the Normal folder (you can also turn off the background before this, but this is not so important). Apply decolorization to it.

The Normal group can be hidden for now and dealt with complex patients. After processing, I overlay the inverted objects on top of the decolorized ones. You can also increase the contrast or, conversely, mute some aspects. Now you are ready to apply the filter Normalmap.

Let's go to Filter -> NVIDIA Tools -> NormalMapFilter. In the settings window, you can change the Scale, switch channels (uses red, green, blue, or all at once) and look at the result. Now I'm happy with these settings.

The result can be left as is, it is completely self-sufficient.
A normal taken from a high poly model simulates general shape, the normal obtained in the filter imitates the microrelief. They can be mixed together to achieve a more realistic effect.

This is what we get as a result.

The relief is immediately clearly legible. But, in my opinion, it looks a little flat, and you can see it when you get closer.

You can achieve the best effect with a few simple steps. Copy the resulting layer, set it to overlay mode and apply a filter on it Gaussian blur. And then just click Ctrl+J(copy layer) and Ctrl+F(apply the last filter, in our case “blur”).

Now it seems more like the truth.

Briefly about Specular map(light map). There are more or less no frills here. We will need a simple b/w diffuse option. The adjustment is made as follows: black color - no shine, White color- there is shine. The metal may be rusty or dull. Or vice versa - polished. The leather can be matte, distressed or patent leather. The properties of the material are adjusted according to the design.
The specular can be saved as a separate map or inserted into the alpha channel of a normal.

The last point is to save the created textures in DDS format. File -> Save As, select the extension DDS. In the dialog box that opens, we are asked to select the texture type and compression level. You can read more about different compression algorithms. Now I save in DXT5.