Jason Wiser's Madwomb.com Tutorials: 3ds max Precision UVW Unwrapping

INTRODUCTION TO UVW UNWRAP
High-level Summary
1. Preparation
2. Unwrapping
3. Clean-Up UVs
4. Export UV Coordinates
5. Paint Textures
6. Create 3ds max Material

3DS MAX UVW UNWRAPPING

STEP 5: PAINT TEXTURES
a) Photoshop File Set-Up
b) Painting
c) Multi-object textures

A) Setting up your Photoshop file:

Open the UVs JPEG in your 2D painting program of choice. In Photoshop:
[Ctrl] + [a] to select all
[Ctrl] + [c] to copy
[Ctrl] + [n] to create a new file the size of your UVs

[Ctrl] + [v] to paste the UVs into the new file.

[Ctrl] + [i] to invert, so your UVs are black lines on white.

Change the blending mode on your UVs from Normal to Multiply.

Set the Opacity to 50%.

Lock the UV layer.

B) Painting Your Textures:

Using the UVTemplate layer as a guide, use the Marquee Square and the Paint Bucket tools to drop major colors on the bottom layer. These are your Base Colors.

Create layers in between the Base Colors and UVTemplate layers for painting details and dirt. Paint in the details and areas of wear and tear, to be consistent with the style of the project.

Create Color, Bump, Specular, and Opacity maps as needed.

Save out as separate JPEG files, quality 10.

C) Using One Texture Map for Multiple Objects:

Multiple objects can occupy the same texture map for efficiency. choose a clearly separate part of the zero-to-one square for each to fill, and bring the multiple UVTemplates together in Photoshop.

For this character’s three pieces of armor, the pizza-box shoulder guards will take the entire left side, the pillow thigh guards will be the upper-right corner and the frying pan helmet will take the lower-right corner.

Once all UVs are unwrapped and laid out out in their pre-planned section, render the UV Templates and bring them together in Photoshop.

It is now time to bring the textures into 3ds max.

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3D Studio Max Precision Unwrapping: