2. WHAT ARE TEXTURES?
Textures are bitmaps containing color information,
which are applied to a 3D object.
• Diffuse map: contains the object’s color information
• Alpha map: can be used for transparency control
• Specular map: influences the object’s glossiness and
reflection (color)
• Normal map: can add extra detail without geometry

3. CREATING TEXTURES
Textures can be made from (existing) photographic
material OR be homemade in Photoshop.

4. PROS & CONS – PHOTOGRAPHIC
MATERIAL
PROS:
• Fast results
• In most cases looks more realistic
• More natural look & feel
CONS:
• Intellectual property can be a big issue
• You have less control over the image
• It can be hard to find / take the right picture

5. PROS & CONS – HOMEMADE
MATERIAL
PROS:
• Fast results
• You are it’s creator, therefore it’s owner
• More control over the image
CONS:
• Can be slow to produce
• Not always the most realistic results

6. EXAMPLE 1 – HOMEMADE vs.
PHOTOGRAPHIC
PHOTOGRAPHIC HOMEMADE

7. EXAMPLE 2 – HOMEMADE vs.
PHOTOGRAPHIC
PHOTOGRAPHIC HOMEMADE

8. BEST PRACTICE = COMBINING
BOTH
Go out, smell the air and take pictures, but keep the
following things in mind!
• Camera angle - try and get the right perspective
• Lighting - no flash, use a tripod instead and a longer shutter
time!)
• Patterns & tiles - when going for tileable textures watch for
distinct patterns and spots that might mess up the tileability

9. TAKING PICTURES – TILEABLE
TEXTURES
TILEABLE OR NOT?

10. TAKING PICTURES – TILEABLE
TEXTURES
Nope!

11. UVW-MAP AND
TEXTURES
Textures which are applied on a 3D model with the
help of a UVW-map are called unique textures.
UVW-MAP

12. SHARING TEXTURE
SPACE
It’s a common and good practice to use your UV-space as
optimal as you can!

13. SHORT
TEXTURING
ASSIGNMENT
Pick a tutorial from the list
(see Facebook for link) and
create your own homemade
texture in 15-20 min
Post your final image on FB!

14. ALPHA CHANNELS
• An RGB bitmap contains 3 channels: Red, Green and Blue.
• Besides these channels that hold color information
they can also contain grey scale color information
= ALPHA CHANNEL
They can be used for multiple purposes but are often used
for transparency and masking

15. ALPHA CHANNELS -
MASKING To mask certain areas of
a texture (especially
with leafs) you apply
100% white to areas you
want to see (opaque),
and 100% black to the
areas you want to hide

16. ALPHA CHANNELS -
MASKING In some game engines (like UDK)
it’s best to use a separate 24-bit
texture for alpha masking as the
engine uses more resources if you
add the information into a
separate channel of your original
texture, making it 32-bits.

17. ALPHA CHANNELS –
GLASS Alpha is great for glass, where
you want to have semi-
transparency, still leaving a bit
visible for the human eye.
Tip for your car’s windows!

18. LET’S TALK ABOUT
MATERIALS..
Sometimes materials are confused with textures,
which they are not! Materials contain a set of textures
and instructions to simulate particular attributes. They
often contain what we’ve discussed so far:
• Diffuse map
• Alpha map
• Specular map
• Normal map

19. SPECULAR MAPS
• Influence the object’s glossiness and reflection
• Most game engines use the color info for reflection, but
not all

20. SPECULAR MAPS -
EXAMPLE
DIFFUSE
SPECULAR

21. SPECULAR MAPS
Most common mistake done

22. SPECULAR MAPS -
EXPLANATION
Most materials in real life can be classified into 2 different
classes:
• Conductors – They conduct electricity, like metals
• Dielectrics – They do not conduct electricity, like wood

23. SPECULAR MAPS -
EXPLANATION
Most materials in real life can be classified into 2 different
classes:
• Conductors – They conduct electricity, like metals and
Light reflected by specularity IS affected by the diffuse
color
• Dielectrics – They do not conduct electricity, like wood.
Light reflected by specularity is NOT affected by the diffuse
color

24. SPECULAR MAPS -
EXPLANATION
• Metal (conductor)
• Wood (dielectrics)

25. SPECULAR MAPS -
EXPLANATION (just like the layer option in
• Specular maps are ADDED
Photoshop). This is why only saturation will not be helpful
in case of a wooden texture!
Want to know more? http://www.manufato.com/?p=902

26. SPECULAR MAPS - TIPS
• Do not flatten your image and start editing it!
• Add extra detail to the specular map for a nice pop
• Keep your detail layers (scratches, dirt, etc.) separately
to avoid frustration later on
• Group and adjust the layers that share the same
specularity together
• Try and use the Adjustment Layers in Photoshop. They
save a lot of time and can be adjusted on the fly.

27. NORMAL MAPS
Normal maps are a special category of textures that can
add detail to your object without the use of actual
geometry.

28. NORMAL MAPS – HOW DO
THEY WORK? channels in bitmaps to store
Normal maps use the RGB
height information for the detail. This height information is
projected on 3D objects and used for lighting calculations.

29. CREATING NORMAL MAPS
Easiest way to start is with the nVidia filter, using height
maps (grey scale height/depth images):
http://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop

30. CREATING NORMAL MAPS
Or nDo, which is fairly similar but easier to adjust things:
http://www.quixel.se/

31. CREATING NORMAL MAPS
Or import your model into ZBrush and add detail there!

32. NORMAL MAPPING -
DEMONSTRATION

33. TIP:
Tired of looking for good information on the web related
to 3D? Try:
wiki.polycount.com
Always up to date, filled with (good) tutorials and in
depth explanations of gaming industry’s experts. Check
the forums for high quality 3D work as inspiration ;-)