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Help with Multitexture

B

Brandon

Messages
20
Hello,

I'm wondering if its possible to use mulitiple textures on a single object (like a box)
I read the tutorial on the oregon-coast.com website about multitexturing, but it didn't seem to answer my question because the author used a single texture for each of the shapes. How do I assign a texture (like of a roof) for top side of my box and then a wall texture for the sides?

Thanks,
Brandon
 
Hi Brandon

What you need to do is texture each face rather than the whole object.

Heres the way I've done it.

1. Open the folder on your computer that has the textures you would want to use, and minimize it.

2. In Gmax, create for example a box, doesn't matter how big.

3. In the modifier list add a UVW map modifier and in the parameter section click BOX.

4. Right click the box and from the list and select CONVERT TO/CONVERT TO EDITABLE POLY.

5. With the box selected, in the selection rollout choose POLYGON, then click a face on the box. To make it easier to see the faces, turn on edged faces.

6. Bring up the folder we opened earlier and drag and drop the texture on to the selected face.

7. Select another face and drag/drop another texture on to this face and so on and so on.

I've attached a pic to show what the box and material editor should look like.

Hope it helps

Stevo ;-)
 
WOW thanks!!

That is so easy!!

Is there any downside to texturing that way?

There must be a catch, that was too easy... ;)

Brandon
 
Hi Brandon.

There is a catch. The more separate textures you use, the longer it takes for the objects to load, and the more memory you need. If all your textures are on one 512x512 ( or 256x256 ) texture "sheet", and you use "UnWrapUVW" to position the planes on a standard texture, it should be more efficient.

That's how MS does it for their objects and for the 'advanced' buildings.

But I have no data to prove any FPS or memory loss for MultiTexturing... just a guess. For a small area with few objects, it shouldn't make much difference.

Dick
 
There is a catch. The more separate textures you use, the longer it takes for the objects to load, and the more memory you need
Click to expand...

Thats what I figured. The standard material, UnWrapUVW method seems to be much more frame rate friendly.

thanks Dick,

Brandon
 
Hi Brandon,

Just to add a bit to Dick's method, you can take an object and break it up with Material IDs thus allowing for the assignment of individual UVW Map modifiers to each Material ID. This opens the door to using a Multi Material. By mapping an object this way, you can place one Unwrap UVW modifier at the top of the stack and then use the Edit UVW dialog to rebuild the Material IDs into a texture template that is perfect for use in any graphics editor. I mainly work with aircraft and mapping them can be a pain at times due to compound shapes. If care and thought are put in on the start of any project you can produce texture templates like the image below, and avoid stretching or tearing of textures. Should you be interested, you can find a tutorial here that covers mapping a wing and creating the Multi Material that is applied to the wing. This method also lends itself to scenery quite nicely too. The tutorial can be identified on the page with this description:
This tutorial was written around Gmax 1.2 and developing Multiple Materials.
The tutorial will cover methods developed over time to UVW map an object in Gmax. The key to UVW mapping centers on good planning, and clean model construction. If care is taken in the modeling phase of your project, UVW mapping will fall into place without difficulties such as texture misalignment and stretching, as is often the case.
Click to expand...

starfox_beta_map_mesh.jpg

FSEdge
 
Hi Brandon,

I've textured quite a few of my buildings and objects for my Teesside Airport scenery ( www.fs9world.741.com ) the way I described above, and I havent noticed that much of a frame rate drop. Maybe 1 or 2 FPS. But I also use the UnWrapUVW method, which is more time consuming if you have a big building to texture, but you do get the most efficent use of textures.

Stevo
www.fs9world.741.com
 
I tried adding my textures using the Multimaterial method, (and cropped the images as needed in the Material editor) then converted to editable poly, then I used the UVWmap/face tool to add the textures to each side of my object using the suface material ID.

Everything looked good in Gmax, but when I loaded FS, it looked like the materials were never cropped. (see attached pics)

:banghead:

So whats going on? Has anybody else had this problem?

Brandon
 

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stevo said:
6. Bring up the folder we opened earlier and drag and drop the texture on to the selected face.
Click to expand...

Once in awhile, GMAX surprises me with how easy it can make things. I had no idea you could just drag 'n drop like that. For the most part, I keep all my building textures in one bitmap, but I usually use a seperate bitmap for roofs. This should make my life a little easier. Thanks Steve.

- Martin
 
Hi Brandon.

Are your textures multiples of 256x256? And what tool did you use to make them DXT1, mipped?

Dick
 
can you individual uvw map each texture with this drag and drop method - i.e. control the way the texture repeats itself?

For buildings I find the easiest way is to multitexture small (32z32,64x64 etc) custom textures rather than constructing larger texture sheets. This gives greatest flexibility..UVWMap (Box) each texture as required. Unwrapping large textures is inefficient as there are usually blank areas on the texture and they cannot be repeated/tiled.
 
Are your textures multiples of 256x256? And what tool did you use to make them DXT1, mipped?
Click to expand...
Hi Dick, The main glass texture is 256x256 (nova37), the doors texture is 128x64. I used the Imagetool to convert to DXT1.

Is the 128x64 texture incorrect? I've pretty much run out of ideas...

Brandon
 
Hi Brandon

You stated in an earlier e-mail that you 'cropped the images as needed in the Material editor' which i think is the problem. I've used this only once and I dont think it does much or it does but in Flight sim it still sees it as a whole texture.

I created a box this way and got the same results as you

try this

Once you've applied your texture to each face, you then need to apply an unwrap UVW,

I Think of it like this
UVW map sticks the texture to the object
unwrap UVW allows you to move, adjust and resize the texture to how you want it

Select a face on your object, and in the modifier list choose unwrap UVW, then in the parameters rollout click Edit you can now adjust your texture. When you have it as you like, you'll need to collapse the stack, this is so you can select another face. Right click the grey area above the parameters rollout and select Collapse All, it then give you a warning click yes. now repeat for the other faces.

put it into FS9 and see if it works

Stevo
 
Thanks Stevo!
Tried it and it worked great, I guess the secret is using the UVW Unwrap feature only on one side at a time, instead of the whole object. That way you don't have a lot of lines and points to sort out in the UVW Unwrap editor...

Too bad that crop feature in the Material Editor doesn't work in FS.

Now I move on to complex objects ;)

Thanks for all your help guys,
Brandon
 
Ok, I've got another question already. I have started working on a more complex model and have run into a problem.

I have all kinds of polygons on a single side of my building. (see attached pic)
I run into problems in the UnwrapUVW editor trying to sort out all those lines and points. Its almost impossible to straighten everything out :banghead:

Is it possible to delete those diagonal lines while keeping the shape of my object?

What do you guys do in this situation?

Brandon
 

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Hi Brendon

This is from memory so hope its right.

I suggest you reapply a UVW map to the whole thing, then before you use the unwrap UVW, select all polygons on each face (see pic), then apply unwrap UVW. When you click edit to adjust the texture you should have the same shape as the selected side. make sure you adjust the texture as a whole, dont move single points or it will look streched and distorted.

Stevo ;-)
 
I still got all those crazy points and lines in the unwrap UVW editor, I was able to straighten it out a bit, but it still looks pretty bad.

:confused:

Any other ideas?

Thanks
Brandon
 
Hi Brandon,

Would you be willing to send the files to me? I'd be glad to have a look at them and help resolve the mapping issues. ;)

FSEdge
 
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