Need help applying texture

[rabbitweasel]

I'm a newb to gmax but still learning how to use it. I've created a Cessna 152 already and I'm getting ready to texture it. I've figured out the UVW Mapping gizmo and textures fit correctly onto the aircraft parts but I'm still having some difficulty using gmax. When using UVW set to planar, the texture wraps all the way around the object instead of just on the selected mesh. The only work around I've found for putting on another mesh is to convert the object to an edible mesh again to open new modifiers. I don't use the multi-material since I can't just move one texture around without affecting all the other ones. Is there a way to just manipulate one texture when using multi-material? The guide seems to have no problem but I am.

Also, I can't seem to find any sort of documentation on how to put the textures into fs2004. I've exported the plane into a .mdl and have done animations that work great but don't have a clue how to get the textures onto the plane in fs2004.

I'm using this guide right now:

http://www.simviation.com/gryphon/tutorials/gMax_10.htm

 

[n4gix]

That is the most incredibly convoluted and complex method I can imagine...

1. Select the polys you want to UVW Map.

2. Add a UVW Map, click Align to View

3. Press Fit, then set the size of the UVW Map to be "square". IOW, if the longest side is 9.573, make the UVW Map to be 10x10.

4. Add a UVW Unwrap modifier, then click on Edit

5. In the UVW Editor, select all vertices and arrange them within the bounding box. You can use the Uniform Scale tool to adjust the selected vertices larger or smaller as desired.

6. Close the UVW Editor, Add a Mesh Select (or Poly Select) to the stack.

7. Select the next set of polys you wish to UVW Map, repeat steps 2-6 until all polys of the object have been UVW Mapped.

8. Add a final Mesh (or Poly) Select to the stack, then select ALL polys, Add a final UVW Unwrap to the stack and make certain that all your mesh is layed out on the texture template as desired.

At this point, you can grab a screenshot of the UVW Editor's window, then crop/size the screenshot to your desired size, such as 512x512 or 1024x1024, then save it using an appropriate filename, such as "fuselage1.bmp" (assuming you just mapped the fuselage.

Alternatively, you can Export the UVW Mapped object as an .MD3 file, and use LithUnwrap to generate a perfect bitmap of your mesh to use as the base layer of your master texture template.

See the Tutorials & Forums at http:\\freeflightdesign.com for more information on UVW Mapping and LithUnwrap.

 

[lionheart]

Great advice from Fr. Bill!


................and.. Dont forget to make sure the blue and white cube button is clicked 'on' for your textures to show up! They will not appear until that is clicked on...

(Took me a week to find that out.. arrghh.. )

Seems really sophisticated at first, mapping a plane in Gmax... But after your first time, it gets incredibly easy. Apply UVW Map, Apply UVW UNWRAP, adjust angle, save, done. Map the next part. Its knowing where all the little buttons are, like 'Align to View', 'Fit', which Plannar you want to use, (cylinder, flat, cube, sphere),etc, that might take you a day to find. After that, its easy....


Bill

 

[rabbitweasel]

Thanks for the help. Using the UVW unwrap and UVW Editor really helped. I also figured how to get textures on the aircraft in fs2004 using imagetool to convert to DXT3 for outside textures. Guess I'll continue on texturing.

 

[rabbitweasel]

Got more questions

I've just seemed to figure out how to begin texturing but I've got another problem. After texturing the wing, I noticed how low resolution my texture was on top of the wing. To emphasize my point, I found a sharp colorful image and mapped it to my wing to show the blockiness of the resulting texture in the attachment below.

I'm not sure what's wrong. The original images aren't any less sharp than the default fs9 aircraft textures. Is it that some sort of scale of mine is too big/small? The texture was 1024x1024 and the UVW length/width values are 45'11.108".

 

[FelixFFDS]

But how do those textures look like in FS?

 

[lionheart]

I've just seemed to figure out how to begin texturing but I've got another problem. After texturing the wing, I noticed how low resolution my texture was on top of the wing. To emphasize my point, I found a sharp colorful image and mapped it to my wing to show the blockiness of the resulting texture in the attachment below.

I'm not sure what's wrong. The original images aren't any less sharp than the default fs9 aircraft textures. Is it that some sort of scale of mine is too big/small? The texture was 1024x1024 and the UVW length/width values are 45'11.108".

Hey RabbitWeasel,

No worries. Your resolutions are on default low settings.

Just go to Customize/Preferences/Viewports/Configure Driver and set your resolutions up. They are probably at 128. Just move them to 512 or 1024 and Apply/Save/Exit and restart Gmax. If its too hard on your computer, just bump them down a notch and restart again.


Love the fancy Hippie texture! Is that VanGough?


Bill
LHC

 

[n4gix]

The highest resolution textures still look like crap in both Max and GMax's Viewports.

Max will only look good when using the Renderer...

 

[rabbitweasel]

Thanks for the help. I'm still getting used to gmax and where stuff is. As for the texture, it's from a picture of colorful pots. I wanted to try using a high-resolution texture "original is 2190x1533 on wiki" to troubleshoot.

 

[lionheart]

Hey Rabbitweasle,

Nope, I guess that isnt VanGough.

I hope the resolutions are now more ledgible and clearer for you now.

If you start to have issues with your frame rates in Gmax, (acting slow and glitchy) you can go from using double sized PSD files (like I use) to using copies in JPG format, which will again restore speed of operation in Gmax and maintain high resolution.



Bill