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You Need to Know
If you are new to the 3D texturing process then chances are you’ve heard some terms
being tossed around that you might not fully understand. This article will go over some of
the most common texturing terminology you are likely to encounter so you will be more
comfortable when deciding which map to use or what was that term they just referenced?
Texture Mapping
Texture Mapping
To create a surface that resembles real life you need
to turn to texture mapping. This process is similar
to adding decorative paper to a white box. In 3D,
texture mapping is the process of adding graphics to
a polygon object. These graphics can be photographs
to original designs. Textures can help age your
object, and give it more appeal and realism.
Shading
Shading
A shader describes the entire material on an
object, how the light is reflected, how it’s absorbed,
translucency and bump maps, which you will learn
about a little later on in this post. Shaders and
textures can often times be confused, but a texture
is something that gets connected to a shader to give
the 3D object its particular look.
UV Mapping
UV Mapping
A 3D object has many sides and a computer doesn’t know how to correctly put a 2D texture onto the 3D object. A UV map is basically the 3D model stretched out into a flat 2D image. Each face on your polygon object is tied to a face on the UV map. Placing a 2D texture onto this new 2D representation of your 3D object is much easier.
Specularity
Specularity
Specularity defines how a surface reflects light.
It is basically the texture’s reflection of the light
source which creates a shiny look. Having the right
specularity is important in defining what the 3D
object’s material is made from. For example, a shiny
metal material will have high reflectivity, whereas a
flat texture like cement will not.
Normals
Normals
A normal is an invisible line that points straight out
from a polygon face or NURBS patch. These normals
help the 3D application determine which side of a
surface is the front, and which side is the back. The
correct normal orientation is important, especially
when rendering, because most times a render
engine will not render backward facing normals.
Transparancy Map
Transparancy Map
Transparency maps are grey scale textures that use black and white values to signify areas of transparency or opacity on an objects material. For example, when modelling a fence, instead of modelling each individual chain link which would take a significant amount of time, you can use a black and white texture to determine what areas should stay opaque and what should be transparent.
Bump Maps
Bump Maps
A bump map gives the illusion of depth or relief on a texture without greatly increasing render time. For example, the raised surface on a brick wall can be faked by using a bump map. The computer determines where raised areas on the image are by reading the black, white and grey scale data on the graphic. In other words, bump maps encode height information using black and white values.
Normal Maps
Normal Maps
A normal map creates the illusion of detail without having to rely on a high poly count. For example, a character can be detailed into a sculpting program like ZBrush, and all the information can be baked onto a normal map and transferred to a low poly character, giving the illusion of detail without increasing the actual poly count for the model. Game studios utilize normal maps often because they need to stay within a tight polygon budget, but still need a high level of detail. Normal maps use RGB values to signify the orientation of the surface normals. The information in the red, green and blue channels in the normal map corresponds with the X, Y and Z orientation of the surface. Normal maps can typically capture more detailed information.
Albedo MAP
Albedo MAP
The Albedo map is the base color input that defines the diffuse color or reflectivity of the surface. This is very similar to a diffuse map but is more the pure color of an object, while diffuse is both color as well as shaded with some diffuse lighting.
ROUGHNESS MAP
ROUGHNESS MAP
The Roughness Map (or Gloss Map) defines how light scatters across the surface of your 3D model. A 0 for Roughness results in a very shiny surface like plastic while a 1 is a more matte look.
Metallic MAP
Metallic MAP
Metalness maps are fairly self explanatory. They define whether the material is made of metal or not and work on a 0 to one scale. In fashion, metalness maps are most often used for trims
Baking
Baking
In your typical 3D scene you will want to shade, texture and light objects to create the exactlook that you want, and then you render. To shorten render times you can bake all the materials, textures and illumination information into an image file. For instance, you could bake all the lighting information directly onto an existing texture, render it once, and then delete the actual lights used in the scene. This is great for games because a light would need to be recalculated every new frame.
Resources
Resources
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