Low Poly Liliha Updates #6
Mapping is all done! I was hoping to get started on texturing but spent most of my free time on misc activites.
There's a few things to take notes here. The head looks like it's taking a lot of texture realistate but it really isn't. It's an entire head including face, hair and neck. Just compare the grid pattern. The torso still has more desity than the head. It's also NOT mirror. With a texture size of 1024x1024, I rather have subtle differences on each side of the the face and hair than twice the resolution if it was mirrored. If I was working with a 512x512, the head would definately be mirrored. We mortals are programmed to pick up subtle differences in the face. A mirrored face model and texture looks too perfectly symmetrical and we can't help but think something is "off". Also, it's hard to make mirrored hair look natural.
Another thing to notice is there are no lights in the scene. In XSI no lights = fully lite texture that is the same as if it's in Photoshop. If there were no grid patterns, it would be completly solid gray. From now until near the end of texturing, all shading and highlights will be from the texture only. The reason is I don't want any lighting to interfere and confuse things.
Also.. modeling and mapping isn't %100 completed. I usually leave things a little loose and tighten up when everything is in place. During texturing, there will be some remapping and geometry changes. Because the model is distorted in several locations and the pixel density is inconsistant, painting in details will be a little more difficult. The first texture pass will help with this problem. I call this the "outline" layer. There are surprisingly a lot of simularity between creating a texture and Photoshop CG-ing. This is the main reason why I think people that can do good CG painting can be good texture artists. Back to the "outline" layer.. this is basically your "sketch". I will draw outlines of the skull, tattoo, individual fingers, eyes, mouth, etc. Alot of this will at first be guesstimations. Refining the mapping and going back and forth between XSI and Photoshop, we will eventually get all the outlines line up the way we want on the model. Sure, I can use a 3D paint program.. but I have my gripes about them that is best for another time.. XP This is only the first step in texturing. After this, things will look a lot more interesting.
Stay with me here.. the boring parts are almost done.. XD