Texturing in 3DS Max (any version)

[frozen]

I will be using Mouth shot’s Kusari Cruiser mesh as an example for this tutorial.

The first step involves importing the .3ds version of the model (if you created the mesh in another software), or opening it in 3ds max (if you created it in 3ds max). If you created the model in 3ds max, ignore this step. If you imported the model, you will have to change the orientation of the mesh first before you can do anything else.

To change the orientation of the model, you need to first select all of the meshes. You can press the hotkey for this “Ctrl + A”, which selects all the meshes. You will then need to click on the icon in the top tray that resembles an arrow down a 360 turn around a pivot. This is the rotation tool. To ensure rotation is easy, you should also select another icon that is further right from the rotate icon- it looks like a magnet outside an angle sign “<”. This is a snap toggle, which means when you rotate the mesh, it will turn around the x, y or z axes in degrees of 5.

Ensuring everything else is selected, you can rotate the mesh by clicking and holding any one of the three circular “lines” you see in your viewport (yellow, blue or red circle denoting one of the three axes).

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/1.png

Looking at the mesh, you can see it is currently lying on its side instead of being straight up. So, rotating it around the required axes, you get this as a result

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/2.png

As you can clearly see, the model is NOT centered correctly. This is the next step you need to do. Next to the rotate icon, there is an option called “select and move” when you highlight it, which looks like a four pointer + cursor. Select this. At the bottom of the screen, you can see 3 boxes, next to which is written x, y, and z, and each of these boxes have some numbers in them. You will ensure that all the meshes are selected, and change the value in all the three boxes to 0. This will center the model.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/3.png

The model is now centered, so the next step involves converting the model to editable poly. To do this, you ensure that all your meshes are selected, then you right click in one of the view ports, go down to the option called “convert to”, and select the option “Convert to editable poly”. This is a key step to texturing models in 3ds max.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/4.png

The next step is completely optional, however it will probably make your life much easier. Deselect all the meshes by clicking anywhere in the viewport, then click on the mesh, ensuring you select only one of the meshes out of all the others. You will see a new list of options on the right hand side of your screen. Out of all of the options, there is one red icon, in the shape of a cube, which is called “element” when you hover above it. Select that button. Look down the list, and you will see a button called “attach”, and right next to it, you will see a smaller window shaped icon. Click this icon, which will open a new window for you. The new window will show you a list of all the meshes in the viewports. Click the button called “all”, which selects all the meshes in the list, then hit the “attach” button. This will ensure all the meshes are now part of one group instead of having loads of groups everywhere, and this makes texturing a helluva lot easier. Best thing, once you finish texturing, you can detach the meshes just as easily.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/5.png

Once you’ve done that, click the “element mode” button again to deselect it. The pivot of the mesh should currently reside at 0,0,0 co-ordinates. Just as a precaution, i suggest doing this step even if the pivot is at 0,0,0; it doesn’t hurt and is very easy.

Making sure that the mesh is selected, but the element mode is deselected, as shown in the screenshot below, click on the button to go into the hierarchy mode. Once there, click on the option “affect pivot only”, and click on the option “center to object”. This will center the pivot of the entire mesh at the absolute center of the mesh. Click the “affect pivot only” to deselect it once again, and click the button on the left hand side of the hierarchy button to ensure you don’t accidentally change the pivot again. Click the button to move the mesh around, and make sure the x y and z co ordinates are at 0,0,0; if not, make it happen.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/6.png

This will ensure that the model is 100% definitely centered correctly now, and you are now one step closer to texturing your model. Once the above steps are done, the next step involves slicing the model in half along the correct axis to reduce the workload regarding texturing as well as reducing the possible amount of errors that may have been missed.

On the right hand side is a dropdown called “modifier list”. Click this, and navigate right to the bottom till you see an option called “symmetry”. Click this button. This will show you a sort of “list” in the tiny window below the dropdown which looks something like:

Symmetry
Editable poly.

The symmetry modifier will help you ensure that the mesh is, as the name suggests, symmetrical.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/7.png

Depending which axis you wish to apply the symmetry modifier, choose the option from one of the three- X Y or Z. Try all three, till you find the one that works correctly (remember, you wish to mirror the ship along the left and right, so the chances are you’ll need to select the Z option). If you need to flip the symmetry modifier, tick the box, etc.

Once your’re satisfied, right click on the “symmetry” word, and click the option when you see it “collapse all”. This will make your symmetry change to the mesh permanent, and you wont lose it (unless you deliberately undo your work).

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/8.png

Remember, the same rules apply for texturing as they do for modelling- model one half, mirror it across, reduce workload by half, ensure quality is high and errors are non-existant. The next step involves selecting one half of the ship and deleting it. Press the red square icon, which is called “polygon mode” when you hover over it with the mouse (next to element mode), and then click the “select and move” icon so you can select the faces in the viewport. Having done that, select all the faces on either the left side or the right side of the model’s center as shown in the screenshot below, and once selected, hit delete:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k13/gu...dmin/9.png

You will now have half a mesh, and you are now ready to texture.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---