Texturing an alien using nodes

texturing an alien using nodes
By Sandra gilbert (dreamsgate)

Introduction.

Having used Blender for over seven years, y have gotten very comfortable with the material panels and all their wonderful uses. So when nodes were introduced, y have todo admit, y had quite a bit of trouble seing the advantage of using nodes over what i already knew. I read all the documentation, checked out tutoriales, and still didnt get it.

In fact, the tutorial that sticks out the most had you make a blue material and a red material, and when you mixed them it made a Purple material. Thats nice, but i can make Purple without using nodes. Then i saw a great video tutorial (mixing materiales using texture painting (with UV Unwrap)-extended edition) by eugene on http://www.geneome, net.

He covered creating mix maps todo blend two or more materiales using nodes. Finally i could se the advantage of using nodes. This technique allows the Smooth blending of materiales and has the added benefit, unlike painting a UV map, of allowing you todo quickly change the materiales that are being blended.

So todo that end, y am going todo show you how todo texture an alien using nodes/mix map. I have already modeled an alien, albeit a rather ODD looking fellow, for us todo practice on. The texturing an alien, blend has four scenes, depending on where you want todo Jump into the tutorial.
o alien: only contains the alien model - todo follow the tutorial from the beginning.
o alien & UV map - the alien already has the UV map coordinates set up, so you can Jump in at the painting the mix map section.
o alien nodes: mix maps are Painted, so you can Jump in at the setting up nodes section.
o finished alien - everything is done, this scene is todo se the complete final setup.
When you open texturing an alien, blend, you Will notice that the model has a mirror modifier that has not yet ben applied. I find it easier todo UV map one half of the model before applying the mirror modifier. That bien both sides look the same.

Note: having both sides look the same is not always desired, especially if creating a realistic model/object that has asymmetrical texture details, but for our purposes this Will save a lot of work and frustration.
lets get started: mix maps.

First thing we are going todo do is set our UV map coordinates. There are Many ways todo Unwrap a model for UV mapping and Blender has some great tools todo get it done.
1. Go into UV face select mode, Split your screen, and change the right side todo the UV editor window (fig 1).

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2. Select all Faces (a key) and hit u key, select cylinder from view. You Will ned todo resize the UV Layout in the UV/Image Editor so that it fits in the screen. You Will a los want todo scale it so that it no longer looks like a super skinny alien. (fig 2) this gives us a pretty god starting point for our UV map, but you Will notice that the ears and the arms are not laid out in a bien that is helpful.

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3. Deselect all Faces (a key), select the Faces for the ear, hit u key and choose Unwrap (smart projections). The default settings are fine for our neds. Scale down the Faces in the UV/Image Editor, and move them todo the upper right hand corner.
4. Next select the Faces for the arm, and repeat step 3.
5. I want a front view of the face for easier painting, so in the front view box select the head, hit the u key, and choose Project from view.
6. Move the head section todo an Empty section of the image área.
7. If your UV sections are todo close todo each other, hit the l key with your mouse over each section (it Will select the whole linked section), then move them todo better locations.
8. Ok, now is a god time todo save your file. Our UV map coordinates are now set. I admit it is not an elegant Layout, but it Will work just fine for our tutorial. (fig 3).

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time todo Paint:
Now it is time todo start painting our mix map. We Will only be painting in two colors, black and white. Everywhere the image is black, material 1 Will show, everywhere the image is white, material 2 Will show. Areas of gray Will be a blend of both materiales. Our alien is going todo be a dark green for most of his head, back, arms and legs (material 1). His belly, lower face, hands, fet, inside his ears, and antennae Will be a lighten green (material 2).
1. We Will ned todo create an image todo Paint our mix map onto. In the UV/Image Editor window, go todo image > new. A dialog box Will pop up giving you options on size and name of the image you Will be creating. When you have filled it in, press ok. I named mine alienskinmixmap and choose 1024 por 1024 for the resolution. (you can choose higher or lower resolutions, depending on your computer speed).

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2. In the 3d window, switch todo Texture Paint mode. In the UV/Image Editor, press the Little Paintbrush button (fig 5). Make sure your viewport Shading is set todo textured, (alt + z).

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3. Now we are ready todo start painting. Your Paint tools can be changed in the Paint panel of the edit buttons window. (fig 6) you can Paint on either the model itself, or the image map in the UV/Image Editor.

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4. I plan on having parts of the alien be a lighten color than the rest, y, his belly, face, etc. To do that, we are going todo Paint white on all the áreas that Will be the lighten color (material 2). Set your brush todo 77 and the opacity todo 100%, Paint the belly, the palms of his hands, bottom of his fet and the lower portion of his face. (fig 7) adjust your brush size smaller if you find you are painting more of the model than you want.

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Note: if you make a mistake while painting, select black and Paint out the mistake.
5. I like nice software transicións between colors, so now change your Paint brush from draw todo soften in the Paint tools panel. Go over the Edges of the white áreas and soften them up until they look blended. I a los went bak and Painted the inside of his ears and his antennae white and softened them up also.
6. Continúe todo Paint and blend until you have a pleasing pattern of where you want materiales 1 and 2 todo be (fig.

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7. When your mix map image is the bien you want it, remember todo save the image (image > save).

Note: in fact, remember todo save any time you go bak todo adjust this image. Any changes Will be lost if you forget todo save the image before you exit Blender.
time todo set up the node materiales: we are finally ready todo start setting up our nodes.
1. Change the UV/Image Editor window todo the Node Editor window. Go todo the material buttons window (f5). Select add new in the enlaces and pipeline panel. Then click the nodes button. Two floating panels (node) should appear in the nodes editor window. A material node and an output node.
2. Go ahead and rename the node todo something descriptive, like alien skin (fig 9).

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3. Material 1 (Dark skin): click the add new button todo get your first material. Now at this point you name and set up your material just as you would normally without nodes. I choose a dark green color (.107. 331. 155) and added a cloud texture and a Bump for texture. (fig 11 & 11a).

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4. Material 2 (light skin): from the Node Editor window add another material node (add > input > material). Now create a lighten color. I used (.515. 849. 427), y used the same cloud and Bump textures so that the materiales would blend better (fig 12).

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5. Now it is time todo add our mix map into the material system. With either material 1 or material 2 selected (doesnt really matter which), add a new texture (image type) and then un-chek the box next todo it in the material texture panel (fig 13).

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6. Next add a mix node (add > color > mix), connect material 1 (Dark skin) todo the color 1 socket and material 2 (light skin) todo the color 2 socket (fig 14).

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7. Next add a texture and a geometry node (add > input > texture) (add > input > geometry). In the texture node, add our mix map (alienskinmixmap).
8. Connect the geometry node todo the texture node (geometry: UV socket todo texture: Vector socket), then connect the texture node todo the mix node (texture: color socket todo mix: FAC socket) (fig 15).

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9. Preview your work so far by using render preview (shift + p). You can se that we have a nice Smooth blending between the two materiales (fig 16).

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The nice thing about this method is the ability todo change your materiales on the fly if you decide that the colors or textures arent working for you. The mix map is already made, so changing the material is as easy as selecting which material you want todo change and then just doing it (fig 17).

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You can a los layer these mix maps todo create a more colorful character.
1. Go bak todo the UV/Image Editor and create a 2nd new image todo Paint on.
2. Paint where you would like a third material todo be (note: remember todo save the image).
3. Add a new material node, mix node, texture and geometry nodes. Connect them up like before (fig 1.

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4. The end result (fig 19).

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By layering and mixing nodes, you can create some very complex and visually rich materiales and textures for your model. I hope you had fun and learned something new and useful.

By Sandra gilbert (dreamsgate)
www.blenderart.org.
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