Game Texture Development - Si-Fi Crate

For this task we were given a high-res and low-res model of the Si-Fi crate. A normal map needed to be baked onto the low poly mesh from the high poly mesh. Once the normal map was complete we were then tasked with the texturing of the crate using Adobe Photoshop.

In order to bake normal maps onto a low poly mesh, that mesh needs to have UV's associated with it. To accomplish this I used a camera map to create the UV's, selecting edges and cutting them with the cut UV edges tool. I use this as an organisation method for my UV shells, making it easier to select certain areas and re-map them. For this mesh I used the camera mapping in order to map each section, moving the camera to a suitable position or using an orthographic camera. Some of this could also have been achieved using the planer mapping tool, gaining the same effect. Once mapped the UV shells are then unfolded using a mixture of the unfold tool with options and the smooth UV tool. The shells that I finished with could have been aligned better, this may have improved my texturing workflow in Adobe Photoshop. Keeping this in mind for my next project will allow me to improve my work further.

In the lighting and shading drop-down menu there is a tool called Transfer Maps. This is the tool used to transfer normal, occlusion, diffuse, specular and gloss information from a high poly mesh to a low poly one. Load the low poly mesh into the target section and the high poly into the source section. Alter the settings as desired and hit bake. It is worth noting that the position of your envelope in comparison to your mesh has a huge impact on the maps that are created. If you are using Xnormals for this process then you will need to export the three assets, low poly, high poly and envelope as .obj files in order for the program to read them.

Once the normal map was created I then loaded this into Adobe Photoshop, taking all of the saturation from the image. This can then be used as a guide for the texturing process. Allowing me to see where all of the detail from the high poly mesh should be.

At this stage I add all of the block colour into the texture, moving the process along considerably. At this point all that needs adding is the scratch textures and any extra detail. This was done using a combination of the poly lasso and fill tool. Each colour was given a separate layer, giving me the ability to mask them separately. This also gives you the ability to quickly change the colours in your texture if needed.


Next I added layer masks to the colour layers, editing these masks by painting with a custom brush and black colour. Any black area in the mask will remove that part of the image from view. Using this method I was able to give the impression of the paint peeling from thee layers of paint underneath it. At this stage the details on the bolts and scratches on the edges were also added. In order to get the scratch effect a small custom brush was used with shape dynamics and transfer added.


Finally I added the grunge and scrapes to the metal surface. Having already made a custom brush for this earlier in my life, I did not need to acquire a texture and edit it. This means that my workflow was improved because of organising my work previously.

A spec map needed to be made in order for the scrapes on the surface of the metal to look realistic. I did this by de-saturating my texture and removing elements from it, altering the levels of some layers in order to replicate the specularity of those areas.