4. Fundamentals of Texturing in Blender

Textures are 2D images that are designed to influence a 3D model's appearance. Whether it's simply to add color to a model like one would paint a clay sculpture, or to govern a specific material attribute, textures can be generated and painted by hand with Blender's built-in tools. The texture process begins with addressing a model's UV coordinates.

UVs are the mechanism by which a 2D image is transposed on to a 3D model. It's an art form in itself to layout these coordinates to maximize texel density (amount of texture pixels utilized) while minimizing stretching (disproportion between the model and its UV's). After UV's are established, textures can be painted by hand using a Wacom pen and tablet. Textures can also be generated by "baking" geometric data into image texture format. Alternatively textures can be painted with an external application and easily brought back into Blender. CC Music: "Home Tonight" by DoKashiteru

WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS COURSE

Chapter 1 - UV Coordinates

These are the 2D representation of a 3D model that exists mainly to transpose image textures on to the model.
* Accessing UVs
* UV Mapping
* UV Unwrapping

Chapter 2 - Painting

Blender offers tools for hand-painting textures with digital "brushes".

* Creating an Image Texture
* 2D Painting
* 3D Painting
* Saving Textures & Vertex Painting

Chapter 3 - Baking

Blender allows us to tranpose geometric information to image texture format in a process called "baking".

* Map Baking with Blender Render
* Map Baking with Cycles

Chapter 4 - External Editing

Sometimes you need to use an external application to edit your textures. Here's how you can painless jump out of and back into Blender when texturing.

* Editing Textures Externally

Licensing: You're free to use this resource in up to three classrooms and of course for yourself!