Getting Started Part 6: UV Mapping and Applying a Texture.

So first I will start by saying I will keep it simple for this part. And just explain theory, I will be uploading and providing practical examples how I build models and you can get further ideas of how to build UV maps from that. I will say this section takes practice, and a lot of fooling around with your texture maps, however the theory behind it is simple.

I’m going to start with a very simple Cube. Once your Cube is loaded simply go Model > Property > Texture Projection > Unique UV’s (you could go with a cubic projection which is already done for you , or experiment with texture projections, I’m specifically showing unique UV’s because it is the most common type of projection you will be using, and to show how connectivity works)

In the above picture you will see the projection properties, you can use this on more complicated models to decide what angle you want to be the angle where the polygons automatically break into a new UV. (if you want create a sphere as well and apply a texture projection to it, press alt+7 to open to texture editor and slide that angle slider around you can see how this functions).

Now we will apply a diffuse texture to our cube before we continue, for SWBF2 it is recommended that your texture be either 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, 64×64, 128×128, 256×256, 512×512, 1024×1024 those are common dimensions (in pixels), they should also be in .Targa format (.tga) (if you are using gimp make sure RLE compression is left unchecked when its exported of BF2 doesnt like it).

To apply our texture simply go Render > Texture > Image as shown below.

When the window for the texture pops up click the “new” button and select from file. Then simply navigate to your texture.

After this if you change your view mode from wireframe to either textured or texture decal you should see your texture applied to the object.

our cube with the texture applied.

Next lets make our texture proper and connect the parts of our cube together. open the texture editor (on the main shelf click views > texture editor or simply press alt+7)

In the image above, in the blue box is our selection tools, this works the exact same way as our selection tools for objects, v = verts (points), e = edge, and p = polygon try using each one to see how it selects if your unsure.

In the red box is our transforms this again works the same way as our model manipulating, it scales, rotates or translates depending on the letter selected.

finally the snapping tool in the green box. This operates the exact same way as the weld point tool. If you use the vert (point) selection in the texture editor you can drag a point with snapping enabled to another point and it will weld them together.

In the above picture you will notice I dragged two polys aside to plan its texture. The Colors on edges show connectivity so you will notice the poly on the top left has a blue edge on its left and the poly on the right has a blue edge on its bottom. These two polysconnect to one another on our model. To join them you can rotate the poly on the right 90 degrees clockwise to make the blue edge on the left side then simply drag the two and snap them together. (you can rotate clockwise with the “r” key in the texture editor)

If you have a hard time figuring out which polys are where on the model to texture them you can simply go into the viewport, go into raycast poly mode (u key), and select any face on the object, it will select that face in the texture editor. I have displayed this in the image Below.

you should always try to connect as many polys as possible in UV mapping, this will take a lot of practice but as you tinker more you will get used to it. Keep an eye on others texturing tutorials as well to learn more, there are hundreds of ways to do this and none are really that simple. start with small simple objects if possible, avoid player models while you learn as those can be very difficult. When you are ready to do so proceed to the next part, where we will learn how to get our object ingame.