#2
24th Feb 2023 at 4:08 AM
Last edited by simmer22 : 24th Feb 2023 at
4:27 AM.
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You can make a UV map for the entire mesh in one texture map. This one isn't properly UVmapped yet if there's just one side showing.
A UVmap for a 6-sided box can look something like the picture below - that way you can texture all the sides. If two sides can use the same texture, you can overlap them (take mirroring into account here, though) - it's useful if you need room for other items or want two sides to look identical. In most cases you want as few parts as possible, so you get smooth transitions in the edges, and so each item on the map is recognizable, and you also want them oriented properly (unless it's okay that something is upside down due to orientation, mirrored, or rotated, make sure you've fixed that. Figuring out where a texture is supposed to go when a random square is sideways and mirrored is not always easy).
The texture needs to be put together in an image editing program. It needs to follow the "power of 2" rule (start with 2, multiply up with 2 each time to get acceptable sizes. These work as square and rectangular sizes - most commonly used are 256, 512 and 1024, so 256x512 pixels, 1024x512 or 1024x1024 work fine, but 1056x312 would not work).
Milkshape is absolutely not the easiest place to UVmap from scratch (editing an already made texture map kinda works, but mapping is a pain - you have to split everything up and mark things square by square). There's a tool called UVmapper (Pro?) that I know some people use alongside it.
Personally I've always used other tools. Currently I do UVmapping (from scratch, anyway) in Blender - it has more tools, plus you can work directly on the mesh if you want to make seams for the UVs and such. It also has texturing tools (I don't use those much). Blender has a steep learning curve, but there are a lot of tutorials, especially on Youtube, and the beginner UVmapping tutorials are quite good.