the whole image texture thing a little confusing

[Jamel]

Im not that new to light wave i had it for a while but, for some reason i never had to take a image and use it on an object. I thought it would be an easy think but apparantly it isnt. im testing out sum skin textures i see on the web, and in surface editor either color or bump i add the image there but it the image just repeats its self over and over over the model instead of just once. is there some thing im doing wrong?? i'll try to post pics.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/JamelD/test.jpg

[Dexter2999]

Skin textures will be rough. UV maps. Try google or flay for some tutorials.
The repeating is for a couple of reasons.
One is your reference pic is scaled too small. Try clicking AUTOMATIC SIZING. It will make the texture fit.
The other reason is because you the default setting for texture "Height Tile" and "Width Tile" is repeat. You can click on those settings and change them to Reset, Mirror, or Edge.

Click, Play, Learn, Enjoy.

[Jamel]

So i found out how to get the skin textures to work. But im trying to get this skin to look more realistic though it sucks that lw doesnt have a really good working sss but oh well. I just want to know if there any way i can improve this. thanks


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/JamelD/skintest3.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/JamelD/skintest2.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/JamelD/skintest1.jpg

[Dodgy]

Well you really need to take that image into photoshop and make it more seamless for a start. The bump map looks like he has a massive fingerprint on him, I tend to use a procedural like crumple for that. very small and very light. Then use an image map beneath that for just the major features.
The human body is quite dry unlees it's been sweating so reduce the specular a lot. 5% or so should be enough.

[starbase1]

Looks to me very much like the image is not remotely close to lined up with the figure, although the scale is approximately right.

You can't take an arbitrary texture / image, and slap it onto a figure like that, and expect usable results.

You only get good results with 2 designed to work together.

It's nothing to do with sub surface scattering, or lightwave limitations - you need to get it UV mapped so everything is in the right place without stretching ariound the curves. NO software has a magic 'texture this human' button.

For easy human figures you may well be better off using something like Poser, which comes with some textured figures, and has loads more based on the free M3 and V3 figures, some at very reasonable prices.

Nick

[toby]

Starbase is right, texturing a human is a tall order. Painting the texture is a job in itself and so is the UV mapping. You must be proficient at both.

I'd suggest practicing with every UV map tutorial you can find, it can be a brain-twister.

[RedBull]

Skin will always look like Skin, apart from the UV mapping and surfacing.
Lighting pays, a huge role in the aid of correct looking skin....

So unless your character is in an environment, skin setups are tricky...
I use Graident controlled lights, weightmaps, shaders, maps, alphas's procedurals, and then the environment, will dictate the actual skins look and feel....