In this tutorial, you will learn about texturing in Maya. You will do this by learning how to texture a Coke can. You can learn how to create the Coke can in Maya with our Maya Basics tutorial. After creating the Coke can you will need to texture it by following the steps below.
You can also refer to the following video as you try out the steps below.
To texture any 3D object in Maya, you will first have to unwrap it so that the textures don’t end up in the wrong places.
So first, you will need to find out which parts have different textures and Cut and Sew them accordingly.
To Cut and Sew you will need to be in the modeling mode in Maya and select the object you want to cut and sew. Then, go to UV on the top >> and click on 3D Cut and Sew UV tool
Once you’ve clicked on the tool you need to get rid of all the already existing white lines by holding CTRL and double-clicking on them.
After all the already existing lines have been removed you can cut it at the areas where the different textures meet by double clicking. This will select the entire edge loop. If you want to select only a singular edge you can single-click on it to do so.
This would be where the Coke’s red label meets the metal so it has been cut.
After you have cut it, you need to go to the UV editor which is located under the UV tab at the top menu of Maya.
Once you have entered the UV editor, you must select UV Shell by holding right-click and hovering over the option that pops up and drag select everything that is present inside of the UV editor’s display.
After everything has been selected, under UV toolkit click on the unfold dropdown >> unfold.
Now the UV shells have been unfolded and are most likely placed upon one another.
After unfolding, under Unfold click on Straighten UV.
You must now separate them and place them in an orderly manner but no part of the UV shell must leave the box.
For the other objects that are present in the scene that are not very visible, we can use the automatic Unwrap by clicking on UV >> Automatic.
After you have done this to all the objects in your scene, select all the objects at the same time, go to UV editor, and place them all in the same box. The UVs should not overlap with one another.
Now save this as a UV snapshot by clicking on Image >> UV snapshot.
Take this image into Photoshop and place the textures in the correct places.
Save this as a PNG so that you can use it in Maya as a texture.
In Maya select all the objects and make them a lambert by right-clicking >> assign favorite material >> lambert.
Now click on Hypershade.
Click on lambert 2 and rename it so that you won’t get confused >> Click on the small checker box next to color >> Select file >> Image name >> File icon >> Select the texture to be applied.
The object has now been textured.
Congratulations! You have now learned unwrapping and texturing in Maya in this tutorial.
Here’s the video for reference again:
Next, you can learn how to model a simple park bench with our 3D modeling in Maya Tutorial.
3D Modeling Tutorials:
Maya Tutorials:
Blender Tutorials:
Game Art and Design
