Maya: Texturing an Alleyway

This was a lesson/tutorial on how to texture an object using Maya and Direct X 11 shader's. Texturing is the process of applying a 2D image to a 3D object, however just simply adding one texture is often not enough to make an object appear real. Normal Maps, specular maps, diffuse maps ect all work together to create a surface that tricks the eye into thinking its real. DX11 contains programmable shader stages that allow the user to fine tune their textures with greater ease. 

Using Direct X 11 allows someone to use high level shading language (HLSL) to add shader's to an object with a greater amount of detail and speed. A link can be found below containing information on DX11 shader's and HLSL.

DX11 Tutorial - http://www.rastertek.com/dx11tut04.html

I was given a Maya scene and taken step by step through the process of texturing. The first thing I did was load DX11 and set it to auto load. This means that every time I open Maya DX11 shader's will be available for me to use. I then opened my settings and enabled OpenGL under the Display tab. This allows Maya to use Physically Based Rendering. I also set the renderer to Viewport 2.0. This allows me to see DX11 shader's which appear white when in the viewport. I then restarted Maya. The scene was now ready to be textured.

Enabling DX11 shader's in my scene.

The scene given to me to texture.

Once the scene was open in Maya I began systematically working my way through objects and texturing them one by one. The barrel was the first thing to be textured. I opened up a UV snapshot of the barrel in Photoshop. I then copied in an image of wooden planks provided by my tutor and began shaping it to the barrels UV snapshot.

1st attempt at texturing the barrel in the scene using Photoshop.

I applied the diffuse texture to the barrel. However it looked very bland and didn't stand out, I also forgot to texture the bottom and top of the barrel. So I went back into Photoshop and added in some metal braces to match the mesh geometry. I also duplicated the image of the wooden planks and placed it on the bottom/ top of the barrel.

To help the braces stand out against the wood I multiplied some images down on top of the metal and combined them together. I also adjusted the levels of the wood which helped emphasize the splits in the wood by creating contrast, all of this helped to make a more realistic diffuse map/ texture.

    

Final diffuse texture for the barrel.

I saved the diffuse texture as a Targa file and applied it to the barrel. I then began work on the rest of the scene. 

Texturing the walls and alleyway was again a simple task, using a UV snapshot I was able to line up the images given to Me by my tutor in Photoshop and save them as a Targa file, they were then applied to the mesh in Maya. 

Diffuse textures applied in Maya. Both the barrel and the floor/ wall are textured in the scene.

Once the floor/ wall texture was placed into the scene I started texturing and adding details such as the drain pipe, manhole, grime and grit, grating ect. When I began adding these textures I forgot to make use of the UV snapshot like I had done for the floor/ wall so a few of the images were out of place like this drain. However as soon as I realized my mistake I quickly made use of the snapshot to line up the textures in Photoshop. 

What can happen when you forget to use the UV snapshot. 

I applied some finishing touches to the scene (dirt and wear around the manhole cover, rough paint on the wall ect.) and rendered the result. The wooden planks covering the window and the window itself were the last textures I applied.

The finished scene.

If I was to re do this project I would make a conscious effort to remind myself of the importance of the UV snapshot, I spent 10 minutes correcting mistakes I made when I initially textured the scene. This would help increase the speed of my workflow and in turn increase how productive I am. I would also take the time to add normal maps and specular maps, adding these would create depth and contrast both of which are important if you are aiming to create a believable, virtual world. I would also consider using DDO and 3DO to generate smart materials for Me to place into the scene and optimize the DX11 shaders and their ability to make use of physically based rendering. I am unsure however if physically based rendering is exclusive to DX11 shaders.

Overall I am happy with the outcome, the tutorial helped me grasp the concept of texturing better and has inspired Me since to look into DX11 shader's and their use's.