LIGHTWAVE V9 TEXTURING

LIGHTWAVE V9 TEXTURING

by Angel Nieves
Released October 2010
Publisher(s): Jones & Bartlett Learning
ISBN: 9781449612962

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

LightWave v9 Texturing takes you behind the fine art of surfacing your 3D objects using LightWave 3D. Because many artists find texturing and prepping objects for texturing intimidating or confusing, this book breaks down the process and makes it easier to understand by guiding you through LightWave’s powerful surfacing toolset and a number of helpful tutorials. LightWave v9 Texturing also demonstrates how easy it is to create surfaces using LightWave’s new, powerful node-based shading system.
With this book go beyond texturing theory to find out what makes a great realistic texture; learn how to build textures using both LightWave’s classic layer system and the new Node Editor; discover how to unwrap and edit UV maps; find out how to create a variety of surfaces through a series of tutorials; enhance your surfaces with gradients, image maps, and procedural textures.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Part 1 The Art and Science of Texturing
    1. Chapter 1 Observing the World Around Us
      1. Looking at the World a Little Differently
      2. The Effects of Time and Weather
      3. The Effects of Human Interaction
      4. Every Surface Tells a Story
      5. Gathering References
    2. Chapter 2 Lighting Basics
      1. Observing Light and Its Effects
      2. Basic Light Options in LightWave
        1. Distant Lights
        2. Spotlights
        3. Point Lights
        4. Area Lights
        5. Linear Lights
      3. Creating Basic Lighting Setups
        1. The Key Light
        2. The Fill Light
        3. The Backlight
  4. Part 2 The Surface Editor
    1. Chapter 3 Introduction to the Surface Editor
      1. Opening the Surface Editor
      2. Edit Modes
      3. Filtering Options
      4. Loading, Saving, and Renaming Surfaces
      5. The Preview Window
      6. Edit Nodes
      7. Smoothing
      8. Double Sided Surfaces
      9. The Comment Field
    2. Chapter 4 Surface Attributes
      1. Color
        1. What Is Color?
        2. Using Color
        3. Ensuring Color Accuracy
        4. Manipulating Color
          1. Hue
          2. Saturation
          3. Brightness
          4. Contrast
      2. Diffuse
        1. What Is Diffuse?
        2. Using Diffuse
      3. Luminosity
        1. What Is Luminosity?
        2. Using Luminosity
        3. Using Glow with Luminous Surfaces
      4. Specularity
        1. What Is Specularity?
        2. Using Specularity
        3. Tinting Specular Highlights
        4. Anisotropic Specularity
      5. Glossiness
        1. What Is Glossiness?
        2. Using Glossiness
      6. Reflection
        1. What Is Reflection?
        2. Creating an Environment for Reflections
          1. Using Image World
          2. Using Textured Environment
        3. Using Reflection
        4. Diffuse Value and Reflection
        5. Activating Reflections in Your Render Settings
      7. Transparency and Refraction
        1. What Is Transparency?
        2. What Is Refraction?
        3. Using Transparency and Refraction
          1. Transparency, Reflection, and the Fresnel Effect
          2. Color Highlights and Color Filter
          3. Ray Trace Transparency
          4. Ray Trace Refraction
      8. Translucency
        1. What Is Translucency?
        2. Using Translucency
        3. Subsurface Scattering in Translucent Surfaces
      9. Bump Mapping
        1. What Is Bump Mapping?
        2. Using Bump Mapping
        3. Bump Mapping vs. Displacement
    3. Chapter 5 Advanced Options in the Surface Editor
      1. The Advanced Tab
        1. Alpha Channel Options for Surfaces
          1. Unaffected by Surface
          2. Constant Value
          3. Surface Opacity
          4. Shadow Density
        2. Special Buffers
          1. Corona
          2. Full Precision Blur
          3. Render Buffer Export
          4. Soften Reflections
        3. Glow
        4. Render Outlines
        5. Applying Vertex Color Maps
        6. Color Highlights
        7. Color Filter
        8. Additive Transparency
        9. Diffuse Sharpness
      2. The Environment Tab
        1. Setting Up Environments
        2. Reflection and Refraction Options
          1. Choosing Reflection Settings
          2. Choosing Refraction Settings
        3. Reflection and Refraction Blurring
      3. Shaders
        1. Built-in LightWave Shaders
          1. BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function)
          2. Edge Transparency
          3. Surface Baker
          4. Fast Fresnel and Real Fresnel
          5. Halftone
          6. Interference
          7. Super Cel Shader
          8. Thin Film
          9. Z Shader
          10. Surface Mixer
          11. gMIL Occlusion
          12. Stress Map
        2. Third-Party Shaders
      4. The Difference between Shading and Texturing
        1. Mapping
        2. Shading
        3. Texturing
  5. Part 3 Creating Textures
    1. Chapter 6 The Preset Shelf
      1. Creating and Using LightWave Surface Presets
      2. Adding to the Surface Presets
      3. Assigning Surface Presets
      4. Organizing and Maintaining Your Presets
      5. Creating New Preset Libraries
    2. Chapter 7 Vertex Color Maps
      1. What Are Vertex Color Maps?
      2. Creating Vertex Color Maps
        1. The Airbrush Tool
        2. Vertex Paint
      3. Applying Vertex Color Maps
    3. Chapter 8 Procedural Textures
      1. Using Procedural Textures
      2. Seeing Procedural Textures in Your Viewports
      3. Texture Color and Texture Value
      4. Texture Scale
      5. Using Procedural Textures Creatively
      6. Using LightWave’s Built-in Procedural Textures
        1. Brick
        2. Bump Array
        3. Checkerboard
        4. Crumple
        5. Crust
        6. Dots
        7. Fractal Noise
        8. Grid
        9. Honeycomb
        10. Marble
        11. Ripples and Ripples 2
        12. Smoky1, Smoky2, and Smoky3
        13. Turbulence
        14. Underwater
        15. Value
        16. Veins
        17. Wood
      7. Additional LightWave Procedural Textures
        1. Coriolis
        2. Cyclone
        3. Dented
        4. FBM and FBM Noise
        5. Hetero Terrain
        6. Hybrid Multi-Fractal
        7. Multi-Fractal
        8. Puffy Clouds
        9. Ridged Multi-Fractal
        10. Turbulent Noise
    4. Chapter 9 Gradients
      1. Introduction to Using Gradients
      2. Input Parameters
        1. Previous Layer
        2. Bump
        3. Slope
        4. Incidence Angle
        5. Light Incidence
        6. Distance to Camera
        7. Distance to Object
        8. X Distance to Object, Y Distance to Object, and Z Distance to Object
        9. Distance to Pivot Point
        10. X Distance to Pivot Point, Y Distance to Pivot Point, and Z Distance to Pivot Point
        11. Weight Map
        12. Surface Thickness
      3. Working with Keys
        1. Creating and Editing Keys
          1. Value
          2. Alpha
          3. Parameter
          4. Smoothing
        2. Scale and Shift Keys
        3. Scale and Shift Values
        4. Invert Keys
      4. Gradient Tutorials
        1. Tutorial 1: Making a Velvet Surface for an Old Hat
        2. Tutorial 2: Snowy Mountain
        3. Tutorial 3: Simulating the Fresnel Effect in Glass
    5. Chapter 10 Using Weight Maps for Texturing
      1. Using Weight Maps to Control the Input and Placement of Gradients and Textures
      2. Creating Weight Maps and Weight Map Gradients
      3. Weight Map Tutorial: The LightWave Logo
    6. Chapter 11 Image Maps
      1. Conventions for the Creation of Image Maps
        1. Deciding on Image Resolution and Size
        2. Using Grayscale Images to Control Attribute Values
      2. Creating Image Maps for Individual Surface Attributes
        1. Overview of Creating and Using Image Maps
        2. Preparing and Using Photographs for Image Maps
        3. Creating Seamless Textures
        4. Creating and Using Images with Alpha Channels
          1. Only Use RGB and Grayscale Images!
      3. Practical Examples for Painting Image Maps
        1. Making a Color Map
        2. Making a Luminosity Map
        3. Making a Diffuse Map
          1. Creating Procedural Diffuse Textures
        4. Making a Specular Map
        5. Making a Glossiness Map
        6. Making a Reflection Map
        7. Making a Transparency Map
        8. Making a Translucency Map
        9. Making a Bump Map
      4. Good File Habits
      5. 3D Paint Solutions
        1. Right Hemisphere’s Deep Paint 3D
          1. Program Overview
        2. Maxon’s BodyPaint 3D
          1. Program Overview
        3. Pixologic’s ZBrush 2
          1. Program Overview
    7. Chapter 12 The Image Editor
      1. Introduction to the Image Editor
        1. Loading Images
        2. Replacing Images
        3. Cloning Images
        4. Preview Display Options
      2. The Source Tab
        1. Image Type
          1. Still
          2. Sequence
          3. Animation
          4. Reference
        2. Alpha Channel
        3. Interlace
        4. Sequence Digits
        5. Frame Rate
        6. First Frame and Last Frame
        7. Start Frame
        8. In and Out
        9. Post Behavior
      3. The Editing Tab
        1. Brightness
        2. Contrast
        3. Hue
        4. Saturation
        5. Gamma
        6. Invert
        7. Default
      4. The Processing Tab
    8. Chapter 13 The Texture Editor
      1. Layer Opacity and Blending Modes
        1. Using Layer Opacity
        2. Understanding and Using Blending Modes
          1. Normal
          2. Additive
          3. Subtractive
          4. Difference
          5. Multiply
          6. Divide
          7. Alpha
          8. Texture Displacement
          9. PShop Multiply
          10. PShop Screen
          11. PShop Overlay
          12. PShop Softlight
          13. PShop Hardlight
          14. PShop Colordodge
          15. PShop Colorburn
          16. PShop Darken
          17. PShop Lighten
          18. PShop Exclusion
      2. Other Options in the Texture Editor
        1. Invert Layer
        2. Texture Axis
        3. Reference Object
        4. World Coordinates
        5. Automatic Sizing
        6. Scale
        7. Position
        8. Rotation
        9. Falloff
        10. Extra Options When Using Images
          1. Width and Height Tile
          2. Pixel Blending
          3. Texture Antialiasing
          4. Strength
          5. Texture Amplitude
    9. Chapter 14 The Node Editor
      1. Getting to Know the Node Editor
        1. The Destination Node
        2. The Node Editor Interface
        3. Connection Types
          1. Color Connections (Red)
          2. Scalar Connections (Green)
          3. Vector Connections (Blue)
          4. Integer Connections (Purple)
          5. Function Connections (Yellow)
          6. Material Connections (Cyan)
        4. Making Connections
      2. 2D Textures
        1. Bricks2D
        2. CheckerBoard2D
        3. Grid2D
        4. Image
        5. Normal Map
        6. Parquet2D
        7. Planks2D
        8. Turbulence2D
      3. 3D Textures
        1. Bricks
        2. Checkerboard
        3. Crackle
        4. Crumple
        5. Crust
        6. Dots
        7. FBM
        8. Grid
        9. HeteroTerrain
        10. Honeycomb
        11. Hybrid-MultiFractal
        12. Marble
        13. MultiFractal
        14. RidgedMultiFractal
        15. Ripples
        16. Turbulence
        17. Turbulent Noise
        18. Underwater
        19. Veins
        20. Wood
        21. Wood2
        22. fBm Noise
      4. Constant
        1. Angle
        2. Color
        3. Direction
        4. Integer
        5. Pi
        6. Scalar
        7. Vector
      5. Functions
        1. Bias
        2. BoxStep
        3. Gain
        4. Gamma
        5. Modulate
        6. Noise
        7. Sine
        8. SmoothStep
        9. Wrap
      6. Gradients
        1. Tools
          1. Incidence
          2. Thickness
        2. Gradient
      7. Item Info
        1. Camera
        2. Item Info
        3. Light Info
      8. Layers
        1. Bump Layer
        2. Color Layer
        3. Scalar Layer
      9. Materials
        1. Conductor
        2. Delta
        3. Dielectric
        4. Make Material
        5. Material Mixer
        6. Standard
        7. Switch
      10. Math
        1. Scalar Subcategory
          1. Abs
          2. Add
          3. BoxStep
          4. Ceil
          5. Clamp
          6. Divide
          7. Floor
          8. Invert
          9. Logic
          10. Max
          11. Min
          12. Mod
          13. Multiply
          14. Pow
          15. Sign
          16. SmoothStep
          17. Subtract
        2. Trigonometry Subcategory
          1. ArcCos
          2. ArcSin
          3. ArcTan
          4. Cos
          5. Sin
          6. Tan
        3. Vector Subcategory
          1. Add
          2. Add4
          3. Add Scaled
          4. Cross
          5. Distance
          6. Divide
          7. Dot
          8. Length
          9. Multiply
          10. Normalize
          11. Scale
          12. Subtract
          13. Subtract Scaled
          14. Transform
          15. Transform2
      11. Ray Trace
        1. RayCast
        2. RayTrace
      12. Shaders
        1. Diffuse Subcategory
          1. Lambert
          2. Minnaert
          3. Occlusion
          4. Occlusion II
          5. OrenNayar
          6. Theta
          7. Translucency
        2. Reflection Subcategory
          1. Ani-Reflections
          2. Reflections
        3. Specular Subcategory
          1. Anisotropic
          2. Blinn
          3. CookTorrance
          4. Phong
        4. Subsurface Scattering Subcategory
          1. Kappa
          2. Kappa II
          3. Omega
        5. Transparency Subcategory
          1. Ani-Refractions
          2. Refractions
      13. Spot
      14. Tools
        1. Color Scalar
        2. Color Tool
        3. Limiter
        4. Make Color
        5. Make Vector
        6. Mixer
        7. Vector Scalar
      15. Vertex Map
        1. Morph Map
        2. Vertex Map
        3. Weight Map
      16. Putting Nodes to Work
        1. Blending Images with Gradients
        2. Assigning Different Textures to Double-sided Surfaces
        3. Air Polys No More!
        4. Making Targeted Eyes
        5. Skin with Subsurface Scattering (SSS)
          1. Kappa SSS
          2. Omega SSS
  6. Part 4 Texture Projections and Mapping
    1. Chapter 15 Standard Projection Techniques
      1. Introduction to Standard Projections
      2. Planar Projection
        1. Using Planar Projections
          1. Applying an Image Using Planar Projection
          2. Planar Stretching/Dragging
        2. Blending Planar Projections
          1. Blending with Falloff
          2. Blending with Gradients
          3. Blending with Alpha Channels
      3. Cylindrical Projection
        1. Using Cylindrical Projections
          1. Applying an Image with Cylindrical Projection
          2. “Capping” Cylindrical Objects
          3. Ensuring Seamless Mapping
          4. Using Adobe Photoshop’s Offset Filter to Hide Seams
          5. Using the Width Wrap Amount Option
        2. Cylindrical Projection Tutorial: Applying a Label to a Soda Can
      4. Spherical Projection
        1. Using Spherical Projections
          1. Applying an Image with Spherical Projection
          2. Ensuring Seamless Mapping
          3. Using Adobe Photoshop’s Polar Coordinates Filter to Check Seams
        2. Spherical Mapping Tutorial: Applying a Texture to a Planet
      5. Cubic Projection
        1. Using Cubic Projections
      6. Front Projection
        1. Using Front Projections
    2. Chapter 16 UV Mapping and Editing
      1. Preparing Your Model and Creating UV Maps
        1. Introduction to UV Mapping
        2. The UV Editor
        3. Planning Your UV Maps
        4. Tips for Better UV Maps
          1. To Freeze, Or Not to Freeze?
          2. Multiple UV Maps in a Single Surface
          3. Initial Placement of Seams
          4. Using Parts
          5. UVs and Subdivision Surfaces
          6. Don’t Panic!
      2. Planar UV Maps
        1. Using Planar Maps
        2. Planar UV Map Tutorial: Unwrapping a Sword
      3. Cylindrical and Spherical UV Maps
        1. Using Cylindrical and Spherical UV Maps
          1. Placing the Initial Seam
        2. Cylindrical Map Tutorial: Unwrapping a Human Head
      4. Atlas UV Maps
        1. Using Atlas Maps
        2. Making an Atlas UV Map
        3. Atlas UV Map Tutorial: Unwrapping a Small Building
    3. Chapter 17 Map Transformation and Editing Tools
      1. UV Map Editing Tools
        1. General Commands
          1. Set Map Value
          2. Copy Vertex Map
          3. Delete Vertex Map
          4. Rename Vertex Map
          5. Clear Map
          6. Cull Map
          7. Normalize Map
        2. Using the UV Mapping Tools
          1. New UV Map
          2. Make UVs — Assign UV Coordinates
          3. Flip UVs
          4. Transform UV
          5. Weld UV
          6. Heal UV
          7. Poly Map
          8. Point Maps
          9. Set UV Value
          10. Polygon Normal UVs
          11. UV Spider
          12. Guess Viewport UV Image
          13. Texture Guide
      2. Tips for Editing UV Maps Successfully
        1. The Necessity of Editing UV Maps
        2. Understanding Discontinuous UV Maps
        3. Using the Unweld Command
        4. Fixing the Annoying Subdivision Distortion Problem — Interpolation Options
        5. Eliminating Stretching
        6. Combining Different UV Maps
        7. Patience
  7. Part 5 Animating Textures
    1. Chapter 18 Enveloping Basics
      1. Animatable Surface Parameters in LightWave
  8. Part 6 Effects Processing
    1. Chapter 19 Image Filters in LightWave
      1. How Image Filters Work
      2. Using Image Filters to Enhance Surfaces
        1. Bloom
        2. Corona
        3. Soften Reflections
    2. Chapter 20 Creating Hair and Fur with Worley Labs’ Sasquatch
      1. Adding the Plug-in to Your Scene
      2. Sasquatch Features at a Glance
  9. Part 7 Tutorials
    1. Chapter 21 Metal Surfaces
      1. Metal Tutorial 1: Car Paint and Chrome Shading
      2. Metal Tutorial 2: Desert Eagle Pistol
      3. Metal Tutorial 3: Rusty Metal Textures
      4. Summary of Tips for Creating Metal Surfaces
    2. Chapter 22 Wood Surfaces
      1. Wood Tutorial 1: A Guitar
      2. Wood Tutorial 2: An Old Crate
      3. Summary of Tips for Creating Wooden Surfaces
    3. Chapter 23 Organic Surfaces
      1. Organic Tutorial 1: An Eyeball
      2. Organic Tutorial 2: A Human Face
      3. Summary of Tips for Creating Organic Surfaces
    4. Chapter 24 Natural Surfaces
      1. Natural Surfaces Tutorial 1: An Ocean
        1. Creating the Displacement Node Network
        2. Creating the Surface Node Network
      2. Summary of Tips for Creating Water
      3. Natural Surfaces Tutorial 2: Red Rocks
        1. About the Canyon Model
        2. Creating the Displacement Node Network
      4. Creating the Surface Node Network
      5. Summary of Tips for Creating Canyons and Rocky Mountains
    5. Chapter 25 LightWave/ZBrush Workflow
      1. Preparing Your Model for ZBrush
      2. Importing Objects into ZBrush
      3. ZBrush’s UV Tools
      4. Sculpting and Texturing
      5. Projection Master
      6. Rendering and Saving Displacement, Normal, and Texture Maps
      7. Bringing It All Together
    6. Chapter 26 Architectural Surfaces
      1. Architectural Surfaces Tutorial: Stairway
        1. The Model
        2. Surfacing the Room Elements
  10. Appendix A Commonly Used Words, Terms, and Phrases
  11. Appendix B A Guide to Image Formats
    1. Microsoft Bitmap (.bmp, .dib, .rle)
    2. Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)
    3. CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
    4. Radiance High Dynamic Range Images (.hdr, .hdri, .pic)
    5. Amiga Interchange File Format (.iff)
    6. Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg, .jpeg)
    7. Apple Macintosh Picture (.pict, .pct)
    8. Portable Network Graphics (.png)
    9. Tagged Image File Format (.tif, .tiff)
    10. Truevision Targa (.tga)
  12. Appendix C Refraction Index Chart
  13. Appendix D Web Links
    1. Community, News, and Tutorial Web Sites
    2. Software Web Sites
    3. Texture Collections
    4. Recommended Further Reading
  14. Index

Product information

  • Title: LIGHTWAVE V9 TEXTURING
  • Author(s): Angel Nieves
  • Release date: October 2010
  • Publisher(s): Jones & Bartlett Learning
  • ISBN: 9781449612962