Hi Guys, forgive the ignorance, but I’d like to know what texture maps, and displacement maps are all about?
I’ve seen those crazy stretched pictures etc and didn’t really have a clue what their purpose was and how to use them, but recently I have been using facegen and I now have various texture maps of skin and what not and I think it’s time I learned.
I’ve seen a lot of tutorials and never came across them… can someone point me in the right direction please?
yours ignorant 
-W
heya,
texture maps tell your 3d app where to assign the colour to your model.
ever seen one of those bear rugs? the theory is the same.
say you’ve made a model of a bear.
before you can paint the colours on(texture map) or make a displacement map for it, you need to flatten it out(make a UV Map)
the UV map is like the bear rug. it is your bear model thats been skinned alive and that piece of skin has now been flattened out(made 2d).
now with this uv map you can bring it into photoshop and paint the hell out of it(makign a texture map). this map can then be brought back to your 3d app and applied onto your model.
the same thing applied for displacement maps. when you import your obj into zbrush, it brings with it the uvs you’ve laid out for it. zbrush will then generate your displacement/normal maps onto that uv layout.
hope this helps!
Start with a basics
http://www.veoh.com/channels/MTLinMaya
you dont need maya to actually learn about the maps
but the videos show what the maps do to a 3d surface when applied
awesome vids cannedmushrooms!
Much appreciated folks!
Is there a quick explainable way to get these texture (and I have some!) maps on my model in Zbrush? I have a head, teeth, tongue, eyes all with different BMP texture maps.
not sure if its the quick and easy but this is the best I’ve seen!
http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/Working_With_a_Texture_Map
hope it helps!