More defined bump mapping

I have tweaked the textures, mainly the bump to bring the veins out more and dumb down the lines. I like the lines but I don't think they should be too overpowering as they aren't a main feature of the monster.. whereas the veins are.

Here is what I've got..

So far, I think I am finished with this. It is a low poly model.. at 1927 polygons (faces). the texture maps are at 1024 x 1024 pixels, which is fine for the cut sequences of for an inventory screen but for ingame characters the textures will be altered to 512 and 256 pixel variations for different LOD for different distances. (zoomed in will have higher texture maps at 512 and zoomed out will have 256).

Newer texture experiments

With these pictures I am experimenting again with the main body texture, this time incorporating lines onto the body. In the reference image there are big veins which I created myself before by using a bump texture but am now experimenting with a texture on the normal surface texture map. These lines are meant to be similar to the ones on the Anthropod in the reference image. The bump is still used but they both don't go completely well with each other, and tweaking both these texture maps will be needed to ensure this model looks good.

The next image is my current version of both of these. It is also darker for a more realistic skin texture.

Better Visualisation

I liked how my texture turned out previously, especially with the bump map. but it still looked pretty dull. I recently experimented with it inside maya by changing the lambert to a blinn. This gave me the option to put a subtle shine of the creature and change other properties like brightness. I messed around a bit with these and here's what I got.. I definitely think it's an improvement.

New body texture and bump map

Well here it is. I finally finished a texture for the body. And not only that, I create a bump map for it also.. here we go..

For the bump map I found an Xray on the Internet of a patients varicose veins. This made the veins really show up on the X ray and was perfect for a bump map. I duplicated and blended in lots of this vein across a whole 1024 x 1024 pixel texture file to use as the bump.

Below is a quick test I did with the veins and also the xray from the internet.

New UV

Aahh it feels like the way these blog posts are going that I'm going round in circles, but at least I'm learning as I go and improving everything. As the title of this post suggests, yes I have created a new UV. But really it is simply all the UVs from the model all in ONE UV. This is because I think computer game characters run better on one texture file, or at least I believe the engine for the game 'The Elder Scrolls - Oblivion' does. I mention this game engine because I hope to get this character into that game for testing.

Here is the New UV with body face and eyes all in one.

New bone texture

As I started on the claws and teeth before I thought I might as well finish them. For this I got an alligator tooth and used it for both the teeth and claws. Because of it's colour it will need major recolour balancing.

The picture below and the lettering in the picture above is what I made for organising each claw. Because of the way I set my claw UVs out it comes confusing quite a lot and hard to remember which part goes to which claw. So to help I tagged next to each claw part.. that is the top and bottom of each claw showing right and left from each limb.

Not only that but I also create each part on it's own layer in photoshop so not to mess any of the texture up. And if i did it would simply mean correct a sinle layer rather than doing a whole part again.

New eye texture

Here is the newest eye texture. I was unhappy with the previous one so I went online and searched for images of alligator eyes, thinking they would be perfect for the texture. Here is what I found.

And here it is on my model..

I think I will tweak it a bit myself, make the pupil a bit larger and perhaps reposition the center of the eye to be different on the UV, to suit the model better