Difference between revisions of "Blender/Texturing From A UV Map"

side, click the dropdown menu button and change it from “buttons window” to “UV.”

side, click the dropdown menu button and change it from “buttons window” to “UV.”

Now you should see a gray grid with your mesh’s UV map on it.  Don’t change anything unless you want to re-export your mesh again afterwards.  Click the button that says “UV” and then “Export UV Map.”  A little box should pop up that says 512 and some other things if you’re using Blender 2.42a.  Leave these settings alone and click “OK”.  Now you have a screen that lets you choose where to save your UV map.  I generally save mine in the same file that I want my textures to be in, say Oblivion\Datatextures\armor\Sickleyield\armorsuitname.   

Now you should see a gray grid with your mesh’s UV map on it.  Don’t change anything unless you want to re-export your mesh again afterwards.  Click the button that says “UV” and then “Export UV Map.”  A little box should pop up that says 512 and some other things if you’re using Blender 2.42a.  Leave these settings alone and click “OK”.  Now you have a screen that lets you choose where to save your UV map.  I generally save mine in the same file that I want my textures to be in, say Oblivion\Datatextures\armor\Sickleyield\armorsuitname.   

Okay, now save the file in the folder pertinent to whatever object it’s going on, say textures\armor\myarmor or textures\clutter\mylamps, etc.  Open up another window into the Data files folder and click through to the mesh.  Open it up in NifSkope.  Go to the texture node (nisourcetexture) and click on the little purple flower icon, then click through to find your texture that you’ve saved.  It should show up on the mesh now:

Okay, now save the file in the folder pertinent to whatever object it’s going on, say textures\armor\myarmor or textures\clutter\mylamps, etc.  Open up another window into the Data files folder and click through to the mesh.  Open it up in NifSkope.  Go to the texture node (nisourcetexture) and click on the little purple flower icon, then click through to find your texture that you’ve saved.  It should show up on the mesh now:

If your UV map is the top layer, you may get an odd-looking grid on the mesh.  Not to worry, we’ll fix it.

If your UV map is the top layer, you may get an odd-looking grid on the mesh.  Not to worry, we’ll fix it.

If you click on the mesh itself in the viewing window over in NifSkope, you may see something interesting: a green pattern like a net covers the mesh.  This green grid is your best friend, because it is exactly the same as the one you’re looking at in the texture, just wrapped around your mesh instead of laid flat.

If you click on the mesh itself in the viewing window over in NifSkope, you may see something interesting: a green pattern like a net covers the mesh.  This green grid is your best friend, because it is exactly the same as the one you’re looking at in the texture, just wrapped around your mesh instead of laid flat.

Now, if you like, you can draw a rough outline in your new layer, tracing the boundaries of your UV map so you know where the texture should go and where it’s a waste of your time to draw.  I don’t generally bother, but if you do you can use GIMP’s versatile paintbrush (p key) or pencil (n key) to do that.   

Now, if you like, you can draw a rough outline in your new layer, tracing the boundaries of your UV map so you know where the texture should go and where it’s a waste of your time to draw.  I don’t generally bother, but if you do you can use GIMP’s versatile paintbrush (p key) or pencil (n key) to do that.