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Retexturing To Scale


sorceress99
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I need help with retexturing wood grains, stone and fabric patterns so that they appear in the proper scale for the game. I have collected a large library of wood, stone, fabric, etc. textures that I want to add to the game. But the texture in game is not to scale. How do I scale them for game size? I am using GIMP with the DDS plugins.

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Not sure what you mean by "But the texture in game is not to scale." ? You mean the pattern looks too big? Or the texture file is too big?

dds files need to be any of these sizes; 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048 pixels, you can mix and match height and width sizes to whatever you need. Some use textures that are larger than 2048 but it's relatively a waste of resources.

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If you mean the texture looks too big, then you will either need to up the resolution of the texture by tiling it. IE if your texture is 512x512, you can copy it 4 times and make a 1024x1024 texture. Or, you can scale up the UV mapping via nifskope, depending on the object.

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If you mean the texture looks too big, then you will either need to up the resolution of the texture by tiling it. IE if your texture is 512x512, you can copy it 4 times and make a 1024x1024 texture. Or, you can scale up the UV mapping via nifskope, depending on the object.

The textures look to big. By tiling, you mean putting 4 squares together to make a larger square? The problem with that is on a large object, like a floor, you can see the 4 different pieces since the texture doesn't match one next to it. I don't know what UV mapping is.

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The "size" the texture appears at is actually determined by the model, specifically, the UV map echo mentioned. A UV(W) map is basically a projection of your 3d model onto a flat plane which tells it what part of the image is assigned to which polygon. Without remapping the model, all you can do is resize the source images in reference to the textures, making them smaller and putting them next to each other, then making them match at the edges. There is no one "game size" that will make them look right, you have to scale them in reference to the models you're using them on.

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Here's something that's probably worth experimenting with:

In Nifskope, in the render screen, Right-Click on the bit whose texture you're working on. Select Texture and then Edit UV. You'll see what a UV map is, what it looks like and how your flat texture ends up on a 3D object. :)

Now with NifSkope's UV editor, you can actually drag the vertices around and preview how the changes look. Control-Z will undo any changes that you make. There are some controls that will help:



  • You can draw a box to select all vertices in that box.
  • You can right-click a selected vertex and...
    • Select Connected to select all the vertices in the current "section" (I don't know the correct term)
    • Scale it to increase or decrease the size of the selected vertices
    • Rotate the selected vertices
    • Scale only X by -1 to mirror the selected vertices
    • Scale only Y by -1 to flip the selected vertices

Experiment to see what works for you. ;)

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The "size" the texture appears at is actually determined by the model, specifically, the UV map echo mentioned. A UV(W) map is basically a projection of your 3d model onto a flat plane which tells it what part of the image is assigned to which polygon. Without remapping the model, all you can do is resize the source images in reference to the textures, making them smaller and putting them next to each other, then making them match at the edges. There is no one "game size" that will make them look right, you have to scale them in reference to the models you're using them on.

The problem is getting them to match exactly. If not, on a large object they appear as tiles rather than one piece.

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A lot of texture sites (CG Textures is a good one) offer seamless tiling textures. That means the texture won't show noticeable edges when the image is repeated, so a 256 X 256 image can cover a 2048 X 2048 area easily. Probably the easiest solution, provided you find a texture you like.

To simply scale a texture in GIMP, just click on Image > Scale Image. A dialog box will pop up where you can type in the new dimensions you want for your image. If you want your image to have the same height and width (like 512 X 512), it's as simple as that. If you want "irregular" dimensions (for example 256 X 512), you need click on the little chain icon next to the X and Y dialog windows to "break the chain".

You can also use GIMP's "Make Seamless" filter on your wood texture, which is found under Filters > Maps > Make Seamless. The results aren't always perfect, but with a little work with layers and maybe some brushwork, it can get the job done.

Also keep an eye out for "patterns"- these are basically simple tiling images that can be "poured" into an area using the "fill" tool. Create a blank image of the size you need, and just fill it with a pattern. Sometimes this is a perfectly usable solution. GIMP comes with a few wood patterns already, but places like DeviantArt have nicer ones made by the various artists that use the site. Be sure to note the usage terms though.

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A lot of texture sites (CG Textures is a good one) offer seamless tiling textures. That means the texture won't show noticeable edges when the image is repeated, so a 256 X 256 image can cover a 2048 X 2048 area easily. Probably the easiest solution, provided you find a texture you like.

To simply scale a texture in GIMP, just click on Image > Scale Image. A dialog box will pop up where you can type in the new dimensions you want for your image. If you want your image to have the same height and width (like 512 X 512), it's as simple as that. If you want "irregular" dimensions (for example 256 X 512), you need click on the little chain icon next to the X and Y dialog windows to "break the chain".

You can also use GIMP's "Make Seamless" filter on your wood texture, which is found under Filters > Maps > Make Seamless. The results aren't always perfect, but with a little work with layers and maybe some brushwork, it can get the job done.

Also keep an eye out for "patterns"- these are basically simple tiling images that can be "poured" into an area using the "fill" tool. Create a blank image of the size you need, and just fill it with a pattern. Sometimes this is a perfectly usable solution. GIMP comes with a few wood patterns already, but places like DeviantArt have nicer ones made by the various artists that use the site. Be sure to note the usage terms though.

Wow! Ok back to GIMP. Thanks for the great tips Greenwarden. Two wood textures I am trying to get working are Teak and African Mahogany which has the Mahohogany grain in a darkish-red tan tone. Beautiful wood.

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